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Kusamakura (novel)
is a Japanese novel by Natsume Sōseki published in 1906. An English translation by Alan Turney was published in 1965 with the title ''The Three-Cornered World''. Other translations have been published with variations of the original Japanese title, which means "grass pillow" and has connotations of travel. Plot The novel tells of an artist who retreats to the mountains, where he stays at a remote, almost deserted hotel. There he becomes intrigued by the mysterious hostess, O-Nami, who reminds him of the John Millais painting ''Ophelia''. Ostensibly looking for subjects to paint, the artist makes only a few sketches, but instead writes poetry. This poetry is inserted into a text that consists of scenes from the artist's reclusive life and essay-like meditations on art and the artist's position in society. In these musings, the artist quotes and mentions a variety of Japanese, Chinese and European painters, poets, and novelists. For example, he discusses the difference between ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natsume Sōseki
, born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known for his novels ''Kokoro'', ''Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', ''Kusamakura (novel), Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work ''Light and Darkness (novel), Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer of haiku, ''Kanshi (poetry), kanshi'' poetry and fairy tales. Early years Natsume Kinnosuke was born on 9 February 1867 in the town of Babashita, Ushigome, Edo (present Kikuichō, Kikui, Shinjuku, Tokyo), the fifth son of village head (''nanushi'') Natsume Kohē Naokatsu and his wife Chie. His father, a powerful and wealthy ''nanushi'', owned all land from Ushigome to Takadanobaba in Edo and handled most Lawsuit, civil lawsuits at his doorstep. He was a descendant of Natsume Yoshinobu, a Sengoku period samurai and Kashindan, retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Sōseki began his life as an unwanted child, born to his mother late in her life, forty years old and his father then fifty-three. When he was born, he already h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matsuo Bashō
; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest master of haiku (then called hokku). He is also well known for his travel essays beginning with '' Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton'' (1684), written after his journey west to Kyoto and Nara. Matsuo Bashō's poetry is internationally renowned, and, in Japan, many of his poems are reproduced on monuments and traditional sites. Although Bashō is famous in the West for his hokku, he himself believed his best work lay in leading and participating in renku. As he himself said, "Many of my followers can write hokku as well as I can. Where I show who I really am is in linking haikai verses." Bashō was introduced to poetry at a young age, and after integrating himself into the intellectual scene of Edo (modern Tokyo) he quickl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oku No Hosomichi
, translated as ''The Narrow Road to the Deep North'' and ''The Narrow Road to the Interior'', is a major work of ''haibun'' by the List of Japanese language poets, Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō, considered one of the major texts of Japanese literature of the Edo period. The first edition was published posthumously in 1702. The text is written in the form of a prose and Verse (poetry), verse Travel literature, travel diary and was penned as Bashō made an epic and dangerous journey on foot through the Edo period, Edo Japan of the late 17th century. While the Poetry, poetic work became seminal of its own account, the poet's travels in the text have since inspired many people to follow in his footsteps and trace his journey for themselves. In one of its most memorable passages, Bashō suggests that "every day is a journey, and the journey itself home". The text was also influenced by the works of Du Fu, who was highly revered by Bashō. Of ''Oku no Hosomichi'', Kenji Miyazawa once ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Misao Fujimura
was a Japanese philosophy student and poet, largely remembered due to his farewell poem. Biography Fujimura was born in Hokkaidō. His grandfather was a former samurai of the Morioka Domain, and his father relocated to Hokkaidō after the Meiji Restoration as a director of the forerunner of Hokkaido Bank. Fujimura graduated from middle school in Sapporo, and then relocated to Tokyo where he attended a preparatory school for entry into Tokyo Imperial University. He later traveled to Kegon Falls in Nikko, a famed scenic area, and wrote his farewell poem directly on the trunk of a tree before committing suicide.Suicide Note His grave is at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo. The story was soon sensationalized in contemporary newspapers, and was commented upon by the famed writer |
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered theatrical realism, but also wrote lyrical epic works. His major works include ''Brand'', ''Peer Gynt'', '' Emperor and Galilean'', '' A Doll's House'', '' Ghosts'', '' An Enemy of the People'', '' The Wild Duck'', '' Rosmersholm'', '' Hedda Gabler'', '' The Master Builder'', and '' When We Dead Awaken''. Ibsen is the most frequently performed dramatist in the world after Shakespeare, and ''A Doll's House'' was the world's most performed play in 2006. Ibsen was born into the merchant elite of the port town of Skien, and had strong family ties to the families who had held power and wealth in Telemark since the mid-1500s. Both his parents belonged socially or biologically to the Paus family of Rising and Altenburggården—the extende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Critic As Artist
"The Critic as Artist" is an essay by Oscar Wilde, containing the most extensive statements of his aesthetic philosophy. A dialogue in two parts, it is by far the longest one included in his collection of essays titled ''Intentions'' published on 1 May 1891. "The Critic as Artist" is a significantly revised version of articles that first appeared in the July and September 1890 issues of ''The Nineteenth Century'', originally entitled "The True Function and Value of Criticism." The essay is a conversation between its leading voice Gilbert and Ernest, who suggests ideas for Gilbert to reject. Summary The essay sets out to collapse the distinction between fine art and criticism cherished by artists and critics such as Matthew Arnold and James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter in oils and watercolor, and printmaker, active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwrights in London in the early 1890s. Regarded by most commentators as the greatest playwright of the Victorian era, Wilde is best known for his 1890 Gothic fiction, Gothic philosophical fiction ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'', as well as his numerous epigrams and plays, and his criminal conviction for gross indecency for homosexual acts. Wilde's parents were Anglo-Irish intellectuals in Dublin. In his youth, Wilde learned to speak fluent French and German. At university, he read Literae Humaniores#Greats, Greats; he demonstrated himself to be an exceptional classicist, first at Trinity College Dublin, then at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the emerging philosophy of aestheticism, led by two of his tutors, Walter Pater and Jo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tristram Shandy
Tristram may refer to: Literature * the title character of ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'', a novel by Laurence Sterne * the title character of '' Tristram of Lyonesse'', an epic poem by Algernon Charles Swinburne *"Tristram", a Pulitzer Prize-winning work by Edwin Arlington Robinson Edwin Arlington Robinson (December 22, 1869 – April 6, 1935) was an American poet and playwright. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on three occasions and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. Early life Robins ... Legendary characters * Tristram or Tristan, a Knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend * Tristram the Younger, last king of Lyonesse in the Italian romance ''I Due Tristani'', son of the above People * Tristram (name), a list of people with the given name or surname Other uses * Tristram, a town in the books and games of the '' Diablo'' video game series See also * Tristram's Woodpecker, a bird * Tristram's starlin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Laurence Sterne
Laurence Sterne (24 November 1713 – 18 March 1768) was an Anglo-Irish novelist and Anglican cleric. He is best known for his comic novels ''The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman'' (1759–1767) and ''A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy'' (1768). Sterne grew up in a military family, travelling mainly in Ireland but briefly in England. He attended Jesus College, Cambridge on a sizarship, gaining bachelor's and master's degrees, and was ordained as a priest in 1738. While Vicar of Sutton-on-the-Forest, Yorkshire, he married Elizabeth Lumley in 1741. He briefly wrote political propaganda for the Whigs, but abandoned politics in 1742. In 1759, he wrote an ecclesiastical satire '' A Political Romance'', which embarrassed the church and was burned. Having discovered his talent for comedy, at age 46 he dedicated himself to humour writing as a vocation. Also in 1759, he published the first volume of ''Tristram Shandy'', which was an enormous success and co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tao Yuanming
Tao Yuanming (365–427), also known as Tao Qian, courtesy name Yuanliang (元亮), was a Chinese poet and politician. He was one of the best-known poets who lived during the Six Dynasties period. Tao Yuanming spent much of his life in reclusion, living in the countryside, farming, reading, drinking wine, receiving the occasional guest, and writing poems in which he reflected on the pleasures and difficulties of life and his decision to withdraw from civil service. Tao's simple and direct style was somewhat at odds with the norms for literary writing in his time. In the Tang dynasty, he was well known as a recluse. During the Song dynasty#Northern Song, 960–1127, Northern Song dynasty, influential literati figures such as Su Shi declared him a paragon of authenticity and spontaneity in poetry, predicting that he would achieve lasting literary fame. But Tao's inclusion in the 6th-century literary anthology ''Wen Xuan'' implies he began to gain fame in his own era, at least in h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literary Fiction
Literary fiction, serious fiction, high literature, or artistic literature, and sometimes just literature, encompasses fiction books and writings that are more character-driven rather than plot-driven, that examine the human condition, or that are simply considered serious art by critics. These labels are typically used in contrast to genre fiction: books that neatly fit into an established genre of the book trade and place more value on being entertaining and appealing to a mass audience.Reissenweber, Brandi"Ask The Writer: What is the difference between genre fiction and literary fiction?"Gotham Writers' Workshop. Retrieved 3 September 2024. Literary fiction in this case can also be called non-genre fiction and is considered to have more artistic merit than popular genre fiction. Some categories of literary fiction, such as much historical fiction, magic realism, autobiographical novels, or encyclopedic novels, are frequently termed ''genres'' without being considered genre ficti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wang Wei (Tang Dynasty)
Wang Wei (Traditional Chinese: 王維; Simplified Chinese: 王维, pinyin: ''Wáng Wéi'', 699–761) was a Chinese musician, painter, poet, and politician of the middle Tang dynasty. He is regarded as one of the most distinguished men of arts and letters of his era. About 400 of his poems survived and 29 of them are included in the 18th-century anthology '' Three Hundred Tang Poems''. A large portion of his finest poems drew inspirations from the local landscape. Wang Wei is renowned for his dual talents as a nature poet and landscape painter. His poems were originally compiled and edited into a collection by his next-youngest brother, Wang Jin, at imperial command. Of his paintings, no authenticated specimens survive, although there were evidence of his work through influences on later paintings and descriptive accounts. His musical talents were highly regarded; however, no compositions or music notes have been preserved. He had a successful career as an imperial court offi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
