A HISTORY OF JAPANESE LITERATURE #1) Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century (2nd ed. 1999)

Donald Keene employs his prodigious wealth of knowledge, critical insight, and narrative aplomb to guide readers through the first nine hundred years of Japanese literature―a period that not only defined the unique properties of Japanese prosody and prose but also produced some of its greatest works. Covering courtly fiction, Buddhist writings, war tales, diaries, poems, and more, __Seeds in the Heart__ explores a vast and variegated treasury of writings. Detailed textual examinations of classic texts―from the __Kojiki__ to __The Tale of Genji,__ from __The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon__ to Zeami's Nô plays―allow students, lay readers, and scholars a new understanding and enjoyment of this great literature.

Donald Keene employs his prodigious wealth of knowledge, critical insight, and narrative aplomb to guide readers through the first nine hundred years of Japanese literature -- a period that not only defined the unique properties of Japanese prosody and prose but also produced some of its greatest works. Covering courtly fiction, Buddhist writings, war tales, diaries, poems, and more, Seeds in the Heart explores a vast and variegated treasury of writings. Detailed textual examinations of classic texts -- from the Kojiki to The Tale of Genji, from The Pillow Book of Sei Shônagon to Zeami's Nô plays -- allow students, lay readers, and scholars a new understanding and enjoyment of this great literature.

Columbia University Press

Donald Keene employs his prodigious wealth of knowledge, critical insight, and narrative aplomb to guide readers through the first nine hundred years of Japanese literature -a period that not only defined the unique properties of Japanese prosody and prose but also produced some of its greatest works. Covering courtly fiction, Buddhist writings, war tales, diaries, poems, and more, "Seeds in the Heart" explores a vast and variegated treasury of writings. Detailed textual examinations of classic texts -from the "Kojiki" to "The Tale of Genji, " from "The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon" to Zeamis No plays -allow students, lay readers, and scholars a new understanding and enjoyment of this great literature. Donald Keene, a noted authority in the field, offers a guide through the first 900 years of Japanese literature. This period not only defined the unique properties of Japanese prose and prosody, but also produced some of its greatest works