2 Answers

• Reputation: 639 Q&A: 22 0 0 205 6 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Expert: 5 topics Books & Writing Book Recommendations General Book Discussion Other Books & Writing Book Club- A Visit from the Goon Squad Follow Following 2 David Wright

  3 0 Although I don't really have an answer to the question (and look forward to hearing what others say), as a layperson who has enjoyed classical Japanese haiku I'll mention how much reading R.H. Blyth's seminal 4 volume set on Haiku influenced my own appreciation for this art. I understand that now his works are viewed as controversial or simplistic or something, but he was instrumental in introducing haiku to the West, and was especially influential on the Beats. As someone who cannot read Japanese and probably never will, his 'lectures' helped me have a sense for the haiku aesthetic and how it worked and didn't work; reading them felt like a really good college class, and they remain prized volumes in my collection, as do his other titles - especially his Zen in English literature and oriental classics, a cross-cultural study that is great for taking some of the cheesy exoticity out of Zen. Here at the library we have a reference book (sadly not revised since 2000) titled The Oxford Guide to Literature in English Translation which offers essays by experts comparing translations of just about everything: they won't tell you 'best,' but they do serve to give a very good idea of what the relative strengths and weaknesses are of the various translators. I'll take a look when I get a chance, and drop the gist of what I find on Basho here. David Wright answered in General Book Discussion about 1 year ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend:

• Reputation: 6 Q&A: 0 0 0 10 4 0 Classifieds: 0 0 what's this? Follow Following 0

  0 0 I agree with Mr Wright about RH Blyth. I've never read a better translator of, or more engaging writer about, Japanese poetry. Noboyuki Yuasa's translation of The Narrow Road To The Deep North is very good, very enjoyable, but lacks the zing of Blyth. Still well worth reading, & his introduction to the Penguin Classics edition is an excellent primer on haiku (Blyth's 2-volume history of haiku & 4-volume seasonal haiku masterpiece are better but harder to find. He also wrote a book on humour in oriental literature that has the best poo jokes. The best!) I would recommend anyone to avoid: pre-20th century translations as I have never found any to be satisfactory; any translator who makes the haikus rhyme; translators who are prescriptive in keeping to 17 syllables to the detriment of the haiku - even Bashō himself didn't do that & the concept of syllables is different enough in English than Japanese to make it pointless to do so. Camembert answered in General Book Discussion 11 months ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

  Share this answer with a friend: