Basho: The Complete Haiku

It's a collector's Delight ! A thorough edition of the master Basho in one volume a dream of any serious English haiku reader that too a translation with multitude of translators in one book for one haiku ! A monumental task rendered awefully indeed ! I am proud to own it ! I am Poet Yugaputhiran ! I do write Haikus in Tamil ( my mother tounge) and English ! It's A must read book-of-the-century Catagory and a collector's Delight !

Amazing book ..i love it. The whole book content is described in the most spectular way. And the quality of book is awesome. Really love it.

I read this translation of Basho while on a Shinkansen out of Kyoto and was able therefore to identify with the hokku. Excellent translations. A book to savour sip by sip like excellent sake.

The book's contents are without doubt superb, but at the same time the book's printing & finishing supplements the contents admirably.

neat

The translations in this book remind me of Kerouac's pops (free verse haiku) in that the translator doesn't adhere to the 5-7-5 syllable structure of haiku. I'm OK with this because I'm more interested in the spirit of each of Basho's haiku rather than a staid, literal transcription. This gives me a greater appreciation of the art that is being translated (and interpreted).

Hier liegen erstmals alle Haikus von Basho in einer Englischen Übersetzung vor. Da es sowas sobald nicht auf Deutsch geben wird habe ich zugegriffen und wurde nicht enttäuscht. An diesem Buch werde ich noch lange und viel zu lesen haben. Immer wieder hole ich es hervor und lese, mal hier, mal da, ein paar Haiku. Auch das 50 Seiten Vorwort ist interessant und informativ. Im Anhang findet sich eine Fülle zusätzlicher Informationen zur Übersetzung.

I like that this is a "Complete" because you see how themes repeat or how the poet plays with variations. I also love the chronology and the biographical introductions to the different phases in Basho's life and art. I also love that it ends up being a window into another time and culture. If this were a world as into poetry as the world Basho lived in--or even half so much--it would be fun to have a weekly poetry reading group that read facing pages of these poems and discussed their favorites, why, what scene it evokes. Did any of them inspire a poem of your own? If you could choose one word to alter in one of the translations, what change would you make? Alas, that is not the world I live in. I will say that if anyone suspects that they would tire of moon, cherry blossom and chrysanthemum references, this book is not for them. I didn't mark favorites in this volume, but I'll randomly choose some to share: fading temple bell the fragrance of flowers strikes at evening the full moon coming up to the gate the tide's salty crests in summer rain the leg of the crane becomes shorter

Gosta de Haiku? Quer ter em mãos uma obra fundamental sobre essa maravilhosa criação literária japonesa? Então compre sem medo de ser feliz essa obra-prima de Jane Reichhold, Basho: The complete Haiku. Como diz no título, nela você encontrará compilado, na ordem (diz a autora, sempre que possível) em que o mestre escreveu, todos os seus haikus (que é como se diz haicai ou haikai em japonês). Uma preciosidade, mas não somente por isso: as notas biográficas ao longo da obra são um deleite, a Jane escreveu com simplicidade sobre a vida de um poeta que viveu intensamente de maneira simples, então o livro tem a aura do Basho em suas páginas. Faz muito tempo que não leio um livro com tanto entusiasmo. E a edição, em inglês (tem esse porém) é linda, capinha dura, coisa que americano faz bem, temos que admitir. Para quem ama haicai e venera Bashô, essa é a obra que não pode faltar na coleção. Se a autora estivesse viva, eu mandaria um beijão prá ela. Salve, Bashô!

Wonderful book, but I must admit I prefer the Dutch version I also have right now as the Haiku in my native mother language are closer to my heart then this English translation, despite this I do like the book and would suggest reading the explanation that is given in the end of the book for each Haiku as the background information is of much importance to understand each Haiku.