The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Review:

Surrounded by a thick foliage of cedars, your house stands, pregnant with autumn.

A wonderful, unique little volume. Part travel diary, part poetry, it describes the wanderings of a 17th century Japanese poet named Matsuo Basho.

The main narrative is prose and breaks into haiku or linked verse when appropriate.

Not a flaw there is
On the polished surface
Of the divine glass,
Chaste with flowers of snow.

I can’t even pretend to be well acquainted with Japanese poetry or haiku, but I am very glad I read this masterpiece as a starting point.

Excellent haiku is like excellent porn: difficult to define but you know it when you see it.

This book made me want to: walk along coastal Japan (you thought I was going to write: eat sushi. Okay, that too).

Overall rating:

Readability:

Plot:

Other: Melancholy verses

Neil Croll