The Pillow Book Review

Review of “The Pillow Book”

By: Sei Shonagon

            In the Heian period Noble women living at court kept Diaries of their time at court and most memorable experiences. The authors intended these Diaries to be autobiographical. “The Pillow Book” was like these Diaries but had considerable differences from them, which were its structure and general character.  Sei Shonagon hadn’t written it it to be autobiographical, but it was an account of what she saw during her ten years at court and her reflections on her experiences there.

            Sei Shonagon had quite the personality with her strong opinions and love of pretty things.  She reminded me of Jane Austen’s Emma Woodhouse with her charm and opinionated, as well as judgmental nature.  Throughout there were entries on her things that annoyed her or things that gave her pleasure that showed how relatable she was as a person despite her privileged position.  Since poetry was so important in Japanese culture, she presented the reader with various given to her by suitors, poems given to the Empress, and poems that were exchanges between her and the Empress.  Her relationship with the Empress felt like friendship rather than servant/mistress relations. They seemed to be very close and had a lot of respect for each other.  Though there was flattery on Sei Shonagan’s part there was also honesty.  Everyone at court said Sei Shonagon was the Empress’ favorite and their interactions proved that.  

            I think reading this helped me to receive an understanding of the Japanese culture during the Heian period through the eyes of Sei Shonagon.  She was entertaining to read and instead of just giving me facts she showed her world to me.  It’s a great place to start with non-fiction to read the Diary of a real person of the period in history.  It was like reading a work of fiction but written in a way that was easy to read.