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-centuryCatagory 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

I am a haiku poet and an admirer of Basho. When this hardcover edition of his work went on sale, I had to have it. The book has been a wonderful read and I like the sturdiness of the hardcover. It should last on my bookshelves for a lifetime.

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!

Informative and fascinating. Basho is a great way to learn to write haiku or just read his fantastic poetry.

This book is a delight to read. The haiku are first presented in English so can be read as any translated poetry book, although inevitably losing something of the original. The second part of the book provides not only the romaji transliteration and a literal translation, but also the original kanji script, which IMO always adds a wonderful additional layer of expression, not to mention their aesthetic attraction. It also provides explanations and background information which again, add much to the enjoyment of reading these poems. The index of first lines is really useful.One minor issue for me is that the kanji are printed rather small and are thus difficult to read, particularly for someone who is still very much at the start of learning to read them. I guess this might have made the book even thicker, but maybe someone out there has published such a version, or may do so in the future. Ideally, for study purposes, it would be better to have the translation on the same page as the original to avoid constantly flipping to the back section to get a better understanding of the haiku.However, overall, this book is excellent value for money, nicely presented hardback and a wonderful introduction to Basho's work.

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).