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The Lady and the Monk Four Seasons in Kyoto Pico Iyer 9780679738343 Books

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The Lady and the Monk Four Seasons in Kyoto Pico Iyer 9780679738343 Books

This beautiful book sold me on both Iyer and Japan. In this thoughtful volume, Iyer details his perplexing and wonderful experiences as he attempted to understand another culture. The process is not so easy! But I love Iyer's narrative. He set out to Japan to clear his head, to think, to be alone. Then reality hit, and his year turned into something completely different.

People who chose to study or live abroad are either quite brave or quite naive. Their experiences can send them to heights of pleasure and back to their own drawing boards. Iyer's frank explanation of both successes and failures in his new culture make this book a special treasure. I was enthralled while reading every page.

Although I had already been to Japan when I found this book, now I can't wait to return, not to mimic Iyer's adventure, which would be impossible, but to appreciate even more of his observations and difficulties.


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The Lady and the Monk Four Seasons in Kyoto Pico Iyer 9780679738343 Books Reviews

The title of this book is a bit misleading. Yes, Pico Iyer does live in a monastery for a few days but his main emphasis is an exploration of Kyoto, one of the holiest cities in Japan.
The title comes from a Buddhist story about a beautiful woman who tempted a monk, much as Buddha was tempted by an evil god as he sat under the Bodhi tree searching for enlightenment.
Pico is an essayist for Time magazine and he is far more interested in the somewhat schizophrenic nature of the Japanese people than he is in Buddhism. His main subject is a housewife named Sachiko who is married to a Japanese "salary man," who works from six in the morning until eleven at night. His family life is an afterthought. Sachiko loves everything foreign from the Beatles to Mickey Mouse. She calls Pico a "bird" because he is free to wander all over the globe while she is a slave to her husband and two young children.
According to Iyer, Japan is close to a utopian society and Kyoto is the cleanest city he's ever seen. Sachiko is a fascinating character. When she introduces Pico to her children she apologizes for their misbehavior although they are much more well-behaved than western children Pico has known.
Pico and Sachiko's relationship is perplexing at first. She hints that she might want something more than a platonic relationship. He's wise enough to know that it's the dream of a romance, the romance she's seen in the movies, that she's after.
There are some wonderful moments in THE LADY AND THE MONK Sachiko's mangled English with the occasional Japanese word thrown in and the lack of articles; Iyer's description of cherry blossom time; the albino monk Pico meets when he stays at the temple; the Hanchu Tigers last game of the year when Randy Bass, their American homerun hitter, bows to the fans fifteen times. The fans are just as enthusiastic as they would be if this were a World Series team and not a team thirty-some games out of first.
The main emphasis of the book, though, is Sachiko's story arc; we see her beginning to grow away from her salaryman husband, we see her trying to make her dreams become a reality, despite the censure of her mother and friends. We get the impression that the more Japanese women are exposed to the West the more Sachikos there will be.
Any reviewer can find something wrong with a book, if s/he tries hard enough. And many have been quick to do so here. I suppose I could as well (e.g., by picking on Iyer for not going into the implications of the faux-Utopian society Japan has created). But I have absolutely no desire to do so. The book is so beautifully and deftly written, the romance so touching and piquant without falling into bathos, that it would, to me be similar to picking at the lovely haikus interspersed herein, stylistically complementing the lyrical writing.

Yes, as one reviewer has pointed out, it is more memoir than what is called "Travel Literature"-though the boundaries between the two have always seemed blurry to me at best.

This book will be enjoyed most by lovers of poetry, lyrical poetry - such as that of Yeats and Shelley, than by readers of the "hard-boiled" school of travel writing epitomized in V.S. Naipaul's works. If you believe that poetry is the deepest sort of writing, that one can get to "know" a society or people better through a Romantic relationship with a member of that society than by doing a Sociological study of it, if your dream life is as important to you as waking life, in short, if you have a poetic nature This is the book for you!

"Everyone falls in love with what he cannot begin to understand."--Or, as Pico finds out, thinks he cannot, but through patience and love finds that he can...begin.

PS-Pico and Sachiko are still together, according to wikipedia at any event.
I read Lady and the Monk before my first trip to Japan in 2008 and liked it enough that I broke my rule of trying to find new homes for non-work books in hopes of keeping my shelves to a dull roar. I just booked another trip and am glad I kept it because I'm going to give it a re-read.
First time reading anything from this Author and I enjoyed it thoroughly as I recently came back from a trip to Japan. And helped me understand much of what I saw and felt.
Great insight into the teachings of ZEN. And also the real-life everyday social & cultural expectations of Japanese women, and their sensitivities and inner struggles with personal friendships/companionships. A Great read. Lots of colorful histories of Japanese temples and also highlights of the city of KYOTO culture. 5-STARS!
This beautiful book sold me on both Iyer and Japan. In this thoughtful volume, Iyer details his perplexing and wonderful experiences as he attempted to understand another culture. The process is not so easy! But I love Iyer's narrative. He set out to Japan to clear his head, to think, to be alone. Then reality hit, and his year turned into something completely different.

People who chose to study or live abroad are either quite brave or quite naive. Their experiences can send them to heights of pleasure and back to their own drawing boards. Iyer's frank explanation of both successes and failures in his new culture make this book a special treasure. I was enthralled while reading every page.

Although I had already been to Japan when I found this book, now I can't wait to return, not to mimic Iyer's adventure, which would be impossible, but to appreciate even more of his observations and difficulties.