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The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches (Penguin Classics) Paperback – Illustrated, February 28, 1967

by Matsuo Basho (Author), Nobuyuki Yuasa (Translator)

4.6 491 ratings

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'It was with awe
That I beheld
Fresh leaves, green leaves,
Bright in the sun'

In his perfectly crafted haiku poems, Basho described the natural world with great simplicity and delicacy of feeling. When he composed The Narrow Road to the Deep North, he was an ardent student of Zen Buddhism, setting off on a series of travels designed to strip away the trappings of the material world and bring spiritual enlightenment. He wrote of the seasons changin, of the smells of the rain, the brightness of the moon, and beauty of the waterfall, through which he sense mysteries of the universe. There’s seventeenth-century travel writing not only chronicle Basho's perilous journeys through Japan, but they also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.

In his lucid translation Nobuyuki Yuasa captures the Lyrical qualities of Basho's poetry and prose by using the natural rhythms and language of the contemporary speech. IN his introduction, he examines the development of the haibun style in which poetry and prose stand side by side. this edition also includes maps and notes on the texts.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Print length

176 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Classics
Publication date

February 28, 1967
Dimensions

5.1 x 0.41 x 7.8 inches
ISBN-10

9780140441857
ISBN-13

978-0140441857
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Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Matsuo Basho (1644-94) was the greatest of the Japanese haiku poets. The vitality and flexibility his genius gave to the strict 17-syllable form brought haiku to a level of immaculate perfection.

In later life Basho turned to Zen Buddhism and the travel sketches in this volume reflect his attempts to cast off earthly attachments and reach out to spiritual fulfillment. The sketches are written in the haibun style--a linking of verse and prose. The title piece, in particular, reveals Basho striving to discover a vision of eternity in the transient world around him and is his personal evocation of the mysteries of the universe.

About the Author

Basho, the Japanese poet and diarist, was born in Iga-ueno near Kyoto in 1644. He spent his youth as companion to the son of the local lord, and with him he studied the writing of seventeen-syllable verse. In 1667 he moved to Edo (now Tokyo) where he continued to write verse. He eventually became a recluse, living on the outskirts of Edo in a hut. When he traveled he relied entirely on the hospitality of temples and fellow-poets. In his writings he was strongly influenced by the Zen sect of Buddhism.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0140441859
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics; Illustrated edition (February 28, 1967)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 176 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780140441857
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0140441857
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 0.41 x 7.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #63,172 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #9 in Haiku & Japanese Poetry
- #45 in Nature Poetry
- #639 in Short Stories Anthologies

Customer Reviews:
4.6 491 ratings

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4.6 out of 5

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dirk beasley

Basho

Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2024

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Wonderful glimpse of early Japanese culture and superb haiku !

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horse with no name

the long and winding road

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2017

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The late seventeenth century in Europe was the Baroque period, a time of empty bombast and meaningless rhetoric, at least in poetry. In contrast, Japanese poets were seeking to cast off all artifice and reduce their poetry to the bare essentials. The greatest of these was Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), widely regarded as the finest exponent of the haiku. "The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches," translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa, is a collection of several of Basho's travel diaries, including "The Records of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton," "A Visit to the Kashima Shrine," "The Records of a Travel-Worn Satchel," "A Visit to the Sarashina Shrine," and "The Narrow Road to the Deep North." Basho was no mere tourist. His insatiable wanderlust stemmed from a desire to lose himself, to become one with nature. A Zen Buddhist, Basho was on a quest for Enlightenment. Whether he was successful is beyond my competence to say. Although he often travelled alone, at other times he was accompanied by friends and disciples, and on the way he met many people who helped him--Buddhist priests, samurais, wealthy merchants. Basho's prose and verse display a deep love of nature, spiritual richness, and a sense of history. His work also conveys a strong sense of loneliness and melancholy and he doesn't shy away from the less romantic aspects of travel--getting lost, being thrown off a horse, staying in cheap, flea- and lice-infested inns. He also displays a self-deprecating sense of humor.
Those of us who learned to write haikus in school may be puzzled by Yuasa's translations, which are in four lines instead of the standard three. Yuasa's introduction explains that he found it impossible to convey the richness of Basho's thought in only three lines. The translation is highly readable, with a helpful introduction (which takes up a third of the slender volume) and notes, which are essential for those of us with little background in Japanese history and culture. A book well worth reading and re-reading.

13 people found this helpful

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Greg Fazekas

Poetry in motion

Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2022

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Reading haiku is great. So much is contained in so little. But reading Bashō, a master of haiku, as he mixes prose and poetry until there’s no distinction is even greater. Additionally, reading through and seeing his own development as a poet is a fascinating experience. The book definitely requires multiple readings of varying concentration, but whether floating on the poetry or scholarly peeling off the layers, it’s worth the time again and again.

4 people found this helpful

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Neri

Enjoyable.

Reviewed in the United States on April 19, 2004

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A book with five autobiographical travels, three of them being his expectant last journey of life, with required farwell party etc., of Basho with haiku injected by the author, his traveling companions, or persons met along the way. It was quite an interesting read on culture and the way of life in Japan during Basho's day. The book was satisfying and interesting as a travel journal and for a taste of Basho's personality and of the cultural mores of Japanese feudal society. A sense of the Japanese appreciation of nature and of symbols in nature was also conveyed. Haiku seems to embody something beyond words, natural symbols that we observe everyday captured; a sometimes great ineffable meaning in the mundane.

Some of the poetry was good, as far as the translation communicated, however quite a lot also seemed lost in translation that might have been expounded upon. Yuasa Noboyuki, the translator, and writer of the forward, might have done better by talking about these difficulties and that might have brought some light to many of the haikus. The translating haiku with all of the original sense is almost impossible, so I have been told. I also have been told that Ezra Pound expounded, someplace, on just how impossible translating haiku into English is. Noboyuki might have done better to expound on his difficulties translating Japanese haiku into English and his futile attempts to convey the totality of the haiku, which could have raised the vibrancy of some of them; it was vague effort that he included in talking about this aspect.

The poems were charming, as were the autobiographical travel stories of Basho. A good read.

15 people found this helpful

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Janis Ian

Wish it was on Kindle!

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2017

Verified Purchase

This is a fantastic book, and gorgeous translations. If I had to quibble, I'd say that I wish the author had been able to include the Japanese versions throughout the introduction. When there are Japanese versions before the translation, it's great to speak them aloud and hear how they roll off the tongue, how they rhyme, how they hang together in Japanese.
But really, the best translations of Basho I've found. Very glad I bought this.
Wish it was on Kindle!

24 people found this helpful

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Marvin Stasak

A master of Japanese Haiku

Reviewed in the United States on February 11, 2022

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If you are into haiku at all, this is a great book to explore.

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