Notes at the Head of the Bed

Sad and cheerful everyday scenes of court life. High society anecdotes (sometimes quite bitter). Nature paintings. Philosophical reflections. A transparent, crystalline language. A sharp and caustic mind of the narrator. Uncommon observance... "Notes at the Head of the Bed," recognized during the author's lifetime as an unconditional masterpiece and became a sort of "bestseller" (of course, in a very narrow court circle, but there was no other in Japan during the Heian era — not only the people were totally illiterate, but also the emerging samurai nobility), laid the foundation for a unique literary genre called "zuihitsu," more or less successfully translated as "essay," though it is not an essay in the strictest sense. In reality, "zuihitsu" consists of unrestrained notes about everything and nothing. "Pure art" in a truly distilled form, "beauty for the sake of beauty," not attempting to be saved by the twists and turns of the plot and valued for what it actually is — absolute perfection of style, which distinguishes Sei Shonagon’s prose even among the richest array of talented stylists of medieval Japanese literature.