The Great Mirror of Male Love

if you are inherently disgusted by a relationship between a 15 year old and a 45 year old EVEN IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT, i can completely understand and respect that, but i have no idea why you would read the *entire* book and leave bad reviews like "i was tricked into reading this book!"...just say "i got to page xyz and was surprised by an unacceptable age-gap relationship and had to close it! heads up!" you're allowed to close a book, my guy!that said, this is: a great translation, a great (but of course *extremely* dramatized) glimpse into a facet of edo society that most history books since 1868 have tried to gloss over, a great read, and occasionally, a great comedy (intentional and not).example:in one story, two beautiful samurai obtain a nightingale from a reclusive bird-hoarding ronin; they later return to his house and declare their love, and demand that he love both of them back. he refuses. they throw off their kimonos to reveal they tattooed his name on themselves (family name on one, given name on the other). his reaction is, understandably, "wtf lol". the samurai are sad and try to stab themselves. the ronin recants. he bites off the last joint on each pinky finger (!!) and gives one to each samurai. then they began their lovely threesome relationship in the bird house, probably for the rest of their lives.all of the stories are pretty bite-sized (uh, no pun intended), but because of dramatized and lionized self-mutilation and/or suicide (also an understandably touchy point) and some stories with abuse, i rated it as "some violence".

"Great Mirror of Male Love" is Saikaku's longest work, and we would probably recognize it as his best, if homophobic critrics had not been throwing dust in our eyes for a century or more. It does not have a continuous plot--it is a collection of what we moderns would call "short-short stories" rather than a novel. But almost all of the stories are interesting (I admit that a few are not, but only a handful) and some of them are deeply moving. As far as I know this is the most recent translation of any Saikaku work, and it was published some twenty years ago--what gives?

This book is as much a course on Japanese history as it is a collection of very short non-erotic stories. The extensive introduction and footnotes bring Japan of the era to life and give the reader an overview of an extremely interesting era. It also offers some insight into current Japanese society.

I really like the diversity of topics and viewpoints presented in this book. I originally got it as a textbook for a sexuality class, and have since kept it as part of my personal library.

not for the prurient, this is an entertaining and sometimes funny book relating the ins and outs of boy love in samurai japan. the descriptions of the boys are priceless as are the innovative ways they are chased by their admirers.

A solid collection of early Japanese stories featuring male-male love relationships.

Excellent translation of this Edo Period classic, a priceless window into a different way of looking at male-male love and past cultures.

Expecting more actually - yes many stories - but somehow felt it was narrated badly - maybe it was the translation .

That was my concern buying it. But a lot of the stories are abt adult men, just with an age difference, so one takes the big brother role.My favorite moment out of all the stories was, an older transient follows a young samurai. One morning, the samurai stands outside his tent and sees the transient. They lock eyes. They click

This book gives an insight into the "shudo" / male love aspect of Tokugawa Japan. The long Introduction is a scholarly treatise on this book and on literary conventions of that period in Japanese history. Ample annotation helps explain the many references made by the author which otherwise would probably escape a modern reader. This is not a a work of ancient porn but an extended argument for the advantages of what the author calls "boy love" (the love of youths - pederasty, not pedophilia). The author, Ihara Saikaku (1642-93) also wrote a "Mirror" about the love of women. This is a monumental translation by Schalow.

was expecting this to be a tough read given it was written in the edo period. I was pleasantly surpirised to find that it was very easy to read and follow the stories. Wish the footnotes for the story were written at the bottom of the page instea of at the back of the book, but oh well.

This brings a side of life into focus, not just the particular world of Japan at the time, but the place of male love in any culture, and it done so delicately. These stories have universal meaning though couched in a specific historical and cultural time.

. . . a must read for those interested in exploring the gay world of feudal Japan . . .