UrbanWire

My name is Sei Shonagon is written with the fluid poetics consonant with writing about a rich culture such as that of Japan. Set in modern day Tokyo, the book opens with the narrator lying paralysed in a hospital bed while she pours out her life story to her unborn child. She recounts her brief life with her parents in America that is shattered with the sudden death of her scholar father. She and her mother then move back to Tokyo where they stay with her conservative bourgeois uncle whose staunch obsession with the Samurai and their way of the sword resulted in her bedridden state.

In her debut novel, Jan Blensdorf takes readers through Shonagon's miserable life under her rigid uncle and later through her painful relationship with her husband, whom she initially thought would not insist on her being a traditional Japanese woman. Throughout the novel, Blensdorf deals with the issue of oppression and the courage to refuse conformity.

This modern-day Japanese depiction of Sei Shonagon mirrors the original 10th century courtier who authored the autobiographical The Pillow Book, in her running of her own incense shop and the counsel she gave to men behind a painted screen. The current version also, disappointed with her husband's detest of her mixed heritage and desire for her to be a subservient Japanese wife, divorces him. She then falls in love with Alain, a French journalist.

Through Blensdorf's portrayal of Shonagon, we see a side of Japan that is rarely brought to light - the role of women - and is, in that sense reminiscent, but in no way similar to Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha, having its own merits and literary style.

The language is admirably lyrical. "This is how he loved me," Blensdorf begins her beautifully crafted book. "A hand passing down the arm of a kimono, as wind might sing to water." The book's downfall however lies in its narration, which is clearly un-Japanese. Although Blensdorf's observations and descriptions of the Japanese society are sufficient, she fails to infuse the little details and subtleties that are innate to only the Japanese - take out Japanese words like 'Samurai' or 'Kyoto' and Shonagon could easily be placed in most Asian countries.

The 2 years the Australian journalist author spent in Tokyo may have given the story a Japanese veneer, but the soul is something that still eludes this book, even if its writing was motivated by her fascination with the Japanese culture.

Nevertheless, My name is Sei Shonagon is a wonderfully written story that captures the essence of the deep sadness and helplessness that Shonagon feels, lying on her deathbed. It is a lovely read that continues to engage the reader who will get drawn into the story that is Sei Shonagon's life.

Level of Difficulty: 3/5 (While the language is lyrical, the words Blensdorf uses are fairly simple)
Rating: 3.5/5