Basho, Matsuo – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk Henley-on-Thames Thu, 08 Feb 2024 13:43:08 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/cropped-Bell-Background-Blue-32x32.png Basho, Matsuo – The Bell Bookshop https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk 32 32 The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-and-other-travel-sketches/ Thu, 27 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/the-narrow-road-to-the-deep-north-and-other-travel-sketches/ 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 a serious 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 changing, of the smell of the rain, the brightness of the moon and the beauty of the waterfall, through which he sensed the mysteries of the universe. These travel writings not only chronicle Basho’s perilous journeys through Japan, but also capture his vision of eternity in the transient world around him.

]]> Narrow Road To The Interior https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/narrow-road-to-the-interior/ Mon, 20 May 2019 00:00:00 +0000 https://www.bellbookshop.co.uk/product/narrow-road-to-the-interior/ A masterful translation of one of the most-loved classics of Japanese literature-part travelogue, part haiku collection, part account of spiritual awakening

Basho (1644-1694)-a great luminary of Asian literature who elevated the haiku to an art form of utter simplicity and intense spiritual beauty-is renowned in the West as the author of Narrow Road to the Interior, a travel diary of linked prose and haiku recounting his journey through the far northern provinces of Japan.

This edition, part of the Shambhala Pocket Library series,  features a masterful translation of this celebrated work. It also includes an insightful introduction by translator Sam Hamill detailing Basho’s life and the art of haiku, three other important works by Basho-Travelogue of Weather-Beaten Bones, The Knapsack Notebook, and Sarashina Travelogue-and two hundred and fifty of his finest haiku, making this the most complete single-volume collection of Basho’s writings.

The Shambhala Pocket Library is a collection of short, portable teachings from notable figures across religious traditions and classic texts.  The covers in this series are rendered by Colorado artist Robert Spellman.  The books in this collection distill the wisdom and heart of the work Shambhala Publications has published over 50 years into a compact  format that is collectible, reader-friendly, and  applicable to everyday life.

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