Pico's ever-mirthful mom was my first Sanskrit teacher, from whom he inherited his bemused eyes and a certain lilt of the voice. So, I was destined, perhaps, to read all his works. However, the primary reason I read this book is because, like Pico, I too became serious about a Japanese woman. Yet, like Pico, I had, in the course of my studies of Japanese classics, become filled with many romanticized and (to contemporary Japanese tastes) quaint images and assumptions concerning Japan. Like Pico,...

if i tell you that this book convinced me to never ever pick up another "travel" book again, would you get an idea what i thought of it?

I'm a bit in love with Pico Iyer I stayed up all night reading the Lady and the Monk. This is the second book I have read by Pico Iyer, the other being Video nights in Katmandu. I teach Japanese woman in Hawaii, and I can attest that Sachiko is real. Her constant tears brought me back to encounters with my Japanese friends. When the Japanese mask is removed, there is alot of repressed emotion and longing there. I am going to reread this book again. A first reading is never enough to digest Pico

The Lady and the Monk is an enjoyable, well-written discussion of the author's time in Kyoto, most of which centers around the Zen Buddhist scene and his ambiguous relationship with a married Japanese woman named Sachiko.As a longtime foreign resident of Asia I found many familiar themes in his stories, many of which center around how it feels to be out of place and the types of relationships one forms in those situations. The digressions into Buddhism and the character sketches of the monks and...

There’s a lot to like about this memoir of the year the author spent living in Kyoto, falling in love with “the lady,” and getting to know several monks. That year was 1987-88, half a lifetime ago now, and Iyer would surely be the first to admit that Japan has changed greatly over the intervening years—especially Kyoto, currently overwhelmed with 50 million tourists annually, according to: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/201.... Even so, the country and the people he describes are still recogn...

Disclaimer - I kept phasing in and out throughout the one and a half months that I took to read this book (yikes!). How much does it affect my review remains to be contested. Nonetheless, I kept marking lines that I liked (which I have started recently to compile in Markdown notes for every book that I read) and thus, I would make every effort to do justice with the author's work.This was one of my purchases from the Blossom Book House and my first book by Pico Iyer. I was not even aware of his

Pico Iyer's prose is exquisite.This is not a typical travel book.He goes and stays in Japan for a good long time,a country which has a particular fascination for him.The beauty and elegance of the book lies in the writing.Not much happens,it is mostly Pico's musings on Japan,Zen Buddhism,the beauty of the changing seasons and his friendship with a Japanese lady,Sachiko San.The lady would eventually become his wife.This is a book to be read slowly,and to be savoured,over and over.I read it twice....

it's generally understood in Japan-specialist circles that books on Japan, and indeed Japanese authored fiction, generally fall into two categories: the books on the illusion of Japan (1) or the books on the gritty reality (2). it's considered a mark of taste to prefer the latter; you are 'daring,' 'hard,' 'tough,' perhaps 'manic,' 'mean,' 'cool,' or 'strict' to find, review, read, enjoy the underbelly stories; the stories about criminals, drug-use, beatings, the underclass, the poor, the weak,

This book was first published in 92. But there are still so many facets of Japan that I recognise. I didn't realise at first that this was a true story (something I've done before) but the fact that this story is told through the author's own eyes and all about his own experiences makes it all the more readable. People keep referring to Pico Iyer as an 'astute observer' whenever you read reviews. But it's true. And he is, but with such effortless poeticism. Loved this read. Would recommend to an...

I read this to get some insight on Kyoto which I will be visiting soon. This is an autobiographical story about the author's year in Kyoto and his relationship with a woman there. He talks a lot about woman's place in Japanese society. This is, of course, only one person's opinion but it is worth reading and provides insight that you may not find elsewhere. It is very well written and makes many references to poems, paintings, and literature -- most of which I was familiar with -- but not all.It...

I'm a fan of the author, but this slow travelogue is not working for me at the moment. About 20% done, I find myself reluctant to pick it back up, so I'll shelf it on my DNF pile, fully expecting that I'll revisit it some day in the future when I'm more in the mood for a meditative reflection of life in Japan.

I may be biased because I am actually interested in living in Japan at some point, but I feel like Pico Iyer's The Lady and the Monk is a mostly forgotten classic in the vein of travel writing. I had never even heard of it before chancing across it while perusing writings about Japan at Powell's. I picked it up because I had just applied for a teaching position in Japan (which I was subsequently denied) and wanted to read different accounts of life over there. What I discovered was a combination...

I have a dreadful habit of starting books never to get around to finishing them, but decided to finish all the books I have started this year before Jan 1st rolls by, which is why I picked up this book again. Having put it aside for a couple of months I found it more enjoyable when picking up the second half of the story, but it still left a lot wanting. My older brother (who is the person who first suggested I go to Japan to work) has read it and apparently been to see the monk written about ea...

“Her feelings were so strong, and her opportunities for releasing them so limited, that they came out in torrents, poured into the unlikeliest of vessels. One of them was me.” Pico Iyer had long had a fascination with Japan and their culture. In the mid 80's he set out to live for a year in a monastery, exploring Zen Buddhism and the culture of Kyoto. But then he met Sachiko. To this housewife with two busy children and a distant husband, Pico appeared exotic and full of freedom - and little by

A friend I greatly respect recommended this book as one of his favorites. He loaned his book to me with the knowledge that many friends never return it. He dutifully goes out to replace the copy, happy he has shared it with them. Perhaps it is because I am entangled in Japanese culture through my husband, but I did not like Iyer's descriptions of Japan. His complete absence from the narrative left a gaping hole in his constant, and haphazard, observations of Japan. The story zig-zagged in an inc...

Some gorgeous and evocative writing, but ultimately I felt this book wasn't genuine. While the author pretends to be exploring Zen Buddhism, he's actually having a delicate but unquestionably adulterous affair.Since the book was written in the nineties, I also felt some of its observations on Japanese culture were dated. Not that this is the author's fault, of course. One can't expect prescience. However, my own travels in Japan, more recently, seem to contradict some of his generalizations.

In the autumn of 1987, Pico Iyer begins his journey into Japan, one that would last a full cycle of seasons. Depending on the prism you choose to see it through, the book could be many things. It could be a travelogue, though quite different from any I have read yet, and yet one that not only dispels any 'second-hand' notions (eg. the Japanese' take on Kurosawa was surprising) but also captures the nuances of a place unknown to me, in a very sensitive manner.It could be the journey and yearning

I read this shortly after I started dating my boyfriend, because he was writing a paper that needed to reference it. I had actually just read Sei Shongon's Pillow Book, and the comparison that the author made internal to his book was completely terrible. Awful, totally missed the point, and may not have even read the treasured classic. Perhaps the cliff-notes. Total disregard for the nuances of the history and culture around him.What I drew from this book was that the author may in fact be a ter...

There is lucidity in Iyer's writing that flows with onset of autumn in Kyoto. At places the prose is poetic and draws you in. Iyer hasn't held back his perception of the place and his philosophy. His self deprecation cannot be pitied for long as it morphs to thinly veiled racism. Its a journey where his thought process changes progressively as Japan stops being an illusion.To an extent this non-fiction further motivated me to check out Japan and the beauty it has to offer. Yes, Iyer goes for a c...

True story of how Pico met his wife in Japan. Filled with lots of funny observations. The following are some of my favorite quotes from the book:From when Pico answers the casting call:"All of us got up, and I cast an eye over my rivals: an aging Brit, who had recently starred in another sexploitation movie, thanks to an earlier Tsukimoto casting call; a phlegmatic, tanuki-bellied Israeli with a walrus mustache and a look of deepest sorrow; a sour, balding American in a green down jacket, who lo...