The Lady and the Monk

Recently I was perusing through my local library and I came across the book The Lady and the Monk by Pico Iyer. It had the musty library book smell to it. I love that smell almost more than new-book-smell.

In The Lady and the Monk, Iyer, travels to Kyoto to study Zen Buddhism. He meets many foreigners who travel to Japan for many reasons - work, religion, study but most prevalent are the lonely hearts foreigners who are looking for love.

Iyer himself ends up inadvertently falling for a married Japanese lady, which he treats rather delicately in the book. He describes the feminine domain in Japan as one that he has been privileged to be a part of through Sachiko-san. She's a delightful character caught somewhere between duty and desire and her undying love of music.

The Lady and the Monk presents Japan as country full of cultural complexities. Iyer recounts the politeness of the Japanese people, their acute love for all kinds of Western culture, their sense of tradition and conformity and also their faith.

What I loved about the book was how refreshing it was, especially to read a travel book that wasn't just about jumping from hostel to hostel and painting caricatures of locals. The humour is really subtle too, reflecting on gaijin particularly. There is also less focus on "history lessons" and capturing the essence of Kyoto in the early 90's.

This book is a great pre-Japan read or even a dreaming-of-Kyoto read and I kind of wish it didn't have to end.

1 more week!