The tale of the bamboo cutter (10th century)

I got a lovely, yet distorted and imperfect, peek into Japanese culture by reading the “The tale of the bamboo cutter.” It is a mystical folk tale from the tenth century. It was retold, i.e. set into modern Japanese by Yasunari Kawabata, then translated to English by Donald Keen. I called my access “distorted and imperfect” because of the double filter of the multiple translations the story reached me. That was the smaller problem in the access. The bigger was my lack of cultural reference. Before fully understanding this story (even its modern English version) I should have studied Japanese culture, including that of the 10th century. Without that it just remains a story.

But a thoroughly exciting, thought provoking and charming a story. It centers around a woman, a princess, who was found and brought up by a humble bamboo cutter. She is mysterious and her beauty is known throughout the land. She, however, is not willing to marry and her long time suitors slowly abandon the idea to get her. Except five of them. Their names and high ranks are all spelled out in details. Upon her father’s insistence she gives them challenges, promising to marry the one that accomplishes it. But they are quite impossible tasks. Could you get the stone begging bowl of the Buddha from India, a jewelled branch from paradise, the robe made of the fire-rat fur of China, a jewel from the dragon’s neck or the “easy-delivery charm” of the swallows? I didn’t think so. Neither could I.

Nevertheless the dignitaries set out and return one by one saying that they have done what they were asked to do. She learns that they all cheated one way or another, thus she remains single. Next the emperor wants her and sets up an elaborate scheme to get to her. He manages to meet her, but not to get her hand. As the full moon approaches she unveils her arcanum that she was cast off from the Moon for a past sin, but now her penance is over and she can return. The emperor’s soldiers try to prevent the moon people from getting her, but they fail.

This is the story in a nutshell (or bamboo reed if you prefer) but the beauty of story is hidden by the summary. It is the poetry and the allegories that make the book exciting and suggests themes that are waiting to be unpacked. Messages and riddles in rhyme flying back and forth between the characters. Each chapter purports to uncover the origins of a particular folk saying by attributing it to elements in the story. These are untransferable by a simple review/reflection as mine.

I have to mention that the visual design of the book was phenomenal. Masayuki Miyata’s illustrations seemed both modern and ancient at the same time, fitting perfectly the edition I was perusing. The bilingual book contained the Japanese text on the left, including for the preface, written by the translator and the whole text. There is a 17 page long Japanese only text at the end, which I assume is the original version of the tale. This is followed by a brief profile of the modernizer, translator and illustrator; again I both languages. It was a joy to hold and read this book.

The book @ Amazon.com

Casti: The one true platonic heaven (2003)

I’ve never been this happy for being tricked. A few weeks ago, when I was at the library, I saw a book prominently displaced in the science fiction section. I didn’t have a lot of time and the title and subtitle looked interesting and seemed to be on the kind of topic I would enjoy, so I grabbed the book and checked it out. John L. Casti’s “The one true platonic heaven: a scientific fiction on the limits of knowledge” had plenty of science and a little fiction in it, but I certainly wouldn’t have categorized it as science fiction. It is more of a speculative fiction.

The set up is simple: it follows fictional conversations of some of the greatest minds of the 20th century: John von Neumann (or as known in Hungarian Neumann János), Albert Einstein, Kurt Gödel, J. Robert Oppenheimer, Lewis L. Strauss, and a host of other dignitaries. What is common in them that they all worked at point or another at the “Institute for Advanced Study” (IAS), an institute at Princeton dedicated to the pursuit of pure knowledge. What is fictional in the book is that they didn’t necessarily work there at the same time. But it made better dramaturgy to have them all share their minds on the same topics.

The book purports to follow discussions about the limits of knowledge, first theoretical (what the limits could be) and then moral (what they should be). I have to admit it was a challenge to read this book. I read it slowly, making sure that I understood each sentence and paragraph. That was hard work as there was a lot of theory in it. I felt proud of myself that I managed to grasp the concepts and, I believe, the meaning of everything that was said. They contained lots of high level abstractions. However when I wanted to summarize for myself a chapter’s message, or what an individual character represented I was in trouble as that required an even higher level of abstraction, which I just couldn’t devote enough time during my regular days. If I were still at school and wouldn’t have to work, take care of family and myriads of other things I think I could have done that. But with the time limits and distractions of my personal pursuit of pure knowledge I couldn’t. Nevertheless I am happy that I moved those brain muscles that haven’t worked much since highschool, those that do high level math.

On a lower level, the plot revolves around two topics. Should the IAS change Gödel’s status from a member to a professor and should the IAS allow and support Neumann to build a computer. These are the rallying points that the scientists and administration converse about that are easier to follow. Another nice digestible and enjoyable part of the book is the physical and mental description of the main characters. Reading that increased my knowledge of popular science, for which I am grateful. I also have now a sense of what each of them contributed to science. This is why I am happy despite being tricked into reading this book by the library’s miscategorization.

The book @ Amazon.com