Saibara: Volume 1, Text: Japanese Court Songs of the Heian Period Book

I really, really wanted this book to be good. The subject matter is interesting, as any examination of folk music is, and especially a culture that the reader might not be familiar with. Unfortunately it falls apart almost immediately after the prologue which is written in a very familiar and war prose form. After that Edberg retreats into a very dry and scholarly voice that he only draws back from occasionally (this is most obvious when he examines the prisons that the youth find themselves in). While this voice is necessary, one supposes, for a scholarly article, the subject matter lends itself to a more inviting and warm voice, one that is more in keeping with the interspersed lyrics that he uses. The contrast is horrendous. That of course leads to one other note. The author should consider using better translations for the songs that he claims are representative; bad translations make the songs virtually unenjoyable and make it harder for the reader to understand the appeal. While it can be difficult to translate (and this is not at all a project I would want to undertake) when an author decides to translate songs or poetry they need to find a way to keep the rhythm and rhyme even if at times the literal idea is lost in the translation. This is especially obvious on pages 62 and 64. Immediately after telling us that cuerno de chivo translates literally as "goat's horn," which is symbolic of an AK-47, he then translates a line of song as Ak-47. "I've got a goat's horn for whoever wants to try" would have sounded better and maintained a musicality that he sacrifices. His method throws out the sheer poetry in favor of literalness, and no matter the serious nature of the work should be avoided.