The Pillow Book

From Freepedia

The Pillow Book (Japanese: 枕草子, Makura no sōshi) was a book of observations and musings recorded by Sei Shōnagon during her time as court lady to Empress Sadako during the 990s in Heian Japan.

In it she included lists of all kinds (agreeable things, disagreeable things, things without merit), personal thoughts, interesting events in court, poetry and some opinions on her contemporaries. While it is a mostly personal work, Shōnagon's writing and poetic skill makes it interesting as a work of literature, and it is valuable as an historical document. Part of it was revealed to the Court by accident during Shōnagon's life.

There is a film of the same name by director Peter Greenaway, which deals with a contemporary story but references the literary work.