Eight Dogs, or "Hakkenden": Part One-An Ill-Considered Jest

by Kyokutei Bakin, Glynne Walley (Translator)

Overview

Kyokutei Bakin's Nansō Satomi hakkenden is one of the monuments of Japanese literature. This multigenerational samurai saga was one of the most popular and influential books of the nineteenth century and has been adapted many times into film, television, fiction, and comics.

An Ill-Considered Jest, the first part of Hakkenden, tells the story of the Satomi clan patriarch Yoshizane and his daughter Princess Fuse. An ill-advised comment forces Yoshizane to betroth his daughter to the family dog, creating a supernatural union that ultimately produces the Eight Dog Warriors. Princess Fuse's heroic and tragic sacrifice, and her strength, intelligence, and self-determination throughout, render her an immortal character within Japanese fiction.

Eight Dogs is the culmination of centuries of premodern Japanese tale-telling, combining aspects of historical romance, fantasy, Tokugawa-era popular fiction, and Chinese vernacular stories. Glynne Walley's lively translation conveys the witty and colorful prose of the original, producing a faithful and entertaining edition of this important literary classic.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781501755170
Publisher:	Cornell University Press
Publication date:	08/15/2021
Pages:	348
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.06(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Glynne Walley is an Associate Professor of Japanese Literature at the University of Oregon and author of Good Dogs.

Table of Contents

Inaugural Volume
Covers and Endpaper
Chinese Preface
Japanese Preface
Table of Contents
Frontispieces
Advertisement
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Colophon
Volume II
Covers and Endpaper
Chinese Preface
Japanese Preface
Table of Contents
Frontispieces
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV

What People are Saying About This

Tyran Grillo

This is a superb and vivid rendering of a vital work that has too long been unavailable in English.

Michael Emmerich

Mind-boggling in scale and breathtakingly intricate, Eight Dogs, or "Hakkenden" is gripping, wild, and touching—a masterpiece of world literature, masterfully translated.

Editorial Reviews

It's an excellent introduction to Bakin's semi-fictional world. Hakkenden has all the hallmarks of a wonderful addition to the stock of Japanese literature available in English.

Tony's Reading List

The presentation here is excellent, beginning with the faithful reproduction and translation of seemingly every last detail.

The Complete Review

The fantastical elements of "Hakkenden" give it a kinship to those endlessly unspooling fantasy sagas by Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin.

The Wall Street Journal

An Ill-Considered Jest is, in addition to being an excellent translation and a first-rate work of scholarship, a beautifully illustrated and compulsively readable tome. Walley's translation of Hakkenden will be a game changer for scholars and teachers of premodern Japanese literature, and even this first installment opens exciting possibilities for researchers and students.

Monumenta Nipponica

Glynne Walley's lively translation [of] Eight Dogs, or 'Hakkenden': Part One—An Ill-Considered Jest conveys the witty and colorful prose of the original, producing a faithful and entertaining edition of this important literary classic.

New Books Network

An Ill-Considered Jest is, in addition to being an excellent translation and a first-rate work of scholarship, a beautifully illustrated and compulsively readable tome. Walley's translation of Hakkenden will be a game changer for scholars and teachers of premodern Japanese literature, and even this first installment opens exciting possibilities for researchers and students.

-- "Monumenta Nipponica"

Glynne Walley's lively translation [of] Eight Dogs, or 'Hakkenden': Part One--An Ill-Considered Jest conveys the witty and colorful prose of the original, producing a faithful and entertaining edition of this important literary classic.

-- "New Books Network"

It's an excellent introduction to Bakin's semi-fictional world. Hakkenden has all the hallmarks of a wonderful addition to the stock of Japanese literature available in English.

-- "Tony's Reading List"

The fantastical elements of "Hakkenden" give it a kinship to those endlessly unspooling fantasy sagas by Robert Jordan or George R.R. Martin.

-- "The Wall Street Journal"

The presentation here is excellent, beginning with the faithful reproduction and translation of seemingly every last detail.

-- "The Complete Review"

From the Publisher