THE PILLOW-BOOK OF SEI SHONAGON Translated by Arthur WaleyHoughton Mifflin ($2.50). The Tale of Genji, recently done into English, revealed a highly sophisticated civilization in loth Century Japan. Lady Murasaki's novel is fiction glossed with decadent romance, but her accuracy of atmosphere and circumstance is corroborated by this loth Century Japanese diary. Sei Shonagon was in the service of Empress Sadako at the elaborate court of Heian. Not the least of her qualifications for the post was her handwritingthe cult of calligraphy amounting almost to a religion at court. Love affairs...
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