BOOKS

Notices and reviews of books, articles, plays and poetry dealing with homosexuality and the sex variant. Readers are invited to send in reviews or printed matter for review.

FIVE WOMEN WHO LOVED LOVE

by Ihara Saikaku, Tuttle, 2.75 Three hundered years ago Japan was as earthy, bawdy and creative as had been the England of Elizabeth a hundred years earlier. One of the best-sellers of 1686 was a lusty, moving, sometimes tongue-in-cheek collection of short stories by Ihara Saikaku, now elegently available in a delightful translation by Theodore de Bary, called FIVE WOMEN WHO LOVED LOVE.

While readers of ONE may have a special feeling for the fifth story. Gengobei, The Mountain of Love. these modern (they are fresher in style than most writing now appearing in our 'better' periodicals, and far more sophisticated in approach and touch) stories of illicit amour and the grand passions cannot help but bring forth reactions of kinship and sympathy.

At the age of twenty-five Gengobei had devoted himself exclusively to the arts of love though he had never once amused himself with the long-haired

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sex. Alas, in quick succession two idyllic romances with young men ended in tragedy. Having seen two lovers die he was led to quit the way of the flesh. But the Mountain of Love. had been seen and admired by Oman, a charming young girl. Determined. as Mr. Saikaku explains, in a way only young women can be determined, Oman seeks him out in his monastic retreat, having taken the precaution to disguise herself as young boy. What happens thereafter is guaranteed to disappoint no reader of either sex or any inclination.

FIVE WOMEN WHO LOVED LOVE is certainly one of the more handsome books of the year, illustrated with exquisite prints of the period. In addition to Mr. de Bary's introduction the publishers have provided an illuminating essay on the background of the work with some special emphasis on the Japanese homosexual in the seventeenth century.

For me it is a prime acquisition; I cannot recommend it heavily enough. MFB

Monthly magazine in French; literary and scientific, infrequent photos and drawings. $9. yearly. 162 Rue Jeanne d'Arc, Paris XIII, France.

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