Journal of a Sabbatical

April 17, 2001

reading

National Poetry Month Poet of the Day:
David Budbill (a.k.a. Judevine Mountain)

Today's Reading: Claws and Effect by Rita Mae Brown

Today's Starting Pitcher:
Tomo Ohka

I finally finished Bayard Taylor's A Visit to India, China, and Japan in 1853 or whatever it's called. It's more about India and China and Loo-Choo than about Japan, but he was there with Commodore Perry in the Black Ships and he wrote well. Taylor traveled and saw things in India and in Loo-Choo (by the way I have no idea where/what Loo-Choo is - can anybody tell me the modern name?) but in Japan he mainly witnessed Perry presenting the President's letter to the authorities and taking soundings of the harbor. All the interesting botanizing and stuff took place later on Perry's second trip. Plus, I have a feeling that since the Navy took possession of all of Taylor's notes, he was constrained in what he could write about it. I realize that now I will have to read Perry's journal of the trip... that's gonna hafta be a library one because I could never afford to buy a copy. This antiquated book thing is going to bankrupt me someday.

In other 19th century foreigners in Japan news, Isabella Bird's Unbeaten Tracks in Japan is back in print. Alleluia. In paperback yet. I can tell what I'm going to be reading on the plane to Budapest. I do have sort of a bizarre tradition of on-the-plane reading of travel books about countries other than the one to which I am headed. The weirdest instance of that was when I started Henry Miller's Colossus of Maroussi on the way home from Ireland and finished it on the way to Japan the following week. Boy was I ever surprised not to wake up in Greece!