The Odyssey, 1001 Nights, The Pillow Book

After finishing these three readings I found myself comparing how different each of the writing styles were. It seems as if "The Odyssey" and "1001 Nights" were written in a story telling fashion, where as "The Pillow Book" was written from a more journalistic standpoint. I enjoyed reading "The Pillow Book" the most for that reason. I thought it was interesting how Sei Shonagon would document different observations on a day to day basis. it felt as if she was trying to present a guide to the reader on how people of class should behave in both public and in private. Each day that she would make an observation, more often than not, it was a negative one. After reading how strict and orderly a life Shonagon lived, I can't help but think she lived an unpleasant existence. I find it intriguing how easy it is to make assumptions on the quality of someones life by just reading their daily journal entries.