Instruct: Classify a given review as either positive or negative.
Query: Lost in translation

I'm going to give the Lady Sarashina the benefit of the doubt and assume that there is a lot lost in translation, particularly when it comes to Japanese poetry. While the preface was interesting, the actual tale was not. There really was not much even historically interesting about it, as you don't get much detail about anything happening politically nor even how women lived in the time period. Sarashina focuses on landscapes and her feelings about her experiences. Perhaps in the original Japanese, this is more effective as you could admire her wordplay and style. In English, none of that carries through. Although this volume is short, I would give it a pass unless you have to read it for a class.