"This is a truly enlightening critical study, which puts flesh on an affiliation between islands at the opposite ends of the immense Eurasian landmass, and the commerce between their poetic traditions... it is various, and engaging, and culturally sophisticated, and scholarship which operates at the level of the word as well as at the level of culture." Australasian Journal of Irish Studies "...commendable in its attention to the fertility of the poetic ground created by Japan's influence on Ireland, and authoritative in its knowledge of both poetic cultures." Iain Twiddy, Journal of Irish Studies "Probably, in the West we are not thoroughly aware of the fact that Japanese aesthetics has influenced European and North American taste to a significant degree. This is why De Angelis' book is important. It testifies to the weight that Japanese culture has had in the shaping of much Western poetry... De Angelis' research is extremely well accomplished. She deals with a wide and varied selection of Irish poets, whose work she analyses with a well versed knowledge in Japanese poetic structures and conventions... De Angelis' book is filled with beauty and is a pleasure to read. She guides the reader through the discovery of an aspect of Irish poetry that is probably not so well known. Most importantly she manages to highlight the impact that Japanese poetry has had on contemporary Western poetry at large. Her approach is crisp and fresh like the poetry she investigates. Moreover, through her description of the 'Japanese effect', we are introduced to the specificities of some contemporary Irish poetry, i.e. its political engagement, which is not limited to Irish troubles, and its preoccupation with aesthetics, balance and reticence." Arianna Gremigni, Studi irlandesi. A Journal of Irish Studies
