The Book of Tea

Penguin Classics

Brought to you by Penguin

This Penguin Classic is performed by Japanese actor Sadao Ueda, known for his appearances in Spectre, London has Fallen and What We Did on Our Holiday.


For a generation adjusting painfully to the demands of a modern industrial and commercial society, Asia came to represent an alternative vision of the good life: aesthetically austere, socially aristocratic, and imbued with spirituality. The Book of Tea was originally written in English and sought to address the inchoate yearnings of disaffected Westerners. In a flash of inspiration, Okakura saw that the formal tea party as practiced in New England was a distant cousin of the Japanese tea ceremony, and that East and West had thus "met in the tea-cup."

Beautiful and peaceful

Illumined Laziness

Tea fills his belly
The warrior rests his arms
No one dies for now

As much a masterpiece as the art to which it is dedicated

The Book of Tea is a tribute to tea, but far more than that. It is a poetic masterpiece itself, covering a variety of topics that he relates to tea-making: architecture, art, literature, poetry, government, religion, culture, and philosophy.

The narrator does an exquisite job. His pacing, pauses, and enunciation are perfect. His Japanese accent provides a much more authentic sound considering the fact that the author is often critical of Western culture and values. To be fair, though, the author is also occasionally critical of Eastern ideals and of humanity in general.

All in all, both the book and the diction and delivery of the narrator are golden works of art.