千年以上(せんねんいじょう)前の(まえの)作品(さくひん)でありながら、鋭い(するどい)観察眼(かんさつがん)と共感(きょうかん)できる近代的な(きんだいてきな)感覚(かんかく)があるから

While serving at court, Sei Shonagon turned the charms ('okashi') around her, heart-fluttering things, and conversely, hateful things into essays with a sharp eye. Her sense is extremely modern, and even when we in the present day read it over a thousand years later, it remains a great masterpiece of classic literature with which we can deeply sympathize.