Point Epithetical Books The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 #1-56)
| Title | : | The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 #1-56) |
| Author | : | Murasaki Shikibu |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 1182 pages |
| Published | : | 2003 by Penguin (first published 1008) |
| Categories | : | Classics. Fiction. Cultural. Japan. Asian Literature. Japanese Literature. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Murasaki Shikibu
Paperback | Pages: 1182 pages Rating: 3.72 | 9927 Users | 914 Reviews
Relation To Books The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 #1-56)
A princess likes stories. One of her ladies-in-waiting is good at making them up. Over years, the lady spins a long, elaborate story containing the princess's favorite theme: hot dudes nailing chicks. Crucially, the lady writes it down and here we are with history's first novel, the origin story of Japan, their Homer and their Star Wars, the winding and weird Tale of Genji. This is around 1000 CE. In Europe, someone was writing Beowulf about hacking the arms off monsters. The world of Japan couldn't have been more different. This was the Heian Period, an effete and decadent time where folks spent most of their time writing poetry to women hidden behind screens and then weeping about the beauty of a sunrise.
Things one might write a poem about
Sea grass
Tears
Chrysanthemums
Dew
Sleeves (wet, inevitably, with tears)
Autumn leaves
The phrase "How long must I..."
You can practice this at home. Try it!
How long must I wait until iHop opens
my sleeves wet with my tears
Sea grasses bend with the foamy tide
as I bend into my couch to binge Nashville
There's almost a poem a page in this book, so get used to it, unless you're reading one of the bullshit translations that duck the poetry altogether. I read Seidensticker's translation, and perhaps skipped a few parts here and there because listen, it is lengthy. The Scheherezadian author kept tacking chapter after chapter onto the thing; it ambles on into the next generation and it ends up being like 1100 pages and I will perhaps catch up with the rest of these poems after I retire.
That author, that lady-in-waiting, we never got her name so we call her Lady Murasaki after the primary love interest for our handsome prince Genji, and here's the first thing you should know about that love interest: she's like ten. I mean not forever, but definitely when Genji first notices her and goes like "what a babe," she's a babe indeed, and this whole book is squicky as all fuck. Not like Lolita squicky? He doesn't actually have sex with Murasaki when she's ten! He just kidnaps her and saves her in his palace for slightly later, which is also not great.
But hey, he also rapes and impregnates his stepmother, so. Rape is a little murky here - encounters that seem unambiguously to start with rape evolve into consensual affairs. I don't know if this was the time or the author or what. And this is as close as we're getting to a plot: Genji seduces a series of women with various levels of consensuality.
I mean, but it's not actually that simple, and this is the wild thing about this ancient book: Genji has real psychological depth. The characters are consistent and they change over time for logical reasons. There's a certain circularity; Genji's crimes will come back around to haunt him. The book seems to have more of a handle on how a novel might operate than other early experiments like Don Quixote, and I'm not fucking with Don Quixote, it's great, but certainly the second half is on a different trip than the first half is.
So Genji isn't just a historical landmark, it's for real good reading. The setting is like nothing you've ever read before - if you want some nonfiction on the Heian period, by the way, the unanimous choice is The World of the Shining Prince, which is pretty good. The characters are memorable, sophisticated, and ambiguous. And if nothing else, it's extremely easy to parody. Genji is just constantly moping about with a guitar, writing poems on fancy stationary that's described in exactly the same loving detail as the business cards from American Psycho, while women swoon over how good his handwriting is.
it's long and weird, but worth it
Like an autumn moonrise, or my dick.Specify Books As The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 #1-56)
| Original Title: | 源氏物語 [Genji Monogatari] |
| ISBN: | 014243714X (ISBN13: 9780142437148) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | 源氏物語 #1-56 |
| Characters: | Genji, Fujitsubo, To no Chujo, Murasaki, Yugiri |
| Setting: | Japan |
Rating Epithetical Books The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 #1-56)
Ratings: 3.72 From 9927 Users | 914 ReviewsWeigh Up Epithetical Books The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 #1-56)
La poésie veut quelque chose d'énorme de barbare et de sauvage.(Poetry craves something enormous, barbarous and wild).-DiderotI would much rather meet Murasaki than I would the quirky and observant Sei Shonagon or the sexually charged, emotionally volatile, religiously inspired Nijo, fun though those two might be, as the more substantive woman of the tradition. It would take some time breaking down her barriers, but once through them the culture she'd impart would be tremendous. I know I am of aThe Tale of Genji is one of the hallmarks of classic Japanese literature - the equivalent to, say, the Canterbury Tales or the Divine Comedy or Dox Quixote - from which thousands of pieces of art, pottery and writings have been inspired. It is a sweeping bildungsroman about a Japanese prince in the 10th/11th century Heian court in Kyoto. Well, ex-prince because the emperor had to strip him of his title for political reasons. The tale has over 400 characters and is a true masterpiece of style and
Supposedly, the first novel ever written. That fact alone compelled me to read it, to check it off my classics list. Parts of it were interesting from a cultural and historical aspect, but it was long and boring for the most part. I generously gave it 3 stars because it's 1,000 years old.
If I still wrote reviews for this site I'd write a long one about how similar Genji is to Proust. How Genji is like a magical, animistic, haunted version of Proust, dreamed in the ancient world with customs alien to things I recognize, but as resonant, in a human sense, as anything written today. But I don't write reviews for this site anymore.
You know, this book is a lot of things (what 1000+ pager isnt) but its nothing if not truthful. The character of Genji can be summed up in four totally accurate lines from the book:Genji felt like a child thief. The role amused him.Difficult and unconventional relationships always interested him.Self-loathing was not enough to overcome temptation.Genjis troubles, which he had brought upon himself, were nothing new.Genji is a total pedophile. Once, in true pervert style, he grooms a little girl
This novel is a challenge on many levels. The biggest challenge of all is not resenting (or even despising) Genji himself. It is best read in conjunction with "The World of the Shining Prince" by Ivan Morris to understand the environment(1,000 years ago at the end of the Heian Period). Also read the Diary of Lady Murasaki. I wouldn't bother taking on 1,090 pages of Genji without the assistance of these works, which are much easier to digest. Also read ALL the footnotes. When this book was
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