This is a big, long book, but now that I have finished it I feel sorry to lay it down.
It is written like "The Diary of Lady Murasaki" and I had the feeling that the author was telling a story that she had witnessed in her lifetime, at least part of it.
It is the Court Life in Ancient Japan and its main subject for two-thirds of the book is Genji's love life,
his 1001 love stories, the one great love that he outlives is Lady Murasaky, the author's namesake.
The quality of her narrative style has deeply impressed my romantic heart. The scenes are always delicately suggested, with surroundings of perfume flowers, and music, she always describes the elaborate clothing of the ladies as well as the gentlemen. It is as if almost all of these events are happening in the inner city of the emperor's palaces. The incredibly high level of Japanese culture at such a remote time gives a better understanding of even today's difference between the Japanese compared to our Western understanding of Culture.
I had quite a problem understanding and keeping in mind the family trees of the different personalities, as they are hardly known by names, but rather by their functions in the court hierarchy. These functions are handed down from generation to generation and in the end, I could hardly remember who was who.
The only way to get around this problem would be to read the book again and again.
I would highly recommend that.

As David mused about the transitory nature of life, intense feelings of weariness and distaste for the endless, repetitive Tale overwhelmed him. How much longer must he continue? Why could he not retreat from the book and take religious vows to abandon it?

One thousand copies of The Completionist Sutra were read out on Mount Gloom. He had distinguished priests brought in to perform the sacred rites - not just the brewing of the coffee but also the slapping of the face and the pinching of the thighs - to keep him alert. All of the ceremonies were deeply affecting. David eventually accepted the fact that reading this novel at this time was his karmic destiny.

Nevertheless his traversal of this cornerstone of Japanese literature was arduous and troublesome. Many, many passages were inauspicious. The behaviors of each nobleman toward vulnerable women of every social class were quite deplorable. Their dalliances often violated prohibitions that have only increased in number over the past millennium.

Constant reminders of just how handsome, well-dressed, and fragrant these lords could be did nothing to dispel the nausea induced by their shocking displays of contempt for the Lady Waiyuso nahti or the isolated Fourth Princess Notachi no fili. The flagrant abuse of masculine power over feminine susceptibility by Genji and his male heirs can earn nothing but the eternal disgust and condemnation of the monks from Temple Hashitagi Mi Tu, and rightly so. None who act this way towards others should expect to transcend to a lotus blossom in Amida's blessed kingdom anytime soon.

Naturally there are good reasons why The Tale of Genji is considered a classic of world literature. The most convincing ones invoke its importance as a document of court life during the Heian Period, its historical relevance, and its authorship by a woman at a time when such was thought impossible.

In Murasaki Shikibu's own words (through the excellent translation of Dennis Washburn):

"A story may not relate things exactly as they happened out of consideration for the circumstances of its characters. Yet there are moments when one wants to pass on to later generations the appearance and condition of people living in the present - both the good and the bad.

If you want to be upright and proper, then you will select only the good details to relate. Or, if you want to play to people's baser instincts, then you will compile the strange and wondrous details of bad behavior. But in either case you will always be speaking about things of this world.

On the one hand, we may know that it's all silly, but we're fascinated and affected by the fiction. When we read about some lovely princess lost in troubled thoughts, we're drawn to her story...or, when we encounter a tale that makes us wonder uncertainly if what it describes is really plausible or proper, we're nonetheless surprised and amazed that it can be told with such marvelous exaggeration. Of course, later on, when we come back to the tale with a calmer state of mind, we might dislike it or think it inappropriate...yet even then there may be aspects of the story that seem as charming to us as when we first read it."

In all honesty, and given its 1,360 page count, the charming aspects of The Tale of Genji are pretty infrequent.

2.5 stars

During the course of reading A tale of Genji, a lot of jidaigeki (period Japanese drama) thta I have watched in the past decade suddenly started to make sense. And, of course, a part of Japanese culture in itself is deeply rooted in these timeless stories.

The book is written by a woman of noble class written for women of her own class. The writing is inviting, intimate and is almost like sharing a secret. Shikibu-san employs subtlety, metaphors and euphemisms to drive home a point; its both frustrating and very tongue-in cheek.

Its the writing that is inviting and lulling into a false sense of security since plot is very ordinary. With some aspects of lifestyle that modern world has come to frown or downright condemn, a constant reminder that Genji lived a thousand years ago is absolutely necessary. Once that thought is settled and is available at anytime the cringe worthy actions are glorified or brushed off, the story gets a lot easier to consume and frankly, more enjoyable.

Shikibu-san tale circumvents instability in feudal Japan and introspects on society and its people. Its a genius piece of literature.

I cannot believe I finished it. It's been YEARS. But I'm DONE.

TLDR I really didn't like this. Probably the most sexually violent book I've ever read. Huge historical significance no doubt but for me that doesn't make it very good or interesting or compelling.

The good:
-The insight into and portrayal of the customs of the Heian court/Japanese aristocracy from a thousand years ago was interesting. I've read very little ancient fiction so the (relatively) contemporary perspective is fascinating from a sociological and historical perspective.
-The infusion of poetry throughout. Although I know much was lost in translation, the poetry was beautiful and played a really important communicative role between characters. Not something you see in more modern fiction.

The bad: everything else?
I know it was seminal in the development of fiction. The intro was very useful in contextualizing it and I can see its value. But that (to me) doesn't make it very good fiction. It can be important as first (and likely best) of its kind, and not necessarily particularly enjoyable as a piece of fiction.

Every man in this book was a sexual predator. Polygamy is fine! Harem and marriage politics can be super interesting. This is just all about male sexual predators. It's really horrific at times. Categorizing this as "romance" is sociopathic. It's really scary from a historical perspective to think that this type of predation, grooming, assault, etc was the typical experience for aristocratic women and girls. Not that consensual experiences cannot exist, but they didn't seem to appear on these pages. It could partly be attributed to customs of modesty shaping how women were allowed to react to/in "romantic" situations (they needed to act unwilling or uninterested to preserve their reputation even if they were interested) but Shikibu's female characters aren't granted any agency or interiority to express that, if true.

Genji and the following iterations of Genji-ish men were all dull as hell. How much can you read about men described as perfect and flawless and stunningly handsome and gifted at everything they pick up? I'm reading The Confessions of Lady Nijo to contrast and her perspective is so much more interesting.

Lastly, here is a list of all the common threads of this book:
-Chasing women (often of very young ages)
-Crying, weeping, soaking their sleeves with tears
-Dying unexpectedly at very young ages (“not long for this world”) of broken hearts or general listlessness
-Sneaking off places to stalk women who aren’t interested in them
-Writing poetry and playing instruments until late in the night
-Going to the mountains
-Dreaming of becoming monks (and nuns) / "leaving the world" but almost never following through (except Ukifune)
-Pulling back curtains on verandas or peeping in windows to approach women (often of very young ages) unawares to look at them or touch them or literally rape them
-Being gorgeous and accomplished men and women who look gorgeous even crying mourning singing praying hosting etc (and its all anyone ever talks about)

Sorry for the rant. lmao

i hate this book only a little less than i hate 'twilight'. the historical and literary significances are really impressive (it was the first novel written - and by a woman, for that matter), and it's the source of pretty much everything we currently know about heian court life, but genji is the wimpiest, rapiest protagonist ever. he is literally so mind-crushingly whiny, childish and just plain unlikeable that in my opinion, he ruins what is otherwise a pretty compelling story.

also, he rapes more women than you could shake a stick at, and for some reason everyone's pretty cool with it because he's so physically beautiful and perfect at everything ever. this might be the first novel ever written, but it also includes the first and one of the most grating mary sues ever created.

3 stelute....dar 4 pentru efortul pentru de traducere al Angelei Hondru

Born to an official of the court, the book's author would have lived and interacted with the aristocrats, princes and ladies-in-waiting that make up this tale. As a result, the book provides a vast amount of insight into the courtly life and behavior of the Heian era ruling class, the way they addressed each other, their daily rituals, their festivals, religious events... etc.

Most chapters are episodic and the book could roughly be divided in two parts; the first one dealing with the life of Genji, his many love affairs and escapades, the second (the last 200 pages or so) with the lives of two of his descendants. I can see why some people could find it a bit repetitive, reading about Genji's constant conquests and what not, but it's also a fascinating tale about a man and his life, and the life of his extended family and also a glimpse into a very different Japan.

Royall Tyler's footnotes and annotations really help flesh out the story. Many of the events, tales and poems that the characters constantly refer to would go over some people's heads and that would diminish the experience, the book simply would not have been the same.

Advice? You better like long books and poetry (I felt like I read the entire Kokin Wakashu while also reading the book).

I’ve enjoyed listening to this abridged ed (translated by Suyematz Kenchio) of Murasaki Shikibu’s A Tale of Genji. The poetry through the story is what made this an amazing read, it was this that gave a further dimension to the earlier chapters that seemed like a pretty pedestrian tale as Genji flits between different women.

The most uncomfortable part was listening to his infatuation with a very young Murasaki, Violet here. Violet is clearly a child, but I’ve read enough history books to know that back then when a man shows an interest in a young girl it worked differently. In the last chapters of this abridged version Genji changes  to a more sensitive, thoughtful soul, who goes out of his way to help the women he once courted and let down, which also gave added depth to the story.

I will be coming back to read the full version and a modern translation. When Libby delivered this, I was so pleased. I had reserved it a year ago, and I’m glad I did as I wasn’t sure how to approach and read the full version but listening to this has helped a lot.

Video now available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFjZV...

If you’re the type of person for whom that first yellowing leaf, that first September-morning chill, sends you into hysterics, The Tale of Genji is a book for you.

If you are a hopeless Romantic plagued by Golden Age Syndrome, but you love it and are unwilling to change no matter how much grief and longing and ennui and discontent it causes, The Tale of Genji is a book for you.

If you’re the type of person who constantly wrestles with Tennyson’s words that “‘Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,” The Tale of Genji is a book for you.

If you’re the type of person for whom a cold, silent, snow-covered night fills you with a pleasure so intense that it aches, The Tale of Genji is a book for you.

If you’re the type of person for whom knowing that other people have the same questions that you do is more comforting than having answers, The Tale of Genji is a book for you.

Or if you’re simply the type of person who doesn’t want life to slip by without experiencing one of the world’s greatest masterpieces of literature, well, then The Tale of Genji is a book for you.

For me as for so many, the beginning of the rest of my life.

I went to the library and compared the Whaley, Seidensticker, and Royall Tyler translations and for me it was no contest. Tyler's which is the newest is by far the easiest to read and has a more friendly page layout, not crammed like Whaley's. If you're going to read a book this long (the unabridged version) of a thousand pages or more, then fatigue avoidance is a key consideration. I did this same process at the library comparing versions of Tolstoy's War and Peace, and glad I did too. It no doubt made the difference between me finishing and not. Tyler's seem to flow easier, compressing thoughts in a less tangential way than Whaley's. Seidensticker's just struck me as dry and lifeless. We'll see. This or Dickens' "Bleak House" are my top contenders for this year's *epic read of the year.*

Non ho molto da dire se non che sono commossa e che è diventato uno dei miei libri del cuore.