Product Description

Murasaki Shikibu’s The Tale of Genji, written in Japan in the early eleventh century, is acknowledged to be one of Japan’s greatest literary achievements, and sometimes thought of as the world’s first novel. It is also one of the earliest major works to be written by a woman. This introduction to the Genji sketches the cultural background, offers detailed analysis of the text, discusses matters of language and style and ends by tracing the history of its reception through nine centuries of cultural change. This book will be useful for survey courses in Japanese and World Literature. Because The Tale of Genji is so long, it is often not possible for students to read it in its entirety and this book will therefore be used not only as an introduction, but also as a guide through the difficult and convoluted plot.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #755651 in Books
• Published on: 2003-11-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 120 pages

Review
‘… an erudite commentary encouraging the reader to investigate one of the most important Japanese texts by exploring a plethora of ideas in a guided but open manner.‘ Forum for Modern Language Studies

Customer Reviews

A clear introduction to a dull book
The review was clear- it is no easy task to review the monumental Tale of Genji in a fair and balanced manner. However, the book failed to demonstrate or arouse any enthusiasm for the main book itself. Perhaps that's a little unfair, I'm sure it will suffice as a useful guide for those needing a guide for academic purposes.