Product Description

This is the prose masterpiece of the Heian era of the 10th and 11th centuries, which is recognized as a great period in Japanese literature. It is an account of the intricate, exquisite, highly ordered court culture which made such a masterpiece possible.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151336 in Books
• Published on: 1992-12-17
• Original language: Japanese
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1184 pages

Customer Reviews

The Tale of Genji: A Window on Japan's Magical Past
The Tale of Genji was written around the turn of the last millenium, when the Heian court of Japan was at its zenith.

Murasaki Shikibu's work has been called the world's first psychological novel and is a masterpiece far ahead of its time.

It tells the tale of the life of a Prince, Genji and how his life reflects the fortunes of the Japan of 1000 years ago. Rich in metaphor, the book can be seen as reflective of Murasaki's view of a world in decline.

More than this, though, the book is a truly educational insight into life in the Heian court - a life unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Aesthetics, social values, sexual attitudes and religion are all illustrated in Murasaki's careful, understated style. It is also rich in poetry and provides a beautiful example of the importance of poetry to Japanese society; an appreciation that has continued to the present day.

It contrasts with the work of Murasaki's contemporary, Sei Shonagon's "The Pillow Book", in both style and attitude but together they describe a society, almost unimagineable in modern times.

Seidenstecker has undertaken the monumental challenge of translating the medieval Japanese so that an English-speaking audience might enjoy The Tale of Genji, which stands alongside the finest of the world's great works of literature.

The Murasaki Question
So much has been said about Genji Monogatari: some say it is the world's first novel; others, the greatest novel ever written; others again an incomparable source of information on Heian Japan. For some it is a satire, for others a great love story. All these are probably true, but it depends on your point of view, culture and even your sex as to how true.

My reading showed me that it is one of the greatest of autobiographies. For me, Murasaki, whose own name we do not even know, is the true hero of the story. Genji himself is a cypher: yet for sure Murasaki loved him, or someone like him. In her book Murasaki stands revealed; it is one of the great acts of intimacy in world literature. She is tangible, present in every adjective, real, alive. She was a strong living personality, a passionate nature, possessing great sensitivity to nature (so much more than the conventional Heian pose) and one who loved deeply and was not able to express her love. Of Murasaki, the scholars tell us, we know nothing. But her book tells us as much as one person can tell another, and with such power that we can never forget her.

This is a book from a distant era. Its survival, composition, culture and conventions, even its authorship, have inspired scholarly debate. There is even a 'Murasaki question' to parallel the 'Homeric question', concerning who wrote the book. Homer is in fact a useful analogue, but we don't need to know any of this. Murasaki tells us all we need to know. Over 1,000 pages, 400 characters and many, many tankas, yet we never lose the way. I like to think that Murasaki never finished her book, and that somewhere she is still writing some later chapters, that someone who loved so deeply in 11th century Japan could be granted some special dispensation by those in charge.

The best translation of Genji: spare and lyrical
The Tale of Genji itself is amazing: the first novel ever, perhaps the most beautiful prose ever written, etc, etc, so I won't go into that. To talk about the translation, this 1976 one by Seidensticker is the best I have read. It's sparer and more lyrical than the very scholarly 2001 translation by Tyller.