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The Tale of Genji: The Arthur Waley Translation of Lady Murasaki's Masterpiece with a new foreword by Dennis Washburn (Tuttle Classics) by Murasaki Shikubu
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 20, 2023
The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki (c 11th Century)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ + (5 stars +)
Rejoice my friends for I have finished this VERY long book. (It says 1156 pp on the blurb for the ebook but it was nearly twice that).
Anyway, the story behind the novel is probably just as fascinating as the book itself. TofG is considered to be the first true novel (although there's a lot of arguing about that too). Even if it's not, it's a prodigious piece of work written by a courtier, Lady Murasaki, at the height of the Fujiwara clan's influence (Prince Genji is allegedly modeled on Fujiwara no Michinaga - Lady Murasaki (the author) was one of his daughters).
The story itself can be summed up by telling you that women in 11th century Japan had it way worse than we do now. Basically fellas like Genji who were high born could do pretty much what they wanted, when they wanted as long as the emperor didn't frown on it.
Genji starts out as a total cad - married to a woman he doesn't like he has all sorts of affairs. Wife No 1 dies and he "adopts" a young child who he then marries when he comes of age (around the age of 13/14). (Bear in mind life expectancy even for well off types was about 40-50 years old). This girl - Murasaki - is the love of his life but too low born to be a real wife. So he marries again- another young girl - who is then seduced by Genji's chum and she's so upset that after giving birth she becomes a nun. Murasaki dies, Genji dies.
The second part of the book is pretty much the same story but with Genji's son Niao (by another concubine) and Kaoru (illegitimate son of second wife). All you need to know is that Niao is a much worse cad than his father ever was - forever getting into bother with the housemaids, ladies in waiting, his chums' women and Kaoru typifies the phrase "nice guys finish last" always getting pipped to the post by Niao.
I know it took me weeks to finish but (apart from seething at these revolting men) I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's sometimes desperately hard to tell what's occurred because the women seem surrounded by an entourage, curtains, screens, gardens etc etc so you're blithely thinking some fella has just peeped behind a screen when, the next minute, she's given birth.
It's an interesting look at courtly life. There's heaps of poetry writing, making up stories, making perfumes etc to outdo each other and ever sentence is filtered through a certain allowed way of speaking - more euphemism and guesswork than anything else. However I was pulled into this world, which is so very different and yet with so many similar behaviours.
If you ever decide to read it I'd put aside a few weeks and tackle it in blocks. It's dense (very few paragraphs), there's little dialogue and you need to keep an eye on who's who.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ + (5 stars +)
Rejoice my friends for I have finished this VERY long book. (It says 1156 pp on the blurb for the ebook but it was nearly twice that).
Anyway, the story behind the novel is probably just as fascinating as the book itself. TofG is considered to be the first true novel (although there's a lot of arguing about that too). Even if it's not, it's a prodigious piece of work written by a courtier, Lady Murasaki, at the height of the Fujiwara clan's influence (Prince Genji is allegedly modeled on Fujiwara no Michinaga - Lady Murasaki (the author) was one of his daughters).
The story itself can be summed up by telling you that women in 11th century Japan had it way worse than we do now. Basically fellas like Genji who were high born could do pretty much what they wanted, when they wanted as long as the emperor didn't frown on it.
Genji starts out as a total cad - married to a woman he doesn't like he has all sorts of affairs. Wife No 1 dies and he "adopts" a young child who he then marries when he comes of age (around the age of 13/14). (Bear in mind life expectancy even for well off types was about 40-50 years old). This girl - Murasaki - is the love of his life but too low born to be a real wife. So he marries again- another young girl - who is then seduced by Genji's chum and she's so upset that after giving birth she becomes a nun. Murasaki dies, Genji dies.
The second part of the book is pretty much the same story but with Genji's son Niao (by another concubine) and Kaoru (illegitimate son of second wife). All you need to know is that Niao is a much worse cad than his father ever was - forever getting into bother with the housemaids, ladies in waiting, his chums' women and Kaoru typifies the phrase "nice guys finish last" always getting pipped to the post by Niao.
I know it took me weeks to finish but (apart from seething at these revolting men) I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's sometimes desperately hard to tell what's occurred because the women seem surrounded by an entourage, curtains, screens, gardens etc etc so you're blithely thinking some fella has just peeped behind a screen when, the next minute, she's given birth.
It's an interesting look at courtly life. There's heaps of poetry writing, making up stories, making perfumes etc to outdo each other and ever sentence is filtered through a certain allowed way of speaking - more euphemism and guesswork than anything else. However I was pulled into this world, which is so very different and yet with so many similar behaviours.
If you ever decide to read it I'd put aside a few weeks and tackle it in blocks. It's dense (very few paragraphs), there's little dialogue and you need to keep an eye on who's who.
January 10, 2026
This is a magical experience and reading it transports you to Heian Japan (this was before the Samurai period). The Washburn translation is the most accessible. I decided to read this book after seeing Hardcore Literature discuss it on YouTube. I was in Japan at the time and watching Japan videos on YouTube. In that video, he explains how important the story is to Japanese culture and once I started reading it I could see references to the story everywhere, even in little rabbit toys wearing the Heian clothing! Written by a woman, the book shows the perspective of the many women that Genji (a Japanese Casanova) seduces. You also get his interior thoughts and, in that way, it reminded me of Lolita. Women were responsible for creating Japanese literature because they were forbidden to write in Chinese, which was then the language of the state. This is considered the first novel, it was written in 1001-1008--600 years before Don Quixote. There are interior musings and excellent character development. Don't let the length intimidate you, reading it is like drifting down a lazy river.
July 20, 2025
3.5 stars
I found this to be a very interesting portrait of medieval Japanese court culture. Genji wasn’t the most compelling character, but I enjoyed the side characters and the importance of the women in Genji’s life.
I found this to be a very interesting portrait of medieval Japanese court culture. Genji wasn’t the most compelling character, but I enjoyed the side characters and the importance of the women in Genji’s life.
December 13, 2024
The Way of the Old World Doesn't Always Make it To the New World, But You Can Still Make It Good, Or Not, It's Up To You.
January 9, 2026
So far ahead of its time I’m shocked. Just relationship drama for the whole book. Some great lines, love how they converse via poems. Crazy good realism for a book from 1000. Genji is the man
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews