โ Scribed by Shikibu,Murasaki
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Genji Monogatari (The Tale of Genji) is the world's earliest novel and the most famous work in Japan's literary history. It remains the finest portrayal of court life in the classical Heian period, some ten centuries ago. The author, Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki) was a member of the celebrated Fujiwara clan, which virtually created the history and culture of the Heian age.
The novel has for its theme the many loves of the radiantly charming Prince Genji, son of the emperor and paragon of the ladies of the court. But its underlying motif is the fleeting nature of life in a transient world of beauty and grace, of love and enmity. It is an incredibly absorbing tale, distinguished by the author's amazing insight in her treatment of human personality and human
events. Its diversity of characters and its subtle inquiries into the meaning of life make it one of the most significant and memorable of books. Some have compared it with Proust's Remembrance of Things Past, and...
๐ SIMILAR VOLUMES
Table of Contents; Introduction to the New Edition; Introduction by the Translator; I. The Chamber of Kiri; II. The Broom-Like Tree; III. Beautiful Cicada; IV. Evening Glory; V. Young Violet; VII. Maple Fete; VIII. Flower-Feast; IX. Hollyhock; X. Divine Tree; XI. Villa of Falling Flowers; XII. Exile
Centuries before Shakespeare, Murasaki Shikibu's _The Tale of Genji_ was already acknowledged as a classic of Japanese literature. Over the past century, this book has gained worldwide acceptance as not only the world's first novel, but as one of the greatest works of literature of all time. Th
""A graceful, lucid translation of the world's first, and one of its greatest, novels."...Alan Tansman, University of California, Berkeley. Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian Period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji...widely considered the world's f