About this title: THE TALE OF GENJI, the world's first novel, was written around A.D. 1000 and has often been called Japan's greatest literary achievement. The author of this story of a Japanese prince and his many lovers was Shikibu Murasaki, the brilliant young governess to the Empress. The novel was read aloud at court and became wildly popular; its appeal has not abated in Japan, where it is still a good seller. Reminiscent of Jane Austen in its chronicling of the romantic trials of the young, it is also strongly feminist, and does not hesitate to protest the status of women at the time.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Date Published: 2000
ISBN-13:9780804832564ISBN:0804832560
Description: Good. A copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact (including dustcover, if applicable). The spine may show signs of wear. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include "from the library of" labels. ******PLEASE NOTE****** Orders placed after Dec. 7 cannot be guaranteed delivery before Christmas unless you select EXPEDITED shipping! Thank you & Happy Holidays! read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Edition: Abridged.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Vintage Books USA
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780679729532ISBN:0679729534
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. (A133_5/9)Book is in good condition. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 384 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 1978-07-12
ISBN-13:9780394735306ISBN:0394735307
Description: Fair. Tight, bright, uncreased spine, pages clear and tanned, foxing, shelf and edge wear, corners bumped, creased and curled, cover curl, curved spine with wear and bumping at upper edge, ships in a box, delivery confirmation on U.S. orders. read more
Edition: Republication
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Vintage
Date Published: 1990
ISBN-13:9780679729532ISBN:0679729534
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. A very good paperback copy, lightly used. The binding is solid and there are no reading creases in the spine. The heavy, durable cover shows only mild wear, namely some light rubbing of the edges. The text is clean and unmarked. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Donald Keene calls this eleventh century Japanese story, "not only the world's first novel, but one of its greatest. " In his Introduction, ... read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Date Published: 2001
ISBN-13:9780804832564ISBN:0804832560
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. tight copy, mostly clean on inside (there a few hightlighted pages), slight wear to cover-especially corners. Soft-bound, glued binding. 227 p. Tuttle Classics. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very good+ condition paperback. Light edgewear, crease to spine, some bumping, toning, former owner name. Translated from the Japanese by Arthur Waley. The first novel, complete and unabridged, of Lady Murasaki's classic sequence of novels of 11th Century Japan. read more
Edition: Abridged.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Date Published: 1978
ISBN-13:9780394735306ISBN:0394735307
Description: Fine. No dust jacket as issued. Beautiful trade paperback (9-1/4 x 6) with lots of woodcuts. Excellent condition-completely clean, no dog-eared pages. Sun fading on spine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 1120 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Description: Very Good. Two volume set in slipcase. Books in excellent condition. Binding is tight and square. No names, no remainder marks, no stickers. Text is clean and bright. No creases on covers. Slipcase has wear @ corners. Careful packaging and fast shipping. read more
"This edition focuses more on scholarship and language than it needs to, and risks making the translator's work, difficult in the best of times, all to visible to the reader. It's almost as though Roayll Tyler's saying, "This beast of a novel from a thousand years ago is too impossible for a western reader to understand, so I'll footnote and explain everything."
While many reviews tout this edition as more "user friendly" than the previous edition, the writing is just not very good. Royall Tyler, the translator, tries for accuracy in his translation, but as a result the readability suffers. For example, he attempts to leave the subject unidentified in some sentences (which is common in Japanese), and he goes way overboard on the footnotes.
Some of the information is helpful like the extensive notes on the tanka poetry found throughout the novel, but some footnotes are absolutely worthless: in one paragraph, we learn that the mistress of the emperor has died, leaving behind their son. In the very next paragraph, it states "Such partings are sad at the best of times," which Tyler footnotes to tell us, 10. The death of a parent.
I mean, come on, she just told us the mother died so it's obvious!!
Also a minor pet peeve, the illustrations often have very little to do with the actual story or characters, they merely give a visual of one of the many details of the text. It ends up feeling more like a textbook than a novel."
"generally considered to be the first (successful) novel ever written. i read an abridged version (wasn't sure if i wanted to get into the 1,000+ page full edition because i hadn't researched which translation was a good one). the version i read was edited and translated by toyall. it is mostly the first 17 chapters (of 54), which are concerned with genji of the title, the son of an emperor. the reader gets a really sense of what life was like in the 11th century japan (descriptions of practices, houses, clothing, etc.). what is great is how the human condition is much the same, a thousand years later: these characters are affected by jealousy, politics, ambition, etc. genji was quite a naughty boy (he sleeps with almost every female character he meets, and even adopts a young girl whom he later seduces - creepy). i will definitely read more reviews about other translations and buy the full edition some day. for now, onto the icelandic sagas..."
"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."
"Read the translated and abriged version by Edward G. Seidensticker. It was curious since this was the first novel ever written in history. I find this a very tragic tale, the whole time I was reading it, I wished that Genji would just settle with one girl instead of trying to do all of them. The reading level was a bit high for me, because the poetry at times was hard to understand. I appreciate it for its artistry though, however, I just find the main character a weak man... However, beautiful he may be..."
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