The Tale of Genji (edition 1990)

On the surface, the language is simple and flows beautifully, and the chapters (episodes?) tend to be fairly short, so it is easy to read a bit here & there. Genji was surprisingly excellent subway read (ebook, clearly) due to the brief sections and the repetitiveness. Reading during the commute is strangely like being an avid fan of a sitcom it to being addicted to a sitcom -- both have a core group of main characters and an extensive cast of extras (some with reoccurring roles, others in only one episode), and for both, while the plot details vary, the general arc/outline of individual episodes are similar.

I suppose if I had been reading the Penguin edition with the fantastic end notes that explained the significance of the colors, kimono patterns, etc, it would have been slower going. ( )

Once I figured out how to hold this book with one hand and a nursing newborn in the other, I tore through this book. ( )

reading this in spurts at the bookstore; finished chapter 5

Stopped. Page 400 of 1120. Might resume later.

My God, I can't take it anymore. Shining Genji this, pretty Genji that. Everything is always pretty and everybody always cries because things are so beautiful. Genji has affairs with women at the rate of one per chapter, Genji has affairs with a woman who looks like his mom, Genji adopts a little girl which he raises to be his wife, and builds a nice house to move them all in. His children are all fantastically beautiful. Everything is peach fuzz. Courtship -> the affair -> then the noble ladies pine for Genji. This happens multiple times.

Of course, there is the whole matter of my being raised in a completely different time and place, and thus missing out on a huge background of cultural context. Perhaps all this could be explained. So this isn't the end of my affair with Genji yet.

I'm not quite sure, in my uninformed opinion, that Genji can still be considered a novel. There is a definite prose style, multiple recurring characters. and even some form of psychological insight. There is also extensive usage and quotation of poetry. There also isn't much of an overarching plot, just several small narrative arcs which span a few chapters at most.

Blech. I might reread one of Vollmann's novels about whores to get the taste out of my mouth.

It took a while to read, but it was worth the effort! An interesting insight into the Imperial court and society in Heian era Japan. I'm not sure I'd have enjoyed being a woman in that time and place! ( )