The Tale of Genji (Vintage International)

This is a review of the abridged translation of The Tale of Genji by Edward G. Seidensticker.

The Tale of Genji was written in the 11th century by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, and its story is set in the same period. It is universally considered THE great Japanese traditional novel, and one of the greatest works of world literature.

Seidensticker's abridged translation is about one-quarter as long as the complete work, and includes chapters 1, 4-5, 7-14 and 17. These chapters hang together fairly well as a self-contained narrative that gives a flavor for the complete work. The story begins with the lady of the Paulownia Court, a kind and refined woman with whom the Emperor falls in love. Because she lacks support at court, she is hounded to death by those jealous of her, including Kokiden, the Emperor's wife. But before she dies she gives birth to the Emperor's son, Genji. Since, like his mother, he lacks influential relatives at court, the Emperor keeps him a commoner (and hence ineligible to become Emperor). But from his childhood, Genji's beauty, elegance, artistry and aesthetic sensibility leaves others awestruck, and frequently in love with him. In the period of the novel, upper-class people occupied themselves primarily with poetry composition, painting, ritual activities and romantic affairs. These affairs were largely tolerated, as long as they were conducted discreetly. Much of the novel is taken up with Genji's affairs, which lead him into near-disaster more than once. Eventually, he is discovered in the apartments of Oborozukiyo, sister of Kokiden. Genji might have gotten away with this under his father's reign, but by this time his father has been succeeded by the Suzaku Emperor, who is largely controlled by his mother, Kokiden. So the scandal leads to Genji going into exile. At the end of this abridgement, Genji returns from exile, in part through the intervention of the spirit of his father, who appears to the Suzaku Emperor in a dream, and then Genji's illicit son succeeds to the throne. We eventually see Genji returned to his old honors at court, and planning on bringing to court the Akashi Lady, whom he met while in exile and who became the mother to Genji's daughter.

One might understand Genji as a man always searching for the mother whom he never knew. In the "Evening Faces" chapter, Genji has an affair with an unnamed woman whose hold on him seems mysterious: "She was of an extraordinarily gentle and quiet nature. ... She did not appear to be of very good family." (41) This could just as easily be a description of Genji's mother. This woman dies suddenly (seemingly as the result of malign spirits), so metaphorically Genji loses his mother once again. His great love is Fujitsubo, the new consort of the Emperor (Genji's father), whom the Emperor chose precisely because she reminds everyone of Genji's mother (22). Fujitsubo is also attracted to Genji, and their illicit relationship results in Genji forcing himself on her and fathering a son whom everyone believes to be the current Emperor's (86-88). (Indeed, this child eventually becomes the Reizei Emperor.) After this, Fujitsubo more and more isolates herself from Genji to avoid any suspicion. The other major woman in Genji's life is Murasaki. When Genji discovers her, she is a ten-year-old child. He finds out that, like him, she lost her mother while young. Perhaps even more significantly, she is Fujitsubo's niece (74)! Her father still lives, but she does not live with him, and he has not shown much interest in her. So Genji spirits her away in the middle of the night, planning on raising her to be his ideal woman.

This novel could also be seen as presenting a sort of Buddhist perspective on romantic love. Genji sees the beauty in everything. This is part of the reason that he is attracted to so many different women. And in the aesthetic of this book, beauty is accentuated by its very transience. The person we love today may die tomorrow. This is a distinctively Zen perspective. But Genji is also trapped by his attachment to the people whom he loves from achieving enlightenment. Listening to a monk intone the scriptures "Genji was filled with envy. Why did he not embrace the religious life? He knew... that the chief reason was" Murasaki (208).

The position of women in Genji's society is complex. Genji says of women, "The clear, forceful ones I can do without. ...a woman who is quiet and withdrawn and follows the wishes of a man even to the point of letting herself be used has much the greater appeal" (62-63). On the other hand, the novel does have a genuine heroine: Fujitsubo. She resists her attraction to Genji and then resigns as Empress and becomes a nun, all for the good of her son. The ambivalent position of women is well illustrated by the interaction between Genji's wife, Aoi, and the Rokujo Lady. After Genji ends his affair with the latter, his wife's servants embarrass her at a public event. Then when Aoi is pregnant, she becomes seriously ill when possessed by a spirit: "It was not Aoi's voice, nor was the manner hers. Extraordinary-and then he knew that it was the voice of the Rokujo lady. He was aghast." (162) The Rokujo Lady's spirit has "gone walking" in her sleep, attacking the object of her anger and jealousy. The story clearly takes this as a serious possibility, but we can also see it as a symbolic playing out of the dangers of affairs and jealousy.

There are many aspects of this story that will seem alien or even disturbing to contemporary Western readers. As one of my students put it, colloquially but succinctly, "Genji seems like a player": it is hard to even keep track of how many affairs he has over the course of the novel. And his relationship with young Murasaki is, to be equally colloquial, creepy. She is frightened when he comes in the night to take her away, but he tells her "You are not to sulk, now, and make me unhappy. Would I have done all this for you if I were not a nice man? Young ladies should do as they are told." (103) He takes her virginity just a few years later, after essentially treating her as his daughter.

But we must also keep in mind that Genji's behavior was not regarded in his culture the way that it would be in our own. And we must recognize Genji's admirable qualities. He sees something unique and beautiful in each of the women that he has a relationship with, and does not merely forget them afterwards: "His manner as always gentle and persuasive, it is doubtful that he said anything he did not mean. There were no ordinary, common women among those with whom he had had even fleeting affairs, nor were there any among them in whom he could find no merit; and so it was, perhaps, that an easy, casual relationship often proved durable." (235) This is perhaps more than many people today could say.

It's amazing how so many of the people writing negative reviews on this book are focused on what they see as moral or philosophical content.
They seem to miss the fact that Lady Murasaki was writing in the context of the society at that time, and exploring those same moral conflicts within the reality of both society and individual consciousness. Genji is not a hero placed on a pedestal, Murasaki examines him in the most honest way, showing both the good and the bad, the beauty and the beast; and that's what makes it such a great novel. It has integrity of subject rarely seen in our modern formulas and Hollywood endings.
In modern texts the writing formulas is a hero who goes through a series of climaxes, culminating in a victory or defeat where the protagonist discovers something about themselves, but with Genji, the reader discovers something about themselves, and maybe that's too disturbing for some people.
In addition, it passes on an abundance of information on Japanese history and culture of the Heian area. It is a significant work relating to the Japanese Incense Ceremony called Kodo, of which today the most famous game is called "Genji Koh" or "Incense of the Genji."

In the book's defense, Aristotle said "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Many of the events described in this book seem unacceptable to the Western 21st century moral code, BUT neither Lady Murasaki nor Genji were 21st century Westerners.

Many cultures around the world still have arranged marriages, the arrangements happen while the bride (and groom) are still children, sometimes the groom is much older, so there's nothing really THAT strange about that. From what I gleaned Genji didn't have physical relations with Murasaki until she was old enough so really, no harm no foul.

As far as the cultural content this book was fascinating, you have to factor in when it was written that it had to be translated into English which I would assume was no easy task for any translator; sometimes "ideas" don't translate as well as one would hope.

Other than that the book was a hard read but definitely worth it, I found myself almost craving to read it if I put it down for a while. I just couldn't wait to hear about Genji's next adventure or conquest.

The poetry was also of interest, apparently it was proof of intelligence and/or good breeding (or something) at that time to be able to make up a good poem spontaneously (on the fly) and they do this often throughout the book; which at first threw me while reading, but you soon get used to it.

You can also catch a hint of the traditional Japanese culture (that I know of, which isn't a lot) and it may help with an understanding of what it's all about; in other words it is possible to make some connections between then and now.

The characters are all very interesting and Murasaki makes them come alive with her very vivid descriptions of their personalities as well as physical descriptions that aren't too exhausting. You can practically say you "know" the people she describes, you can imagine someone you know that is just like that character. Genji is so haughty and pompous, it's almost comical at times, but who wouldn't be if they were given near god status at birth? He seems almost naive or innocent, even though in reality he's far from it, almost narcissistic, but it's all good because he's "Genji", lol. You almost become narcissistic along with him - toward him, it's contagious.

It is also very humorous at times and I found myself chuckling out loud (and then not able to explain to people what I'm laughing about because you "had to be there"); you get so in tune with the culture that you find humor in the "slights" that are completely culturally based.

I was struck so many times by the similarites between "human nature" then and now, the only real differences are cultural. Their personalities, their desires, their emotions are all the same as what we are familiar with in this day and age.

This was just a GOOD book and a GOOD story, it's no wonder it has been around so long.

Sondra

It's impossible to rate this novel. It is important for two reasons. One is that it's considered the first novel ever written.The complete novel is in 50 volumes. This paperback selects a number of chapters. The story is about the royalty in Japan in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. These people did not work but received their large incomes from the ownership of rice fields. A man could have unlimited wives plus concubines, brief affairs etc. There is no explicit sex in the novel. Their society had innumerable rules about dress, behavior, decor etc. They had many gods and apparently never argued about religion. Although the women were subordinate, as in most ancient societies, they were given complete educations and were expected to know as much as a man, except that only men also learned Chinese. The author was a member of the court. Genji was the son of the emperor, who was a figurehead, as all subsequent Japanese emperors were. These people had almost no idea as to how the rest of Japanese society lived.

It sure is a women's book; someone is in tears on every other page. Yet it does get through to a common nipponophile like me. It presents a certain ultimate in civilization, an elite who communicated to each other with brilliant artistry in subtle couplets.

Interesting story - although I realized this is only a tiny portion of the 54 chapters that this story covers.

The Tale of Genji is a rare glimpse into eleventh century Japan. Murasaki Shikibu does a magnificent job describing the life at the imperial court. The story follows the life of Genji who is the son of the emperor, but his mother is of very low rank so he is unable to become an heir. Even though Genji cannot become an heir to the thrown he is the jewel of the imperial court, being talented in everything that was valued at the time including: poetry, dance, koto playing, and a keen eye for ascetics. Some could say that Genji is the equivalent of the European Renaissance man.

The good looks that the people at court thought would lead to Genji having a short life, proved to be wrong and ended up turning Genji into s true ladies man. Most of the story is consumed by Genji's affairs, which can be a bit tiresome and confusing. Genji chose some rather unexpected characters to become his lovers including a little girl that he brings to the palace to shape into the perfect wife. One good thing about all of Genji's affairs is it gives the reader the chance to read many different Waka, which are two lined poems that would be exchanged between lovers.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Japanese history, since it is written by someone who lived during the Heian period. This book is also good for anyone who truly enjoys classics because it is considered one of the WORLD's first novels. However if you don't mind lengthy books, I would recommend reading the unabridged version which has 54 chapters compared to the 12 available in this version. One plus to the abridged version is it is full of woodblock printings inspired by the novel.

this was a very intresting and hard book to follow I read it in a class a reading book. It was hard for me to keep up because of the higher vocabulary and high comedy that I did not understand.

Bought it for memory sake. it's a good book to read.

Very interesting and a very good read. The first novel in the world? and the history of the au is also of interest.