false 7042 38 Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world's first novel. Genji, the Shining Prince, is the son of an emperor. He is a passionate character whose tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes form the core of this magnificent epic. Royall Tyler's superior translation is detailed, poetic, and superbly true to the Japanese original while allowing the modern reader to appreciate it as a contemporary treasure. Supplemented with detailed notes, glossaries, character lists, and chronologies to help the reader navigate the multigenerational narrative, this comprehensive edition presents this ancient tale in the grand style that it deserves. <br><br> Translated by Royall Tyler 2212225 book 1021 The Tale of Genji (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) total:1155|5:306|4:347|3:343|2:108|1:51| 1155 4214 2331 159 5 4 false false Sat Dec 13 09:31:23 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 13 09:40:52 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Mon May 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Dec 07 00:18:31 -0800 2008 Mon May 18 09:37:45 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 1 2 false false Tue Apr 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 02 19:06:08 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 29 21:40:05 -0700 2008
I guess the big lesson here is that it really matters what translation you get of a thousand-year-old Japanese novel. The one published by Tuttle Classics, translated by Kencho Suematsu, is terrible. At first, I figured, hey, thousand...more...]]> 0 2 false false Wed Jan 16 17:20:32 -0800 2008 Fri Mar 28 22:01:55 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 14:42:16 -0800 2009 Wed Jun 17 09:29:20 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 1 1 false false Wed Apr 15 21:46:38 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 21:51:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Dec 08 10:13:26 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 10:17:22 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon May 11 12:17:15 -0700 2009 Thu May 28 14:25:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 03 21:09:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 18 21:38:44 -0700 2009 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 ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Fri Mar 13 11:38:16 -0700 2009 Sat Mar 14 07:26:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Wed Apr 08 09:37:13 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 09:51:38 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Apr 12 15:36:49 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 13:00:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Apr 15 20:59:38 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 21:02:44 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat May 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Nov 30 18:37:08 -0800 2008 Mon May 11 19:22:33 -0700 2009
This isn't fast going, but I can say that, about 1/4 of the way through the 1100 or so pages of this version (attractively bound in paperback by Penguin), it has already been worth the $28.

Ok, I give ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jun 26 16:02:07 -0700 2008 Fri Jun 27 17:33:29 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false true Fri Mar 28 10:59:14 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 15 21:55:05 -0700 2008
the book is a bit hard to get through - becau...more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Jan 31 23:03:28 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 31 23:06:48 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Sat Dec 01 11:08:20 -0800 2007 Sat Dec 01 11:52:25 -0800 2007
At my alma mater, William and Mary, a professor once told me that my education ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 15:25:54 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 15:27:21 -0700 2007 copy I have was translated and abridged by Edward G. Seidensticker.
Normally I'm a bit "eeh" about abridgments, but in this case it was a good thing.
Seidensticker picked out the best 12 chapters from the first 15 or so. And the entire book has roughly 50 chapters. It's like ...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Jul 17 14:31:12 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 17 05:26:08 -0700 2008 Remembrance of Things Past, but even more twisty and set in a time and place as alien as the setting of any science fiction novel. The story, more or less, of a non-imperial son of an Emperor of Heian Japan, his life and the people with whom he...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=115775