Genji is the favorite son of the emperor but also a man of dangerously passionate impulses. The Heian era (794-1185) is recognized as one of the very greatest periods in Japanese literature, and The Tale of Genji is not only the unquestioned prose masterpiece of that period but also the most lively and absorbing account we have of the intricate, exquisite, highly ordered court culture that made such a masterpiece possible. ![]() "Not speaking is the wiser part, And words are sometimes vain, But to completely close the heart In silence, gives me pain.In the early eleventh century Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, wrote what many consider to be the world’s first novel, more than three centuries before Chaucer. Condensed, it's a quarter length of the unabridged text, making it perfect for readers with limited time. This version by Kencho Suematsu was the first-ever translation in English. This book has influenced not only generations of courtiers and samurai of the distant past, but artists and painters even in modern times-episodes in the tale have been incorporated into the design of kimonos and handicrafts, and the four-line poems called waka which dance throughout this work have earned it a place as a classic text in the study of poetry. The Tale of Genji follows Prince Genji through his many loves and varied passions. ![]() Genji is also a master poet, dancer, musician and painter. Prince Genji manifests what was to become an image of the ideal Heian era courtier gentle and passionate. Lady Murasaki Shikibu and her tale's hero, Prince Genji, have had an unmatched influence on Japanese culture. Written centuries before the time of Shakespeare and even Chaucer, The Tale of Genji marks the birth of the novel-and after more than a millennium, this seminal work continues to enchant readers throughout the world. The most famous work of Japanese literature and the world's first novel-written a thousand years ago and one of the enduring classics of world literature. "Not speaking is the wiser part, And words are sometimes vain, But to completely close the heart In silence, gives me pain." -Prince Genji, in The Tale of Genji … ( more) ![]() ![]()
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