The Tale of Genji (Dover Thrift Editions)
Masterpiece of Japanese literature written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu toward the beginning of the 11th century; it was originally published as Genji monogatari. It is one of the world's earliest and greatest novels. The Tale of Genji depicts a unique society of ultrarefined and elegant aristocrats whose indispensable accomplishments were skill in poetry, music, calligraphy, and courtship. Much of the book is concerned with the loves of Prince Genji and the different women in his life. The novel is permeated with a sensitivity to human emotions and the beauties of nature hardly paralleled elsewhere. The tone of the novel darkens as it progresses, indicating perhaps a deepening of Murasaki's Buddhist conviction of the vanity of the world. Some, however, believe that its last 14 chapters were written by another author. The translation (1925-33) of The Tale of Genji by Arthur Waley is a classic of English literature. A new translation by Edward G. Seidensticker was published in 1976.   --The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.