If you’re looking for your next read, why not try what is sometimes considered the world’s first novel (or at least, the first psychological novel)? Written just over a thousand years ago, The Tale of Genji is a unique work of literature full of notable firsts. Originally written in the archaic grammar of courtly Japanese with numerous poetic allusions, it’s now accessible to readers around the world. But be prepared: the most recent English translation of this medieval epic comes in at around 1,300 pages.
The story centers on Hikaru Genji (“shining prince”), an imperial prince who loses his status and pursues a military career. Much of the book focuses on his complicated love life, which includes secretly fathering a child with his stepmother, Lady Fujitsubo. The final chapters of the work take place after Genji’s death and focus on his descendants, Niou and Kaoru.
Despite having a male protagonist, The Tale of Genji was written by a woman, a lady-in-waiting at the imperial Heian Court known as Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki), who also served as a tutor to the young empress. Murasaki’s intended audience is thought to have been other aristocratic ladies at the court. Written over many years, Murasaki penned The Tale of Genji in installments that appear to have been distributed chapter-by-chapter to other high-ranking noblewomen. Unlike the male authors of the Heian period who used kanji (Chinese characters), female writers like Murasaki were restricted to using kana, an exclusively Japanese script.
The challenging, puzzling, satisfying Genji:
- *Making it especially difficult to keep track of the 400+ characters in The Tale of Genji is the fact they are referred to by their appearance, status, or clothing (e.g. Minister of the Left, Heir Apparent, or Elderly Lady) rather than their proper names, in accordance with an aristocratic Heian custom. Impressively, Murasaki was able to maintain consistency in the various characters’ behavior, status, and intricate relationships throughout the novel.
- *If you make it to the last of The Tale of Genji’s 54 chapters, you’ll discover one of the more puzzling things about the work: It ends in the middle of a sentence. Scholars have debated whether Murasaki did this intentionally, with many concluding that she never had a definite ending in mind. It seems probable that she simply planned to keep writing the story, which has little in the way of climax or resolution, for as long as she could.
- *In the 1920s, British orientalist Arthur Waley published a six-volume translation of The Tale of Genji, introducing the work to English-speaking readers for the first time. Virginia Woolf praised his translation in a review for British Vogue. It has since been adapted into films, theatrical works, manga, and an anime series.
