A Review Of The Magnificent "Tale Of Genji"
Thursday, March 12, 2009
By Alvin Keith Rodriguez Sanorjo
Iv-Newton

Being written by the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early part of eleventh century, The Tale of Genji becomes a classic work of Japanese literature concerning the son of a Japanese emperor, his romantic life and the customs of aristocratic society at the time. Called alternatively the world's first novel, the first modern novel or the first novel to be considered a classic; precisely which is a matter of debate by those who make a living debating such things. Nobel Prize winning novelist Yasunari Kawabata named The Tale of Genji "the highest pinnacle of Japanese literature. Even down to our day there has not been a piece of fiction to compare with it."

The Tale of Genji was written for Japanese women of the yokibito, or aristocracy, and possesses many of the elements found in novels today: a central character, major and minor characters, well-developed characterization, psychological insight, complexity, sequential events taking place upon a time line based upon the central character's lifetime. Rather than using a plot, events just happen and characters evolve simply by growing older, much as in real life. The internal consistency of Genji is a notable feature, and evidence of Murasaki's skill; all characters age in relation to each other, and relationships between them remain consistent throughout chapters.
As far as I read, I notice that there is lack of names. According to my researches, even translator had problem translating it.They are usually referred to instead by their function, role, honorific or relation to other characters; for example 'Minister of the Right,' 'His Excellency' or 'Heir Apparent.' Lack of names was a feature of Heian era court protocol, which decreed their use in a public forum as unacceptably familiar.

Actually it was written to entertain women of the aristocracy in eleventh century Japan. The novel employs Heian period court Japanese: a highly inflected language with extremely and pretty complex grammar. Poetry has been often used in conversation, as was the custom in court life, with classic poems modified or rephrased according to the situation at hand. Of the classic Japanese tanka form, the poems would have been well known to the intended audience, and are often left unfinished as if mimicking of thoughts unsaid, the reader expected to complete a word or sentence— a complicating factor for a modern readership unversed in Heian era poetry.

Unlike in the times of Shakespeare where only men are allowed to act in a play, this nove l was intended for female audience , female author and maybe female actor. All official documents, essays and works of history were written in Chinese characters and only by men, producing the paradoxical situation where men wrote mostly in bad Chinese while their spouses produced excellent works in native Japanese. Women's prose and poetry from this period, of which The Tale of Genji is pre-eminent in same manner as Shakespeare in English, form the basis of what in time became a truly national literature, as poets switched from Chinese to the new Japanese scripts for their elegant simplicity and flexibility.

It is clearly that the story revolves around the story of a young man and his romantic life. It is a good story actually pertaining to the real life of a growing man. It's pretty realistic...really.The true happenings in medieval Japan, I think. But the part where the love of his life dies(this is in chapter 40), It actually pierce right through my heart.

Even though I didn't read the whole book(p.s. it cost more or less Php1000), I tried my best to find an ALTERNATIVE. That's why there is an Internet...sorry if I copied some info on the net. I will just write the address in the end of my review.

All in all the novel was a heck of amazement to me. I've never seen a novel so life like...where teenagers like us can relate to. One thing is just disturbing in this novel. It is the fact that this novel is "boomy"(a slang word only known to higher class of humans...joke!), too sexually explicit....


This is the sites where I get some of the infos here

http://ezinearticles.com/?Tale-of-Genji:-Book-Review&id=433504
http://us.penguingroup.com/static/packages/us/taleofgenji/introduction3.html