The seventh century classic novel,
The Tale of Genji by
Murasaki Shikibu is reported to be the first
novel ever written. It is not a light read, the
English translation by Edward G. Seidensticker weighing in at one thousand and ninety pages. There is also a translation by
Arthur Waley.
Junichiro Tanizaki also spent ten years of his life translating the novel from
Heian era
Japanese, unreadable by most Japanese people today, to modern Japanese.
It is understandable that many people who would be interested in reading this fascinating novel may be put off by it's formidable size so, determined to find some way of justifying the year I spent reading it, I have begun to summarize each chapter, for your reading pleasure. The book can be broken up into six sections, here is the first.
Chapter 1 Kiritsubo
Chapter 2 Hahakigi
Chapter 3 Utsusemi
Chapter 4 Yugao
Chapter 5 Waka Murasaki
Chapter 6 Suetsumu Hana
Chapter 7 Momiji No Ga
Chapter 8 Hana No En
Chapter 9 Aoi