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A review by katemc
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I cannot believe I finished it. It's been YEARS. But I'm DONE.
TLDR I really didn't like this. Probably the most sexually violent book I've ever read. Huge historical significance no doubt but for me that doesn't make it very good or interesting or compelling.
The good:
-The insight into and portrayal of the customs of the Heian court/Japanese aristocracy from a thousand years ago was interesting. I've read very little ancient fiction so the (relatively) contemporary perspective is fascinating from a sociological and historical perspective.
-The infusion of poetry throughout. Although I know much was lost in translation, the poetry was beautiful and played a really important communicative role between characters. Not something you see in more modern fiction.
The bad: everything else?
I know it was seminal in the development of fiction. The intro was very useful in contextualizing it and I can see its value. But that (to me) doesn't make it very good fiction. It can be important as first (and likely best) of its kind, and not necessarily particularly enjoyable as a piece of fiction.
Every man in this book was a sexual predator. Polygamy is fine! Harem and marriage politics can be super interesting. This is just all about male sexual predators. It's really horrific at times. Categorizing this as "romance" is sociopathic. It's really scary from a historical perspective to think that this type of predation, grooming, assault, etc was the typical experience for aristocratic women and girls. Not that consensual experiences cannot exist, but they didn't seem to appear on these pages. It could partly be attributed to customs of modesty shaping how women were allowed to react to/in "romantic" situations (they needed to act unwilling or uninterested to preserve their reputation even if they were interested) but Shikibu's female characters aren't granted any agency or interiority to express that, if true.
Genji and the following iterations of Genji-ish men were all dull as hell. How much can you read about men described as perfect and flawless and stunningly handsome and gifted at everything they pick up? I'm reading The Confessions of Lady Nijo to contrast and her perspective is so much more interesting.
Lastly, here is a list of all the common threads of this book:
-Chasing women (often of very young ages)
-Crying, weeping, soaking their sleeves with tears
-Dying unexpectedly at very young ages (“not long for this world”) of broken hearts or general listlessness
-Sneaking off places to stalk women who aren’t interested in them
-Writing poetry and playing instruments until late in the night
-Going to the mountains
-Dreaming of becoming monks (and nuns) / "leaving the world" but almost never following through (except Ukifune)
-Pulling back curtains on verandas or peeping in windows to approach women (often of very young ages) unawares to look at them or touch them or literally rape them
-Being gorgeous and accomplished men and women who look gorgeous even crying mourning singing praying hosting etc (and its all anyone ever talks about)
Sorry for the rant. lmao
TLDR I really didn't like this. Probably the most sexually violent book I've ever read. Huge historical significance no doubt but for me that doesn't make it very good or interesting or compelling.
The good:
-The insight into and portrayal of the customs of the Heian court/Japanese aristocracy from a thousand years ago was interesting. I've read very little ancient fiction so the (relatively) contemporary perspective is fascinating from a sociological and historical perspective.
-The infusion of poetry throughout. Although I know much was lost in translation, the poetry was beautiful and played a really important communicative role between characters. Not something you see in more modern fiction.
The bad: everything else?
I know it was seminal in the development of fiction. The intro was very useful in contextualizing it and I can see its value. But that (to me) doesn't make it very good fiction. It can be important as first (and likely best) of its kind, and not necessarily particularly enjoyable as a piece of fiction.
Every man in this book was a sexual predator. Polygamy is fine! Harem and marriage politics can be super interesting. This is just all about male sexual predators. It's really horrific at times. Categorizing this as "romance" is sociopathic. It's really scary from a historical perspective to think that this type of predation, grooming, assault, etc was the typical experience for aristocratic women and girls. Not that consensual experiences cannot exist, but they didn't seem to appear on these pages. It could partly be attributed to customs of modesty shaping how women were allowed to react to/in "romantic" situations (they needed to act unwilling or uninterested to preserve their reputation even if they were interested) but Shikibu's female characters aren't granted any agency or interiority to express that, if true.
Genji and the following iterations of Genji-ish men were all dull as hell. How much can you read about men described as perfect and flawless and stunningly handsome and gifted at everything they pick up? I'm reading The Confessions of Lady Nijo to contrast and her perspective is so much more interesting.
Lastly, here is a list of all the common threads of this book:
-Chasing women (often of very young ages)
-Crying, weeping, soaking their sleeves with tears
-Dying unexpectedly at very young ages (“not long for this world”) of broken hearts or general listlessness
-Sneaking off places to stalk women who aren’t interested in them
-Writing poetry and playing instruments until late in the night
-Going to the mountains
-Dreaming of becoming monks (and nuns) / "leaving the world" but almost never following through (except Ukifune)
-Pulling back curtains on verandas or peeping in windows to approach women (often of very young ages) unawares to look at them or touch them or literally rape them
-Being gorgeous and accomplished men and women who look gorgeous even crying mourning singing praying hosting etc (and its all anyone ever talks about)
Sorry for the rant. lmao