A review by revellee
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

2.0

I hesitate to give this book an unfavorable review because of its literary significance, but... It's a pretty lackluster story with a reprehensible main character. The wonderful and faultless Genji basically rapes his way through all the ladies of the court who in some way remind him of his mother and stepmother. He even fathers a kid with his stepmother. He is so awful to his wife yet in the eyes of the narrator redeems himself because he realizes how great she was after she dies in childbirth and thus vows to take extra special care of his child. He also kidnaps a young girl who he "molds" into his ideal concubine and forces himself on her when she's a bit older, but still really a child who thought of him as a father. Ugh. I know this is a story about a guy in the 11th century, but that doesn't make his treatment of women okay.
I did find the way everyone interacted through hand written poetic notes pretty interesting and the superstitions and religious ceremonies described are an interesting look into this time.