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astralstreeting

astralstreeting@wyrmsign.org

Joined 2 years, 3 months ago

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Currently Reading (View all 16)

Murasaki Shikibu, Dennis Washburn: The Tale of Genji, Volume 1 (AudiobookFormat, 2019, Black Stone Audio, Inc.) No rating

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 …

I am nearing completion of the first volume.

Genji never stops being lecherous but he does develop deep connections with many of the women he is involved with. Some of the women have passed away, and Genji mourns them but never quite develops (so far) enough self awareness to change his behavior.

There is always a bit of calculating and plotting behind his actions, even if he ends up suffering for them. At one point, he even self-exiles from the court but eventually comes back stronger.

Fate seems to strike those around him, especially for his own actions -- and this is where the critique of his bad behavior is focused. Karma is also a thing but we may be left to contemplate the contents of Genji's past and future lives.

It is a 1000 year old novel and our ability to read it now is the result of centuries …

William J. Puette: Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide (Paperback, 2009, Tuttle) No rating

IF the informed Westerner was asked to enumerate the outstanding features of traditional Japan, his list might well consist of the following: in culture Nō and Kabuki drama, Haiku poems, Ukiyoe colour prints, samisen music, and various activities like the tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and the preparation of miniature landscapes that are related to Zen influence; in society the two-sworded samurai and the geisha; in ideas the Zen approach to human experience with its stress on an intuitive understanding of the truth and sudden enlightenment, the samurai ethic sometimes known as Bushidō, a great concern with the conflicting demands of duty and human affection, and an extremely permissive attitude to suicide, especially love suicides; in domestic architecture fitted straw matting (tatami), large communal baths, tokonoma alcoves for hanging kakemono; in food raw fish and soy sauce (tempura and sukiyaki being judiciously excluded as Western importations). The list would of course be entirely correct. Yet not a single one of these items existed in Murasaki’s world, and many of them would have seemed as alien to her as they do to the modern Westerner.

Tale of Genji: A Reader's Guide by  (Page 23 - 24)

This quote is originally from The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan by Ivan Morris, a book about the backdrop of the Tale of Genji. It is quoted in A Reader's Guide.

Genji himself is an irredeemable creep and I don't think the story will deliver any sort of satisfaction, justice, or redemption. Genji's plotting and scheming is interesting because it is a side effect of the serious constraints that prevent men and women of the court from associating directly. And yet people are having all kinds of illicit affairs despite these constraints. So everything is wrapped in indirection and double meanings. Most communication between men and women occurs through poetry, which is highly allusive to personal qualities, style, and other poetry.

There's a lot of necessary background information in A Reader's Guide that enriches the the Tale of Genji, making it less about Genji's sexual …

replied to astralstreeting's status

I am about five chapters in. Genji is a turning out to be a terrible creep and a jealous spirit also killed someone. It is really good so far and not at all difficult to follow due to the quality of the translation by Dennis Washburn. I also found a site called japanesewiki.com that has an excellent chapter guide and pages for each character.

Admittedly, this moved to the top of my list because I read a review from an ignorant angry man saying it didn't live up to his samurai fantasy, even though samurai weren't even a thing until almost two centuries after Tale of Genji was written. Tale of Genji will eat my summer or maybe even autumn: 70 hours of audio, and a few secondary sources to explain it to me. But I have wanted to read it for years and the Japanese Literature VSI book made a really strong case for how important it is.

Joanna Russ, Nicole Rudick: Joanna Russ : Novels and Stories (2023, Library of America, The, Library of America) 5 stars

Beyond compare

5 stars

I slowed down a bit with the story Picnic on Paradise and should probably read it a second time because of the stops and starts.

I wanted a second opinion so I tracked down the least annoying booktuber I could find and she also had a difficult time with the story. However, her take was that Alyx was experiencing estrangement and the reader is meant to follow through this experience while the character adapts (to being on a new world, with hypnotic language training). The booktuber had to pause the review because she was moved to emotion by the subtlety of Joanna's technique in guiding the reader through this. I didn't really experience this but one day I will re-read the story with it in mind.

Every other story deeply affected me. The Second Inquisition was a nice gift after struggling with Picnic on Paradise.