Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of …
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.
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.
