Comments | reading_genji: Chapter 1 Notes

sub_divided in reading_genji

Chapter 1 Notes

Mar 08, 2006 19:20

I read Arthur Waley's translation of chapters 1-10 last summer, but since it's been so long, and since supposedly Waley's version is more a romance novel inspired by the Tale of the Genji than an actual translation, I thought that rather than continue I'd start over with a different translator.

Stedensticker was slightly cheaper, so that's who I'll ( Read more... )

tr:waley, tr:seidensticker, ch01

Comments 8

telophase March 9 2006, 02:12:28 UTC

The Heian court did indeed tend to be young - from what I remember, as part of their campaign to remain the power behind the scenes the Fujiwara family pressured the emperor to abdicate in favor of his son at a very early age, so you had boy and teen emperors for the most part, with the retired emperor being in his late 20s and early 30s.

In The Confessions of Lady Nijo, a Heian diary, Lady Nijo is married to the retired emperor GoFukakusa, who'd abdicated in favor of his brother at 16. (Wikipedia entry.)

telophase March 9 2006, 02:13:36 UTC

* So if you're looking at the bit where the ladies are tormenting Murasaki and thinking, "Man, this is so highschool" ... yup.

kate_nepveu March 10 2006, 01:34:16 UTC

Good point about "pine", and thanks for posting--I've got a cold _AGAIN_ and I just can't deal with Genji when I'm sick, but I've been feeling very guilty about not reading or posting.

edonohana March 10 2006, 22:00:39 UTC

Me too. But I will be back soon!

edonohana March 10 2006, 22:01:08 UTC

Signed in on wrong journal, oops.

imiteshun January 9 2008, 07:09:04 UTC

Thank you, thank you, thank you. We've just started reading the unabridged version by Royall Tyler in my Japanese lit class, and after reading two chapters I knew it was going to drive me nuts if I couldn't find some sort of summary to have handy for when I need to review! I just happened to come across your page through google, and I'm very, very happy to see it!

sub_divided January 9 2008, 20:10:13 UTC

You're welcome! I'm glad you found this helpful. ^^; Sadly, I didn't stick with the project to summarize/comment on the book -- I only made it to chapter four -- but some of the other members managed more, and you can find a links to everything that's been done at the Reading Genji Wiki.

portinari May 30 2008, 21:56:40 UTC

I've heard that in the original Japanese it's clearer that the story takes place in the distant past. Murasaki makes references to characters playing old fashioned instruments, the emperor isn't named, etc. But before you mentioned it, I'd never noticed how similar it is to a fairy tale!

It's interesting to hear your comparisons between the Seidensticker and Waley translations, I only have access to the Royall Tyler version.