Litsy

mhillis

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

Here we go again! Looks like I‘m only 40 days behind 😂
#genji13

mhillis @Lindy #genji 6y

Lindy Keep going! I finished the last chapter today because I couldn‘t wait until tomorrow. It‘s an amazing novel. 6y

Liz_M 40 days? No problem, the chapters are short, right? 6y

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mhillis @Lindy I will! I plan to check the group‘s posts as I read too. It really is interesting so far. Hope you‘ll have a good trip to Japan!! 6y

mhillis @Liz_M Yeah, only like 1000 pages to go!! 😂 6y

Lindy @mhillis 😘✈️⛩👍 6y

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CindyMyLifeIsLit

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

“‘She‘s getting above herself with these superior airs.‘ Genji was irritated and resentful. ‘When a courtship has gone as far as ours, it is customary for the woman, even one whose high status makes her difficult to approach, to set aside her stubborn willfulness and yield,‘” (305). Is this the ancient Japanese equivalent of “but I paid for your dinner!”? 😂
#genji #genji13

Lindy

Lindy Something like that. 😏 6y

43 likes1 comment

saresmoore

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

Oh, poor Genji is faced with such vexing decisions, even in exile!

#Genji #Genji13 #🤦‍♀️

emilyhaldi What a predicament! 6y

Faibka Wow, I just finished chapter 3 and he‘s still up to his silly shenanigans on ch 13? Lol (edited) 6y

batsy @Faibka He has occasional moments of reflection, but then he reverts back. He's a man, after all 😬😂 6y

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Lindy Genji has generated much eye-rolling on my part. It continues through chapter 14 too. I think his outrageous behaviour might be part of this novel‘s continuing appeal. 6y

saresmoore @Lindy I think you‘re right about the appeal, on many levels. 6y

Faibka @batsy Lol, true. 6y

Faibka @Lindy @saresmoore Lol, the more I read the worse his behavior is. And he knows he‘s doing wrong but he just can‘t help himself, maybe in that way he‘s a bit more relatable. 6y

saresmoore More relatable and, I think, more believable (unfortunately). @Faibka 6y

Lindy @Faibka @saresmoore @batsy I agree. Genji was too good to be true, blinding everyone with his shining light, so all of his bad behaviour makes him more human. 6y

Faibka @Lindy @saresmoore also he‘s young, handsome, high ranking/rich. He gets away with it because others let him. How many times he has flashed his “beautiful smile” and he is forgiven? He‘s very childish in many ways because of that, I think. 6y

batsy @Faibka That's a great point and a key one, I think. They wouldn't get away with it if they weren't allowed, but they are allowed, and admired. Looks, money, ranking. Not so different from our world; now it's the celebrities who are in a world/planet of their own. 6y

Faibka @batsy yup, exactly. Maybe that‘s also what is so fascinating about this book, it reflects an outdated world yes, but we can still see some of the flaws still present today, both at the individual and societal level. 6y

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

“He was indeed a common peasant, such a one as in old days would have been unceremoniously bundled out of Genji‘s path. Now Genji found himself welcoming the fellow as an equal, and commiserating with him upon his plight.” #Genji13
Quite a change from chapter 4 in which Genji was irritated by the “uncouth sound of peasant voices.” So, I think we are witnessing some growth in Genji‘s character.
(Internet image)

Lindy The other thing that bugged me in #Genji4 was his irritation at the sound of threshing mills (that gave him rice on his table) and the thud of the bleacher‘s mallet (that provided his fine clothing). @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit 6y

saresmoore In Washburn‘s translation, this passage describes Genji as viewing such a person as less than human. I think the author must have had somewhat of an awareness of this typical, oblivious, top-of-the-food-chain, noble worldview, though she was a member of the nobility, herself. Maybe? She presents her story so objectively, it‘s difficult to discern what (if any of it) is socio-political commentary. 6y

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

This post contains spoilers

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“His misfortunes were still weighing heavily upon his mind & he was in a mood for prayer & fasting rather than for any gallant diversions.… Moreover, he would not have dreamed of doing anything [to betray Murasaki].”
So he jumps on a horse to court someone new & get her pregnant. Genji will never change. #Genji13
@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit

saresmoore Yep. When I read that sentence about his faithfulness to Murasaki, I confess, I had a hopeful moment. 6y

Lindy @saresmoore 👯‍♂️ 6y

bookandcat GENJI IS SUCH A JERK AGH 😂 6y

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Lindy @bookandcat Hahaha… Agreed. 6y

batsy Ahahaha I too highlighted this and made a note: "Predictable Genji!" Like @saresmoore I had a moment of hope at the start. Interesting that later, this comes up: "Genji was torn now by conflicting emotions: Why do I allow myself—now as in the past—to risk my position with these reckless affairs?“ But it's also quite telling that he's worrying about his rank more than the human cost of these affairs... 6y

Lindy @batsy We‘re still with team Kokiden. 6y

batsy 😂 6y

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

“He thought her in fact the most disagreeable young person whom he had ever met.”

Isn‘t this how many a romance novel begins? #Genji13

@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

Reference to a leech baby piqued my interest. Google tells me this child was a result of an incestuous relationship between two gods. 🤔Genji sleeping with his stepmother or one of his cousins? #Genji13

Photo & more about the leech child here: http://mooninthewater.net/aikido/2012/04/21/myth-izanagi-izanami/

@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit

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Lindy

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

Good question, Akashi maiden! I‘ve been wondering the same thing. 🤔 #Genji13

@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

I like that Genji‘s dead father is looking out for him from beyond the grave, even though he‘s been very busy in the afterlife, going about the business of proving that he hasn‘t done serious harm to anyone.
There are important portents in #Genji13 !
(Internet photo)
@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit

saresmoore Haha! Well said! 6y

batsy I love how this was depicted. His father was all, "I'm so very busy defending myself in the afterlife and am very tired, but I will float on to the capital to speak to Suzaku on your behalf"... lol. 6y

Redwritinghood I love that picture. 6y

Lindy @batsy @saresmoore It‘s fair to say that my interest in this novel isn‘t flagging at all. 😁 6y

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

Waley translation: “the old man poured out an endless stream of inconsequent but flattering remarks, which would be wearisome to read. I am conscious indeed that the whole of this section is rather a bundle of absurdities.”
Tyler translation: “The Novice talked on and on about all sorts of things, but never mind. Having got wrong everything I have written, I must have made him seem even odder and more foolish than he was. #Genji13

TheWordJar, dylanisreading, Daisey, rockpools, Faibka, SoniaC, mhillis, bookandcat, llwheeler, saresmoore, batsy, KathyR, CindyMyLifeIsLit

Lindy My ebook copy of Genji (Waley translation) expires today & since I‘m back at home, it‘s easy for me to read the paper Penguin Deluxe Royall Tyler edition, but I like going back & forth between the two so I will probably check out the ebook again. 6y

batsy Washburn: "The novitiate talked on and on at length about all sorts of things, but it would be annoying to record them all here. However, because I have not written down everything exactly as it happened or was spoken, I may have accentuated some of the man's more eccentric or stubborn characteristics." 6y

saresmoore The Washburn translation: “The novitiate talked on and on at length about all sorts of things, but it would be annoying to record them all here. However, because I have not written down everything exactly as it happened or was spoken, I may have accentuated some of the man‘s more eccentric and stubborn characteristics.” 6y

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saresmoore Ahh, Suba! Great minds! 😂 @batsy 6y

batsy @saresmoore We're too funny 😂 6y

Lindy @batsy @saresmoore So happy to have you both along on this Genji journey! 😘😘 6y

rockpools @alamich This might give you an idea! 6y

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