The Tale of Genji is considered to be the worlds earliest known novel, and was written by Murasaki Shikibu sometime around the year 1000. The story follows Genji, an illegitimate son of the current emperor, and his many sexual conquests, and love interests from his early adulthood, to his death. The book was written to entertain japanese nobles, so many examples of metaphors and inflected language were used throughout the novel. Complex grammar and long drawn out sentences were often used due to the poetic nature of the japanese court at the time. In fact, royal men and women often spoke to each other in poems, or modified versions of [what were at the time] classical poems that had been adapted to the current situation, much as we change our modern colloquialisms for satire, or increased conversational context. Unfortunately, the original was written in formal japanese, which has different pronunciation patterns, rhyme schemes and grammatical properties than english, thus the poetry does not translate very well. 

Personally, the story of the novel struck me as uninteresting, but its circumstances and brilliant imagery help to carry the plot. Marasuki had an amazing gift for description “In the northeast quarter there was a cool natural spring and the plan had the summer sun in mind. In the forward parts of the garden the wind through thickets of Chinese bamboo would be cool in the summer, and the trees were deep and mysterious as mountain groves. There was a hedge of mayflower, and there were oranges to remind the lady of days long gone. There were wild carnations and roses and gentians and a few spring and autumn flowers.” (Shikibu) When I read through the story, I realized I was more interested in the writer's characterization of the scenes, than the actual plot itself.  The text is somewhere around 800-840 pages long [depending on your translation], and It would seem around 60 percent of that writing is further description of the landscapes, faces, and feelings of the scene. The writing style exemplifies detail over characters, and seems to show the authors intense intimacy with nature and her everyday environment.

Genji, as he is referred to in the book, is not the protagonist's true name, nor are any of the names throughout the text accurate, for it was considered rude to use a person's name during the Heian period of Japanese society. The author uses mainly titles or locations to distinguish between characters, for instance “Genji”, a Genji is traditionally a general term to describe someone of middle class and rank, which was customary, as his mother was not of noble descent. Other examples include, “The Lady of Rokujo” with Rokujo being a village, or “Yugiri” who was the mayor of a religious settlement called Yugiri. The practice of name omission for purposes of honor and respect, may seem foreign, but was quite common in japan for over three hundred years. The only name that is confirmed to be genuine, is that of Murasaki herself, who is also a character in the book. In the author's personal diary, she expresses that the Genji character was based on the current minister of the left at the time, a man who the women of the court considered very handsome.

The Tale of Genji does not exactly follow the common perceptions of what we, in modern times would consider a novel. The book was episodic, and was the compiled result of a number of years and different versions with multiple authors. In most modern cases, authors write a book with the intention of publishing it as a single work, whereas Marasuki wrote different episodes of the story at different times. The Genji is portrayed as a righteous man, who can do no wrong; this one dimensional character development has been all but eliminated in contemporary narratives. The writer's high level of obligation and fealty Marasuki had for her audience prevented her from portraying the upper class as anything but the most honest of men. Contemporary authors tend to create characters with flaws, and obvious shortcomings, that give each role in the story depth. For instance, Chuck Palahniuk's book “Haunted” focuses on a group of writers deceptively trapped inside a mansion. The characters share stories from their pasts, each telling a more gruesome or depraved story than the last. Throughout this  sometimes overly revealing process, the group reveals their innermost weaknesses, feelings, and fears. Exploration of a character's darker side was simply not customary in the time period in which the book was written. In modern times, the tale of Genji can be credited with providing for us a link to earlier peoples' development of language and the art of writing. Countless stories were handed down by word of mouth before the work was written, but this collection proves important because it is as far as we know, the oldest manuscript in existence. 



Works Cited

Murasaki, Shikibu, and Arthur Waley. The Tale of Genji. Tokyo: Tuttle Pub., 2010. Print.

Palahniuk, Chuck. Haunted. New York: Anchor, 2006. Print.