![]() My feelings about this book are complicated – I mostly dislike ALL the male characters (there are only a few moments where I’m like “hey, Genji’s being nice) but I have to say that Murasaki has a gift for capturing the human psyche.Ī lot of the court politics and culture is completely foreign to me, even though I’ve lived in Japan, but there are a few things that resonate. Sidenote: My thoughts on The Tale of Genji Kaoru and Niou’s rivalry for the affection of the Uji Princesses’s half sister, Ukifune, which ends in Ukifune trying (but failing) to kill herself by throwing herself into the river).Kaoru and Niou’s rivalry for the affections of two sisters (the Uji princesses), which results in the death of the older sister as she feels like she failed her younger sister and father.Key events in this section of the novel include: Genji’s rise to power, his marriage to the Third Princess, and how history repeats himself when someone else (Genji’s nephew) has a child with the Third Princess and her son, Kaoru, is assumed to be Genji’s)Ĭhapters 42 – 54: What happens after Genji dies.The death of Genji’s principle wife, Aoi.Genji kidnapping a girl (Murasaki) to raise as his wife.Genji’s affair with his stepmother, which results in a son who is passed off as Genji’s stepbrother and becomes the Emperor.The Tale of Genji can be broken into two main sections:Ĭhapters 1 – 41: The actual tale of Genji, covering his birth, youth, exile, and later rise to status. ![]()
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