The tale of Genji /
| Uniform title: | Genji monogatari. |
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| Author / Creator: | |
| Other Authors / Creators: | Tyler, Royall. |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English Japanese |
| Imprint: | New York : Viking, 2001. |
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | Lady Murasaki's exquisite, 11th-century portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan has been widely celebrated as the world's first novel. Offering a lively and well-rounded glimpse of golden age Japan with a cast of richly conceived and nuanced characters, Royall Tyler's superb translation, detailed and poetic, is scrupulously true to the Japanese original yet appeals as well to modern readers. |
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| Physical Description: | 2 volumes (xxix, 1174 pages) : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (volume 2, pages 1173-1174) |
| ISBN: | 0670030201 0670030228 |
| Author Notes: | Murasaki Shikibu , born in 978, was a member of Japan's Fujiwara clan, which ruled behind the scenes during the Heian Period by providing the brides and courtesans of all the emperors. Lady Murasaki's rare literary talent, particularly her skill as a poet, secured her a place in the court of Empress Akiko. After the death of her husband, she cloistered herself to study Buddhism, raise her daughter, and write the world's first novel Genji Monogatari , the tale of the shining Prince Genji. Royall Tyler was born in London, England, and grew up in Massachusetts, England, Washington D.C., and Paris. He has a B.A. in Far Eastern Languages from Harvard, and an M.A. in Japanese History and Ph. D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University. He has taught Japanese language and culture at, among other places, Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Oslo, in Norway. Beginning in 1990, he taught at the Australian National University, in Canberra, from which he retired at the end of 2000. He will spend the American academic year 2001-02 as a Visiting Professor at Harvard. Royall Tyler and his wife Susan live in a rammed earth house on 100 acres in the bush about seventy miles from Canberra, where they breed alpacas as a hobby. Royall Tyler's previous works include Japanese Noh Dramas , a selection and translation of Noh plays published by Penguin; Japanese Tales and French Folktales , anthologies published by Pantheon; and The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity , a study of a medieval Japanese cult published by Columbia University Press. |