Bücher von Murasaki Shikibu

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written in the early 11th century by the noblewoman and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. The original manuscript, created around the peak of the Heian period, no longer exists. The Tale of Genji centres on the life and loves of a handsome son, Hikaru Genji, born to an Emperor during the Heian Period. In the story, the beloved concubine of the emperor gives birth to Genji and dies soon after. A major theme of the 'Tale of Genji' concerns love, lust, and the interaction of members of the opposing sexes; it also explores the different themes of affection, friendship, filial loyalty, and family bonds.

In the eleventh century Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, wrote the world's first novel. But The Tale of Genji is no mere artifact. It is, rather, a lively and astonishingly nuanced portrait of a refined society where every dalliance is an act of political consequence, a play of characters whose inner lives are as rich and changeable as those imagined by Proust. Chief of these is "the shining Genji," the son of the emperor and a man whose passionate impulses create great turmoil in his world and very nearly destroy him. This edition, recognized as the finest version in English, contains a dozen chapters from early in the book, carefully chosen by the translator, Edward G. Seidensticker, with an introduction explaining the selection. It is illustrated throughout with woodcuts from a seventeenth-century edition.

First Published in 2005. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

These diaries are a remarkable record of court life in eleventh century Japan. They are the personal accounts of three young girls, Sarashina, daughter of a Governor of Kazusa, Murasaki Shikibu, and Izumi Shikibu, daughter of a Governor of Echizen.