Mixed Feelings!

Many may consider that this work is more interesting as a historical phenomenon than as a free-standing piece of literature. Considered the first novel in history, it was written in the 11th century by a Japanese noblewoman. It is set at court and describes the life of prince Genji, as seen by an omniscient narrator. Nothing is said however of politics, war, and economics, what reflects perhaps the circumscribed world of the female author. Genji thus appears to lead an idle, rather pointless life, marked perhaps by intense boredom.

The work is in prose but punctuated by many short poems. The English translation flows very well but no doubt fails to reflect many subtleties of the original Japanese. At times, adequate words seem to lack so that, for instance, residents of a home are continually called «inmates» though they are neither imprisoned nor ill. There are also awkward redundancies, such as «timidly shy», perhaps to reflect some unfathomable nuance in Japanese. At times, the text is very elliptic and at others extremely drawn out: he stepped out of his carriage, walked to the house, crossed the threshold, …

To a Western reader, two elements are particularly destabilizing: there is a multitude of characters, none of them well developed, and there is basically no plot to coalesce the novel in one piece. Most will be thankful that only the first 17 chapters are presented here, out of a total of 60, and that they are abridged. In fact, many may consider that the introduction by the translator is the most interesting part!

In the audio version, the narrator does a fine job although a woman would perhaps have been more appropriate given the author’s female point of view.

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