Listen to a sample
The Tale of Genji, Volume 1
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Narrator
- Brian Nishii
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 11 February 2020
- Run Time
- 35 hours 35 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794–1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji―widely considered the world’s first novel―during the early years of the eleventh century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki’s tale came to occupy a central place in Japan’s remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.
The Tale of Genji is presented here in a flowing new translation for contemporary listeners, who will discover in its depiction of the culture of the imperial court the rich complexity of human experience that simultaneously resonates with and challenges their own. Washburn embeds annotations for accessibility and clarity and renders the poetry into triplets to create prosodic analogues of the original.
Critics Review
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“Murasaki watched the sexual maneuverings, the social plots, the marital politics, the swirl of slights and flatteries that went on around her, with the keen, sometimes sardonic, and always worldly eyes of a medieval Jane Austen.”
New Yorker
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“Shikibu’s eleventh-century novel…flows beautifully in Dennis Washburn’s fluid, approachable translation and the pitch-perfect casting of narrator Brian Nishii.”
Audible.com
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“Washburn’s translation…fully captures the enthralling quality of the original.”
Times Literary Supplement
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“This new version by Dennis Washburn…[is] in a fluid, elegant rendition.”
Washington Post
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Narrator
- Brian Nishii
- Duration
- 35 hours 35 minutes
- Release Date
- 11 February 2020
- ISBN
- 9781094021133
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Generational sagas, Classic fiction, Family life fiction
Synopsis
Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794–1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji―widely considered the world’s first novel―during the early years of the eleventh century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki’s tale came to occupy a central place in Japan’s remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.The Tale of Genji is presented here in a flowing new translation for contemporary listeners, who will discover in its depiction of the culture of the imperial court the rich complexity of human experience that simultaneously resonates with and challenges their own. Washburn embeds annotations for accessibility and clarity and renders the poetry into triplets to create prosodic analogues of the original.
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