I bought the Royall Tyler edition so that I could join in with the cool kids. It's a very helpful edition; not only does it have footnotes, it has sidebar vignettes from Heian woodcuts illustrating sidelocks, blinds, and such ( Read more... )

( The chapter that will live in infamy )

The FAQ that started the entire thing, with some commentary on Genji in the comments.

Chapter 1: The Paulownia Court (in which the Perfect One is born).

Chapter 2: The Broom Tree (in which Genji consoles himself with a young boy)

Chapter 3: The Shell of the Locust (in which Stalker Genji steals a robe)

Chapter 4: Evening Faces (in which a ghost ( Read more... )

Links to my original Genji posts. I'm reading the Royall Tyler translation. I also tend to incorporate cultural notes as I run across them, from footnotes in the Tyler or from Ivan Morris' The World of the Shining Prince.

• Chapters 1-3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Minor random commentary, mostly not serious

Here are links to the posts I've already done on Genji; I'm reading the Seidensticker translation.

• Chapters 1-2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5

I'll be making subsequent Genji posts here, and putting pointers in my personal journal, because I prefer not to split discussion and I expect to find it easier to keep track of comments in the community.