/lit/ - Literature

>>12769044
>And who was best girl?
Lady Fujitsubo.

It was definitely ahead of its time

>>12769044
i have been meaning to read it... Would it help my understanding of modern Japanese literature? I know Tanizaki has a short story called the Bridge of Dreams, which is a reference to Genji, but how persuasive is its influence in general?

>>12769081
>Lady Fujitsubo

Maybe I didn't get it, or my memory sucks, but did she really have a affair with Genji or was it rape?
For me it's Murasaki, she deserved better and I like her occasional snark

>>12769224
No expert in japanese /lit/ and influences, but you should check it out. I was surprised over how invested I became in the story and characters. It has juicy love affairs, supernatural drama, psychology, and the a e s t h e t i c is on point. One of my faves

>>12769296
Thanks, sounds totally up my alley. I've been putting it off while totally being engrossed by modern-japenese-lit- It'll be next on my list.

>try to read Genji
>can't keep track of all the characters
>give up about a third in

Which translation?

>>12769418
no problem!
>>12769457
the penguin classics deluxe edition, it also has a lot of heian style illustration throughout

I didn't read it but I don't think it's very good. Romance of the Three Kingdoms is way better imo

>>12769725
>I didn't read it but I don't think it's very good.
Anon, I...

>>12769725
>I didn't read it but I don't think it's very good
This awful shitpost perfectly encapsulates this whole board.

>>12769725
>Romance of the Three Kingdoms
is it worth checking out if I like classics but isn't super interested in military etc? How hard of a read is it?

>>12769974
mostly psychological warfare. Not hard. Quite interesting.

>>12769044

*writes a trashy romance serial with an arch-chad and a literal self-insert which becomes wrongfully accepted into the canon as great literature for no other reason than that it is old and difficult to translate*

But no, I'm just having a bit of fun, actually I bought the Tyler the other day. I'm not going to read the whole thing any time soon but there's a nearby art exhibit with several artworks, many of which show common scenes/vignettes, so I read a summary to quickly understand the basic plot, took notes, brought them in the museum. I taught myself a very basic plot-rundown. One scene which clearly stood out in many of the artworks is Genji and his frienemy To no Chujo having a fresh dance-off in the courtyard. This image was repeated multiple times, and I understood what it was even without reading a cliffs-notes.

There was a screen with exactly 54 faded, obscure vignettes, one for each chapter. This was the one I spent over a half-hour with, trying to make sense of each scene. Imagine my pleasure when I clearly made out the famous boat ride in "51" (reading right-to-left on the screen, I was reading the artwork correctly). Sometimes you could clearly make out two male figures (whether Genji and To no Chujo, or the later kids/nephews/whatever) and orient yourself that way. In the later chapters following Genji's death, the two parallel male characters are clearly the Chad Niou and the Virgin Kaoru, I could make them out and sometimes differentiate them.

It's right up 4chan's street: child grooming and incest themes. I'd like to read a limited selection of chapters: 1, 7 (the dance-off) and 51, just to get the flavor and context with the art I saw.

>>12770094
>there's a nearby art exhibit with several artworks, many of which show common scenes/vignettes

lucky anon

>>12770483

I do appreciate my luck. It's one of the biggest art museums in the world, and always has a representative display of world art. Better yet, I grew up interested in art history. It's fucking free. I can walk fifteen minutes or park. I never take it for granted. I regularly re-visit the usual paintings, and see what else is new. Such is the replacement-church for the atheist.

>>12770494
where is it?

>>12769044
So wait, did he fuck that little boy or not?

>>12770562

Minneapolis, MN. A high-tier B-list museum, but even I was surprised to learn that it's one of the world's top art museums in terms of gallery space.

>>12770571
Of course he did

>>12770571
>>12770626

wait, what chapter?!?

>>12770632
The end of Chapter 2

>>12770637

oh okay, thanks. I'll add that to my abridged reading list!

This book made me realize that Japanese author can or at least could write.

Based Genji sleeps with that whore Utsusemi's brother just to spite her.

>>12770986
>whore Utsusemi'
Did she ever willingly sleep with him at all tho?

Was there any women in the book who Genji didn't sleep with? what about Akikonomu and Tamakazura?
Damn heian double entendre goes right over my head

>>12769096
The fuck's that supposed to mean?

I'm already Genji