The Tale of Genji
Échec de l'ajout au panier.
Échec de l'ajout à la liste d'envies.
Échec de la suppression de la liste d’envies.
Échec du suivi du balado
Ne plus suivre le balado a échoué
The Tale of Genji
Acheter pour 43,98 $
-
Narrateur(s):
-
Blaise Adams
-
Auteur(s):
-
Lady Murasaki Shikibu
À propos de cet audio
The Tale of Genji is an exquisitely crafted classic work of Japanese literature written in the 11th century. Some consider it to be the world's first novel, or the first modern or psychological novel. The narrative of 54 chapters is embellished by hundreds of little poems spread like a string of pearls through the prose. The story recounts the life of Hikaru Genji, the son of an ancient Japanese emperor and a concubine. Removed from the line of succession, Genji pursues a series of love affairs and a career as an imperial officer. The plethora of characters is impressively well-rounded while the setting of the Heian era in the 10th and 11th centuries is magnificently portrayed.
Public Domain (P)2019 Museum AudiobooksThe 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.
Mixed Feelings!
Un problème est survenu. Veuillez réessayer dans quelques minutes.