A Bit of Genji Magic

This afternoon a faithful group of readers gathered at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Cleveland Heights to continue our exploration of what many regard as "the world's first novel", Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji). The work of one Murasaki Shikibu, a woman of the aristocratic court in Japan, the novel began appearing serially in 1009, more than a thousand years ago.

We have found it holds up pretty well. Lee is using the opportunity provided as discussion leader for this Off Campus Studies course sponsored by the Association for Continuing Education at Case Western Reserve University to work his way through the most recent of the three translations of the novel into English. Royall Tyler's version has struck him so far as the closest in form and rhythm to the cadences and style of the original. This reading has also given him the opportunity to review some of the more recent scholarship on the novel; and that, too, has proven revelatory.

Today's discussion centered on the role of women in the aristocratic period as described by Murasaki. The women in the class unanimously agreed that they would have a very difficult time handling all the demands placed on their gender back then, especially those centered around meeting the rigid cultural and social expectations of the time.

We've managed so far over the past month to get through around forty percent of the 1000+ pages in the English language translations. The next three weeks -- while Heidi and Lee are traveling in India -- will give us all the chance to catch up and catch our collective breath a bit before we move on into the final stretch!

Otherwise preparations continue as scheduled. The stockpiling of things to bring has begun; calls have been made to credit card companies, banks and cell phone providers; books to return to the local library are stacked on the kitchen counter.

Unfortunately an attempt to drop off some andirons to be polished up while we are away failed to find the shop open; and Rocco, our aging big black cat, has once again been unable to keep his breakfast down -- we may end up boarding him while we're gone.

Welcome, too, to all those drawn to reading about our adventures as a result of recent invitations emailed out to all we thought might be interested. Hang in there a day or two more and things should start to get a bit more exciting!