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Good day to you. I am Hemingway. |
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And I am Ayn Rand.
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And this is the “Beyond Book Club.” It's a forum. A forum where we discuss books. Good books. Bad books. |
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Books that you seem to keep picking, somehow. |
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Exactly. This time out we are looking at The Tale of Genji. |
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A remarkable novel, really. It is by some accounts the world's first novel, though many disagree. It was written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early days of the eleventh century. The problem with anything so old is knowing definitive things about them, of course. But this is thought to be all true. |
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Yes. Or, again, so we think. Some claim that her daughter, Daini no Sanmi, wrote some of the later chapter. Possibly others. No one will ever know for sure. |
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And it will never be settled as to the first novel setting. So let's set aside our bickering and just discuss this artifact, shall we? |
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Good idea, harpy. |
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Hey! |
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Sorry. The thing about Genji is that characters were often not named. It wasn't polite to do so in court society at the time. Instead characters are referred to by titles. But since the novel, and damn this, passes a lot of time, people change titles. |
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The Heian society was also interesting. Genji himself was almost objectivist in a way. I could admire him because he did what he wanted while still playing within the rules of his society enough to get away with it. |
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I was just thinking he was a real man, in a sense. |
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Do we come together, then, at this point? |
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I refuse that. I think you are reading too much into it. |
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As are you. It's something that can happen with this novel. |
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True. It is close enough to the first novel, regardless of the truth of that title, that you can see the world in its face. |
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It is lyrical and absorbing. |
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The use of poetry is interesting and important, not only for the culture but the language use. I, of course, hate poetry. But I will allow for it here. |
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Good of you. |
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Thank you.
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Lush. |
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Bitch. |
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Impotent braggart. |
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Frigid spinster. |
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The novel! All about Genji and his life and loves. It is a simple look at the world of the time and the society prevalent. Written, we think, for women of the time, it describes courtly life and is… |
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But it also shows the decline with age. A powerful force. A male force. |
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The true thrust of power is how to grasp and wield it. It is a lesson Genji doesn't learn, and so, as he ages he slowly encounters breakdowns in his life. |
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Like the one you had the other night? |
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Shut it, drunkard. |
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Ha! |
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I mean it. I'm in no mood for you today! |
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Whatever, witch. |
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This has been the “Beyond Book Club”! |
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I'm not ready to end this yet! |
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Too damned bad! |
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You bitch! You utter... |
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GOODBYE! |
