The Tale of Genji, Volume 2 - Murasaki Shikibu - 2019 (Classic Fiction) [Audiobook] (miok)

The Tale of Genji, Volume 2 - Murasaki Shikibu - 2019



By: Murasaki Shikibu, Dennis Washburn - translator
Narrated by: Brian Nishii
Length: 37 hrs and 3 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 12-17-19
Language: English
Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
Publisher: Blackstone Audio
Format: mp3 64/48 stereo



Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji - widely considered the world’s first novel - during the early years of the 11th century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation of ethical concerns and aesthetic ideals, Murasaki’s tale came to occupy a central place in Japan’s remarkable history of artistic achievement and is now recognized as a masterpiece of world literature.

The Tale of Genji is presented here in a flowing new translation for contemporary listeners, who will discover in its depiction of the culture of the imperial court the rich complexity of human experience that simultaneously resonates with and challenges their own. Dennis Washburn embeds annotations for accessibility and clarity and renders the poetry into triplets to create prosodic analogues of the original.

Editorial Reviews

“Washburn’s translation is a superb achievement. He fully captures the enthralling quality of the original.” —Times Literary Supplement

“Murasaki watched the sexual maneuverings, the social plots, the marital politics, the swirl of slights and flatteries that went on around her, with the keen, sometimes sardonic, and always worldly eyes of a medieval Jane Austen.” —New Yorker

“This new version by Dennis Washburn, a professor at Dartmouth, falls somewhere between Seidensticker’s reader-friendly translation and Tyler’s more stringently literal one, resulting in a fluid, elegant rendition.” —Washington Post

©2015 Dennis Washburn (translation) (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing





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