Lady Murasaki's Tale of Genji: The Manga Edition
- Downloads：6719
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-06 06:51:41
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Sean Michael Wilson
- ISBN：480531656X
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
Step into a story of life and love in Kyoto's 10th century royal court。
Tale of Genji tells the story of Prince Genji， the passionate heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne。 Handsome， romantic， and talented in the art of seduction， Prince Genji skillfully navigates the court and all its intrigues--always in search of love and often finding it。 His story is the oldest and most famous tale of romance in the annals of Japanese literature and， as a representation of passion and romance， remains beyond compare。
Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote this story some 500 years before Shakespeare put pen to paper。 It is acknowledged to be the world's very first novel， and English-speaking readers can now experience the story in manga style for the first time。
Superbly illustrated and retold， this visual take on Japan's most important classic offers an intimate look at the social mores and intrigues in the Heian-era court of medieval Japan， and Prince Genji's representation as the ideal male courtier。
Tale of Genji tells the story of Prince Genji， the passionate heir to the Chrysanthemum Throne。 Handsome， romantic， and talented in the art of seduction， Prince Genji skillfully navigates the court and all its intrigues--always in search of love and often finding it。 His story is the oldest and most famous tale of romance in the annals of Japanese literature and， as a representation of passion and romance， remains beyond compare。
Lady Murasaki Shikibu wrote this story some 500 years before Shakespeare put pen to paper。 It is acknowledged to be the world's very first novel， and English-speaking readers can now experience the story in manga style for the first time。
Superbly illustrated and retold， this visual take on Japan's most important classic offers an intimate look at the social mores and intrigues in the Heian-era court of medieval Japan， and Prince Genji's representation as the ideal male courtier。
Reviews
M。J。 Walker
，
A pretty impressive version that manages to keep close to the original， but works well as a manga book in itself。 The artwork is by a Japanese artist and looks wonderful。 I detect a kind of swirling visual imagery running though it all。 But don’t expect lots of touching romance - Genji was a bit of a bad boy， to say the least！ But that is also true to the original。
Anna
，
3 stars for a pretty good adaptation with nice art and abbreviation that makes the story easier to follow， but deducting one star for the horrendous protagonist。I got halfway through the full Genji novel years ago and couldn't finish （it is quite dense and flowery！）， so figured I'd try this condensed manga version to see if my initial impressions were the same - I was confused about how the character of Genji was written as if we're supposed to like him （he's handsome！ he's well-spoken！ he's goo 3 stars for a pretty good adaptation with nice art and abbreviation that makes the story easier to follow， but deducting one star for the horrendous protagonist。I got halfway through the full Genji novel years ago and couldn't finish （it is quite dense and flowery！）， so figured I'd try this condensed manga version to see if my initial impressions were the same - I was confused about how the character of Genji was written as if we're supposed to like him （he's handsome！ he's well-spoken！ he's good at poetry！ he's THE IDEAL MAN！） even though his actions show a real garbage-fire of a human being （you're already womanizing your way through the entire court， your best bud tells you his heartbreaking story of losing the woman he loves and not being able to find her again; you find her; do you tell him？ Nah， start an affair with her！）。Yeah， Genji is still a horrible person， as this beautifully-illustrated abbreviated version makes clear: not only sleeping with pretty much every woman he encounters， but then after they die （often of sadness， like fictional Victorian women）， he then 'falls in love' （translation: starts sleeping with） the daughters of his lovers （often against their will， but they're too shy or intimidated to scream or fight back）， because oh darling you look so much like your mother who I miss so much （BARF）， in one case even *kidnapping his lover's very small daughter* and raising her to become his lover （BARF）。I don't know whether there's some Austen-esque understated satire at play here that gets lost in translation， or Murasaki was making a point about how miserable a woman's powerless position in life was during her time， or maybe this was all accepted ideal-man behaviour at the time （but why would a woman author admire a man who mistreats so many women so much？？？） that clashes hard with modern concepts like consent and sexually predatory behaviour; some background historical reading is in order to really understand this。 I suppose the story does give some idea of what life was like in the highly formal world of the Heian court （though the manga version cuts out all the details of incense-contests and poetry-contests in favor of covering Genji's convoluted womanizing and a few family/friend relationships）。 。。。more
Rebecca
，
The interesting thing about reading an abridged， condensed version of a 1ooo+ page novel is that it's easier to notice the flaws。 It's not that hard to see Genji as the progenitor of today's "Nice Guys，" although that's not entirely fair to the character; it's simply harder to get into his head and understand the thought processes going on in this format。 But the heart of the story is intact and the art is really beautiful， just the right amount of stylized。 There are a couple of typos， but othe The interesting thing about reading an abridged， condensed version of a 1ooo+ page novel is that it's easier to notice the flaws。 It's not that hard to see Genji as the progenitor of today's "Nice Guys，" although that's not entirely fair to the character; it's simply harder to get into his head and understand the thought processes going on in this format。 But the heart of the story is intact and the art is really beautiful， just the right amount of stylized。 There are a couple of typos， but otherwise I'd easily recommend this as an introduction to Lady Murasaki's novel。 。。。more
Mary
，
Mind you， I have never read the actual text because I could never get into it， so I’m judging solely the manga。 I understand this is a *very* condensed version of the book， but this adaptation made the story easy to follow。 I appreciate the character list， and the illustrations were great。 A few typos， however。I will say though， the Shining Prince is a creeper。 🤮
Rosh
，
The first ever English manga adaptation of Lady Murasaki's “Tale of Genji”， acknowledged as the world's oldest known novel。The original book is supposed to be the oldest and most famous tale of romance in Japanese literature。 The （alleged） author， Lady Murasaki Shikibu （pseudonym given to her at court; original name unknown） wrote this story around 1020 CE， some 500 years before Shakespeare。 The introductory note by author Sean Michael Wilson is very helpful in getting the right background for t The first ever English manga adaptation of Lady Murasaki's “Tale of Genji”， acknowledged as the world's oldest known novel。The original book is supposed to be the oldest and most famous tale of romance in Japanese literature。 The （alleged） author， Lady Murasaki Shikibu （pseudonym given to her at court; original name unknown） wrote this story around 1020 CE， some 500 years before Shakespeare。 The introductory note by author Sean Michael Wilson is very helpful in getting the right background for the novel。 It reveals that there are many translated versions of the original， and this manga takes inspiration from multiple versions rather than sticking to a single translation。 What is also of note is that all the translations are well beyond a thousand pages long， but this manga is just about 180 pages in length。 Wilson’s intention is to present the key elements of the original that， though incomplete， will be coherent and interesting。 The story arc in this manga limits itself to Genji’s life。 The original contained about 795 poems， a few of which are translated and presented in this manga version。As I haven’t read the original （or rather， any of the English translations）， I have no idea how this manga version stands in comparison to the full-length story。 But I guess you can look at it as an introductory version of the original。 But if you like the traditional story format of a definite start-middle-end progression， this book isn’t for you。 Genji is the emperor’s son but not from the main wife， so his position in the royal court can never be strong。 To compensate for the lack of power， he seems to be intent on pursuing love。 The story is thus more like a series of episodes， with each episode containing a new love interest of Genji or the other Japanese males from the aristocratic families。 The events move very quickly and the story spans multiple generations， though the essence stays the same: the men fall in love with the women and the women accept their fate。 There are quite a lot of characters even in this condensed version。 If you go with the flow， things might be a little easier for you。 There is a family chart and a character list， but these were inconvenient to access in the digital version。 Genji would certainly be called a womaniser in today’s world rather than being considered “the ideal Japanese male”。 It is tough to keep track of his lady loves for he seems to be shuffling his affection from one woman to another within every few pages。 It is very difficult to keep our 21st century mindset aside and accept this story for the time period it was written in。 It is not just Genji’s numerous conquests， but the way the women have no will of their own and are forced to accept Genji’s advances as if they were a gift seems so forced and pitiful。 Only one of the Genji’s conquests， Lady Murasaki， seems to have a strong will and independent mind。 Then again， her character begins as a child under Genji’s guardianship and later grows up to marry him。 Some of his romantic targets are as young as 13。 So many incidents should have counted as rape。 This definitely isn’t a story that has stood the test of time。 The illustrations by Inko Ai Takita are captivating。 Her skill is visible in every panel。 The only reason I wish this were not a manga is that I could have then seen those beautiful sketches in colour。 Basically， if you want a glimpse of 10th century Japan and the social traditions and lifestyle of the royal court in that era， this would be a good book to try。 But Genji's representation as the ideal male courtier certainly stunned me and I fail to see why he was someone to aspire to be like。 3 stars， all for the illustrations and the valiant attempt to bring this epic to modern readers。 No star for the original story because it truly wasn’t to my liking。 My thanks to Tuttle Publishing and Edelweiss+ for the DRC of “Lady Murasaki's Tale of Genji: The Manga Edition”。 This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book。———————————————Connect with me through: My Blog | The StoryGraph | Facebook | Twitter 。。。more
Jessie
，
The manga rendition of Tale of Genji is nothing short of gorgeously illustrated。 It’s artwork is beyond extravagant to the eyes。 However， the fast pace of the story left for lots to be forgotten。
Constantina ✨
，
I liked this edition， though it didn't have the vibe of the original book。 Yet I enjoyed redescovering the story and I really liked the drawing style！Thank you to Edelweiss+ and the publisher for the arc！ I liked this edition， though it didn't have the vibe of the original book。 Yet I enjoyed redescovering the story and I really liked the drawing style！Thank you to Edelweiss+ and the publisher for the arc！ 。。。more
Online Eccentric Librarian
，
More reviews （and no fluff） on the blog http://surrealtalvi。wordpress。com/This is a nice introduction to a thousand year old story - one that doesn't follow a traditional narrative and has a huge cast of characters spanning several lifetimes。 In order to take such a huge story and bring it down to something accessible and enjoyable， the adaptors and artists chose to focus on just Genji's life and indeed the manga ends with his death though there is so much more in the original story。 Many c More reviews （and no fluff） on the blog http://surrealtalvi。wordpress。com/This is a nice introduction to a thousand year old story - one that doesn't follow a traditional narrative and has a huge cast of characters spanning several lifetimes。 In order to take such a huge story and bring it down to something accessible and enjoyable， the adaptors and artists chose to focus on just Genji's life and indeed the manga ends with his death though there is so much more in the original story。 Many characters were removed to keep the focus on Genji's life and I applaud the effort and result here to make this an enjoyable read。 The illustration work is superb。Story: Genji is the son of the emperor but only from a minor concubine。 He knows he can never inherit so instead spends his life pursuing his heart。 He meets many women over the years， some young， some old， most wealthy， some married， some single。 There are only a few true loves over the years and the women in his life know they will always have to share him （much to their heartbreak）。Tale of Genji is the story of a man and his many conquests。 Genji is considered extremely handsome and encounters no problems seducing the many women over the years。 That is the pretty much the extent of the 'plot' here - a good looking prince and his many women。 But it is a nice eye into ancient Japanese court life。The story really has no structure and out of the hundreds of poems throughout the original， several are included here， which is a nice touch。 I appreciated that since the poems are not just pretty decorations but instead are there to also tell the story。The illustration work is beautiful - a very stunning mix of Japanese and Western styles that is smooth and elegant。 Because there is so much Western influence， this is a book that will appeal to all audiences and not just manga aficionados。 The work is clean， the panels neither busy nor sparse but all nicely laid out and look to be historically accurate。 The perfect artist was chosen to illustrate this beloved story。In all， I enjoyed the read。 There are indeed a lot of characters and since it spans Genji's life， it can be hard to keep track of them and then their children and their children's children。 But at its heart it is a set of love stories - Genji's and other characters he meets in his life。 Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher。 。。。more
Luna
，