My guess is that this novel would appeal to the poetic and romantic types. It also absolutely engages you in the historical period, and has a sense of place that is unique.
I just started this book yesterday, I have all three translations, but am reading Washburn, with side looks at the other two, if i get stuck. This video was so helpful, so thanks Steve. It's getting to be that I look to see if you have talked about a book before starting it.
I have read both the Waley and this Tyler version of Genji. For me, it is the best novel of all time, and I'm just a casual Midwestern guy. It's a big read, but so special.
I own and read the Royall Tyler translation and fell in love with it. I wished I could read the Japanese original, though. After reading ‘Kenji Monogatari’ I proceeded to get other works of Heian literature.
Planning on reading this for the first time. From this reading the Seidensticker seemed head and shoulders the best - to the point, but not hit-you-over-the-head explicit in the way the others are. Listened back to the video you did on this a couple of years ago, when you didn't name the translators until after the reading. Again, the Seidensticker stood out.
You probably saw the Suematsu translation. Suematsu was the first to translate Genji to English, and he only translated the first 17 of the book’s total 54 chapters. Currently it’s the only translation that is public domain in the US.
I liked the passage from both the Tyler and Washburn translations. The Tyler translation has been languishing in my Amazon cart for months now.
My guess is that this novel would appeal to the poetic and romantic types. It also absolutely engages you in the historical period, and has a sense of place that is unique.
I just started this book yesterday, I have all three translations, but am reading Washburn, with side looks at the other two, if i get stuck. This video was so helpful, so thanks Steve. It's getting to be that I look to see if you have talked about a book before starting it.
I have read both the Waley and this Tyler version of Genji. For me, it is the best novel of all time, and I'm just a casual Midwestern guy. It's a big read, but so special.
I own and read the Royall Tyler translation and fell in love with it. I wished I could read the Japanese original, though. After reading ‘Kenji Monogatari’ I proceeded to get other works of Heian literature.
Washburn is my fave from this reading
Planning on reading this for the first time. From this reading the Seidensticker seemed head and shoulders the best - to the point, but not hit-you-over-the-head explicit in the way the others are. Listened back to the video you did on this a couple of years ago, when you didn't name the translators until after the reading. Again, the Seidensticker stood out.
I read the beautiful Everyman's Library edition of the Seidensticker translation.
Could you please add a link to the Discord server?
I saw this book in a store and it was surprisingly thin. It didn't have the translator on the cover. Is it worth getting?
Sounds like you were looking at an abridgment. The book is really long...
You probably saw the Suematsu translation. Suematsu was the first to translate Genji to English, and he only translated the first 17 of the book’s total 54 chapters. Currently it’s the only translation that is public domain in the US.