tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post6759072484376689606..comments2023-01-27T13:00:06.764-05:00Comments on Eclectic Indulgence... classic literature reviews: Review: The Tale of Genji by Murasaki ShikibuEclectic Indulgencehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09773640906287038956noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-37999839076505020972013-07-20T11:03:33.217-04:002013-07-20T11:03:33.217-04:00i do not consider Tale of Genji a hard book. After...i do not consider Tale of Genji a hard book. After completing Ulysses and In search of lost time, i only find modernist novels and mid 20th century novels difficult, the classics are really easy after that. <br /><br />but while it is easy to read, it is hard to concentrate, sometimes I get so bored, sometimes troubled. Tale of Genji is one of the most troublesome novels I've read. With all those high flying praise and the title, I expected to love Genji. And what a hipocritical womanizer, who is again and again refered to as handsome ( almost 200 times across the book), i found the first 10 chapters so tiresome, spending 3 hours to read each and 3 more to try to recollect what interested me, what moved me, what motivated to men and women (who i think dont love the men but love their sex) <br /><br />i expected court life to be much stricter, and here the emperor is more often cuckolded than a farmer of the 19th century, and the son is such a horndog. <br /><br />The characterization is so praised, I find it middle-brow, compared to that great Asian novel, Dream of Red Chamber. <br /><br />Anyway, like watching a movie or listening to an album, i am always vulnerable to reviews. I'm trying really hard to see what i've missed, why the book is so good to some. maybe my patience will be rewarded, i dont know. jack nyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15061527500164877096noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-59017699794774005772012-02-05T16:07:41.914-05:002012-02-05T16:07:41.914-05:00oops, wrong link.
http://reallyoldclassics.wordp...oops, wrong link. <br /><br />http://reallyoldclassics.wordpress.com/2009/10/17/where-do-i-begin-some-lists-pre-1600/Rebecca Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062252252301802298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-81301065102054804282012-02-05T16:01:57.470-05:002012-02-05T16:01:57.470-05:00Here are a few I didn't see on your to read or...Here are a few I didn't see on your to read or already read list for the old stuff. I have an infinite supply of to read classics that are newer than 1500. :)<br /><br />Ancient Greeks/Romans: <br />* Sophocles -- The Three Theban plays<br />* Euripides -- I've only read Medea and Hippolytus but there are a dozen left that I've heard great things about. Not sure which is the "best" of his.<br />* Aristophanes -- haven't read any by him but unlike the other ancient Greek dramatists, these are COMEDIES. Lysistrata is the one I have heard most about. <br />* Aristotle -- Poetics is short and sweet and somewhat relevant.<br /><br />Other Ancient: Gilgamesh (2500 BCE or so)<br /><br />Middle Ages: <br />* Beowulf (9th century England)<br />* Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1300s? England)<br />* The Decameron by Boccaccio; 1300 CE Italy)<br />* Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (1400s England) I've heard this is really hard to get through...<br /><br />Non-Western:<br />* The Bhagavad Gita (India, 300 CE)<br />* The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon (Japan, 1000 CE; nonfiction journal of female lady in waiting)<br />* Poetry of Rumi (Persia, 1000 CE)<br />* Tales from the Arabian Nights (1400 CE Persia), I liked the Husain Haddawy edition<br />* The Art of War by Sun Zu (China 200 BCE)<br /><br />I am not as familiar with non-Western ancient classics, but maybe this is a start :)<br /><br />I wish I could join your book group, what a great list of books you have!Rebecca Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062252252301802298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-73406948274352497162012-02-05T10:27:43.788-05:002012-02-05T10:27:43.788-05:00Hey RR,
Sei shonagon?
Bookclub is between 8-10 pe...Hey RR,<br />Sei shonagon?<br /><br />Bookclub is between 8-10 people and I started it with a few friends and then advertised online to expand. We always read the ancient classics now, are trying to go in order of some of the most prominent clascis. <br /><br />The list is here... let me know if there is anything you think we've missed prior to 1500 or so.<br /><br />http://eclectic-indulgence.blogspot.com/p/to-be-read-tbr-list.htmlEclectic Indulgencehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773640906287038956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-31229085628781614502012-02-03T07:48:10.206-05:002012-02-03T07:48:10.206-05:00Oh no.... my copy is the Royall Tyler edition! I g...Oh no.... my copy is the Royall Tyler edition! I got it at a Borders closing sale and was so excited...Sounds like the other translation is much better. Ah well. <br /><br />I really loved reading THE PILLOW BOOK a few years ago. It's a journal written by a contemporary of Murasaki, sounds like a completely different feel. But none the less, I've been excited to experience this book as well, since the era was so interesting in Sei shonagon's journal was so fascinating. <br /><br />I'm impressed with your book club choices. How big is your book club? How did you get started? Do you always choose ancient classics? <br /><br />I ask because I lead a classics book group at my library, mostly 1700s and 1800s and early 1900s classics. It took more than a year to get a larger group of people, and some months we still only have about 4 or 5 people there. I love it though! I'd love to branch out into the older classics too.Rebecca Reidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062252252301802298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-32605876595099930362012-02-03T04:21:43.023-05:002012-02-03T04:21:43.023-05:00hm I'm making my way through Clarissia at the ...hm I'm making my way through Clarissia at the moment but I quite like getting through these epic tomes every so often. I also thought this novel had more of a 'plot' but then Clarissia doesnt have much of one either but it still works.<br /><br />Thanks for the reviewJessicahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08861424110678889637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-15342716039434745412012-01-31T11:45:00.530-05:002012-01-31T11:45:00.530-05:00I have to admire you for completing this one, it d...I have to admire you for completing this one, it defeated me - though having read the notes about the different translations, I think I'd have had better luck with your translation rather than Taylor. Like you say, he was too "pure" and the footnotes were both helpful and distracting - and sometimes not helpful at all. <br /><br />Keeping track of the characters was especially hard, and a lot of the times they were simply pronouns - or none at all, so you had no idea who was being referred to, so your brain was preoccupied in trying to figure that out and you'd have to re-read passages and whole pages! Not easy to read when you have a baby. <br /><br />I have to say I'm disappointed to hear that the whole book is pretty much just Genji shagging his way around the country. I always thought it was much more of an epic adventure story.Shannon (Giraffe Days)https://www.blogger.com/profile/00873129203015194947noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9000858.post-70116536158585158872012-01-29T21:13:41.148-05:002012-01-29T21:13:41.148-05:00I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. ...I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. Although due to its length I've been putting off getting it until I get through some of my own books. Japanese culture fascinates me I must confess so I'm sure I would appreciate those parts of the book.Bookish Hobbithttp://bookishhobbit.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com