An excellent insight into 11th C Japan! (The Tale of Murasaki - Lisa Dalby)

Member Name: moloko

Product:	The Tale of Murasaki - Lisa Dalby
Date:	05/08/01 (68 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very descriptive of Heian Culture, Contains original 11th Century 'waka' Poetry, It is a very entertaining read

Disadvantages: Fairly long, Could come accross as too feminine, Can be fairly tedious at times

The Tale of Murasaki is an amazing story of the life of 11th Century author Murasaki Shikibu. Although fiction, the book by Liza Dalby is based on fragments of Murasaki's diary and Dalby has used both historical evidence and her own imagination to re-build the world Murasaki would have lived in.

It follows her life from the age of 15 when her mother died and the beginning of her life as author of the 11th Century Japanese masterpiece - The Tale Of Genji. The book contains most of the original poetry Shikibu used in her tale and explains in great detail what life was like in Japan in the Heian period, and especially what life was like in the imperial palace.

I would recommend this book to anyone intereted in Japan, Japanese culture or Japanese literature. It opened my eyes to what life was like in old Japan and i was amazed by how advanced their society appeared compared to our own.

One of the best books i have ever read - it has encouraged me to go and read more Japanese books now and further my understanding of life in the Heian period.

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