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whilereadingandwalking · 4 months

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Genji is not a perfect person, but there’s a purity to him, a beauty that’s clearly meant to be lauded, particularly in contrast to later chapters. He’s in love with love, a true romantic, and his sometimes unwise affairs are motivated by a true sense of love. He never abandons one of his lovers, which in this time is crucial. No matter the shame it brings to himself, he tries to find a way to honor the women he’s fallen for. He’s charming. No one can not love him, or ultimately forgive him his faults.

The age of Tale of Genji had strict rules of romance—of how flirtations worked (largely intermediaries and poetry), of how commitments worked, of how aloof vs. present it was appropriate to be (it’s good to commit but bad to hoard or become jealous). It was possible to love too much. Genji is accused of this, but he always remembers to care for the people he is responsible for—once he grows up that is.

Early in the text, he neglects his wife, and he also neglects “the Rokujo lady.” The Rokujo lady becomes so jealous and enraged that her spirit begins to sicken his wife. This ghost returns more than once over the course of the text. She has grown sick from obsession and neglect, and Genji pays the price for it. It’s part of what motivates him to always care for the women he romances for the rest of his life.

Later, in the “Uji” chapters, young Kaoru and prince Niou also love too much. Niou is impulsive like Genji but also flighty, and Kaoru is serious like Genji but also obsessive. Both men pursue the women at Uji with insistence that the text can’t quite forgive as it could for Genji. Both, somehow, go too far—perhaps in their attempts to hoard, or in their impatience.

#tale of genji #murasaki shikibu #japanese books #japanese lit #classic books #my book reviews

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yee-art · 6 months

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2 kinds of Old man

#fgo #fate grand order #fate/grand order #artists on tumblr #ptolemy fgo #james moriarty #murasaki shikibu #yehlawd comic #comics #comic

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ryuko · 7 months

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TEDDY

#fate grand order #fgo #murasaki shikibu #ibuki douji #baobhan sith #fairy knight tristan #fate #bikini #swimsuit #TEDDY #*

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nero-draco · 5 months

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#fate grand order #chibichuki #sei shonagon #murasaki shikibu #mangacap

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rennebright · 7 months

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水着紫式部 by TEDDY ※Illustration shared with permission from the artist. If you like this artwork please support the artist by visiting the source.

#murasaki shikibu #紫式部 #fate grand order #fgo #fate #teddy #swimsuit #posted art

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dummy-dot-exe · 1 year

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by 草野シンタ

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animepopheart · 3 months

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★ 【霧月】「ビブリオフィリア // 二天一流の女」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me on twitter

#miyamoto musashi #murasaki shikibu #fgo #fate grand order #anime girl #cleopatra #artist: 霧月

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wgm-beautiful-world · 5 months

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#floral #flora #murasaki shikibu #flowers #flores #berries #bayas #japanese #japones #japan #japon #asia

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thefigureresource · 7 months

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Rider Murasaki Shikibu [Fate/Grand Order] 1/6 scale from Alter coming January 2024.

#Rider #Murasaki Shikibu #Fate/Grand Order #1/6 scale #Alter #Fate Grand Order #Fate/Go #Fate Go #F/Go #FGO #Fatego #Fate Series #Swimsuit #Girls with Weapons #Raita #Anime Figures

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katsutacle · 3 months

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Commission of Raikou in a exciting event

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gwydpolls · 7 months

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Time Travel Question 25: Medievalish I

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration.

The first person who suggested this one first was incredibly poetic in the notes.

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whilereadingandwalking · 4 months

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I’m still just getting my thoughts together on The Tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Edward G. Seidensticker, which was an epic that took me by surprise. Considered by many to be the first known novel, written in the early 11th century in Japan by a woman at court, this book is full of drama, wit, poetry, and messiness.

Genji is his father’s favorite. A beautiful, naturally charming prince, he is considered to be too good to be true—there was an idea that if too beautiful, you would be doomed to die early. His father is unable to name him crown prince due to court politics, and so he is a commoner at court, but one of tremendous influence. Genji is in love with love, and chases after women left and right—but is very serious about these affairs, making it a point not to abandon the women he seduces. It is a story of romance, intrigue, and growth.

One thing I was surprised by is the modern-feeling self-awareness of the text. Many analyses identify the 2nd protagonist, Kaoru, as possibly the first anti-hero, but I’d argue Genji is. Like many early mythic figures, he is loved by all but not without flaws. When he adopts (kidnaps) Lady Murasaki at a young age specifically to groom her into a future wife, the text does not shy away from how inappropriate it is. Characters disapprove, and the text is often cynical or wry about Genji’s choices. It does the same when Genji’s seductions turn coercive. It forgives Genji, but does excuse him, and that was something I did not expect from such an early text. This reflectiveness is part of what makes the book feel like a novel, rather than an epic poem of some kind.

#the tale of genji #murasaki shikibu #books in translation #classic literature #japanese literature #my book reviews #tale of genji

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yukisetsura · 1 year

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Old summer comic