"The Tale of Genji" and "The Tale of the Heike" are the two major
works of classical Japanese prose. The complete versions of both
works are too long to be taught in one term, and this abridgement
answers the need for a one-volume edition of both works suitable
for use in survey courses in classical Japanese literature or world
literature in translation and by the general reader daunted by the
complete works. The translator has selected representative portions
of the two texts with a view to shaping the abridgments into
coherent, aesthetically acceptable wholes.
Often called the world's earliest novel, "The Tale of Genji," by
Murasaki Shikibu, is a poetic evocation of aristocratic life in
eleventh-century Japan, a period of brilliant cultural
efflorescence. This new translation focuses on important events in
the life of its main character, Genji. It traces the full length of
Genji's relationship with Murasaki, the deepest and most enduring
of his emotional attachments, and contains all or parts of 10 of
the 41 chapters in which Genji figures, including the "Broom Tree"
chapter, which provides a reprise of the themes of the book.
In romanticized but essentially truthful fashion, "The Tale of the
Heike" describes the late twelfth-century political intrigues and
battlefield clashes that led to the eclipse of the Kyoto court and
the establishment of a military government by the rival Minamotho
(Genji) clan. Its underlying theme, the evanescence of worldly
things, echoes some of the concerns of the "Genji," but its
language preserves many traces of oral composition, and its vigor
and expansivelness contrast sharply with the pensive, elegant tone
of the "Genji." The selections of the "Heike," about 40 percent of
the owrk, are taken from the translator's complete edition, which
received great acclaim: "this verison of the "Heike" is superb and
indeed reveals to English-language readers for the first time the
full scope, grandeur, and literary richness of the work."--"Journal
of Asian Studies"
For both the "Genji" and the "Heike" abridgments, the translator
has provided introductions, headnote summaries, adn other
supplementary maerials designed to help readers follow the
sometimes confused story lines and keep the characters straight.
The book also includes an appendix, a glossary, a bibliography, and
two maps.
General
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