The Tale of Murasaki : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: Pure Beauty
Review: "The Tale of Murasaki" is an amazing book, it is intriguing, spell-binding and contains an athmosphere of 11th Century Japan so believable that you will find yourself completely absorbed by it. Liza Crihfield Dalby has managed to weave in Murasaki's poetry with the story in the most beautiful way, and make it all make sense. Murasaki comes to life in this diary style book, and by the time you reach the end of it, it feels as if you know her [Murasaki] personally. The book contains so much "cultural knowledge", that it gives you an insight to 11th Century Japanese religious beliefs and ceremonies, social structure, imperial court life, clothing, rural as well as urban life, social life... If you liked Geisha, by the same author, or The Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, this is the book for you. But I also recommend this book to anyone with an interest for Japanese culture, history and/or poetry. This book is pure beauty.

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Summary: Review Against the Tide
Review: Although it often reads like fantasy this book is a work of historical fiction based on the diaries of Murasaki, a woman who lived in eleventh century Japan. Murasaki was the author of the¡§Tale of Genji, the masterpiece of Japanese literature.

What makes this story such a great read is that it is first a wonderful story and second is that it gives many interesting insights into the nature of life in eleventh century Japan. It is a world where people often communicate by sending each other poems. As the book is written from a women's perspective it gives many insights into the life of Japanese women at that time. It was a world where women were seen as inferior in every way but Murasaki still had the strength of character to complete her masterwork. The book also details much of the life of the royal family.

I would highly recommend this book, both as a wonderfully written story and for its historical details.

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Summary: The Tale of Murisaki: a rare jem
Review: Dalby's "Tale of Murasaki" is a masterfully written book about Murasaki, a young Japanese woman who is credited with writing perhaps the greatest Japanese epic of all time.

Dalby's Murasaki is a wonderful, sensitive woman who is more than meets the eye. She is an intelligent character who is believable and acutely historical.

I discovered Dalby while traveling in England and Scotland. The depth and detail of this book couldn't have been written by a more apt author. Dalby is a known athropologist who is the only Westerner became a part of the the Japanese geisha society. Her extensive historical and cultural research in Japan lends itself to creating a fluid and comprehensive novel with realistic characters and events.

Her style may be occasionally technical or academic and her plot sometimes lags, but the detail, imagery, and style of the story more than compensate for these momentary lapses in her writing.

I highly recommend this novel. If you are looking for a non-fiction book on Japanese culture and society, I recommend "Geisha" by Ms. Dalby, which I consider her best book to date.

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Summary: A wonderful stepping stone towards something even better.
Review: The Tale of Murasaki is about Shikibu Murasaki, a woman in 10th century Heian Japan and author of one of the worlds first and finest novels: The Tale of Genji.

This book, in my eyes, is best when used as an introduction to Heian life, and preparing you to plunge into Genji, her life's work.

The story itself is written for a modern English audience, a fictional reconstruction of Murasaki's diary based on the small bits that remain of the real thing and a large number of her poems.

As a modern story, it does a lot to introduce the peculiarities of Heian life, from ladies always behind screens in the presence of men, to conversation depending in a large part on on-the-spot poetry, to the fashionable of the time which seems entirely strange to today's world (such as the deliberate blackening of teeth).

However, I must admit that I find it paling in comparison to the work it helps a person ease into. It's a wonderful story, and the poetry (with original Japanese before the translation) is a real treat, but it is a bit short and some parts of it glossed over slightly.

Regardless, I recommend it fully, and then after it is read, hope that a reader would be interested enough to take the plunge and read The Tale of Genji.

Rating:
Summary: Fabulous
Review: This is by far the best piece of fiction I have read this year. Dalby's fictionalising of Murasaki is completely believable. What makes it all the more delightful is the complete acceptance within Murusaki of her position with 11th century Japanese society. Not for one instant does she even think it necessary to question the patriarchal society nor her place in it and the novel succeds all the more for it. Her 'love' for Shiburu, Nobutaka, Kerria-Rose and Ming-gwok is superbly realised by Dalby from the strange borders of Echizen province to the more comfortable realms of Miyako. Murusaki is deeply intellectual to the point of emotionless - indeed she is almost dispassionate about the realities of life. Her Genji stories (based around Korechika) and subsequent summoning by Michinaga to provide a written legacy far more than Kinto could ever realise is enchanting. The tantalising glimpses of the Imperial Court, of Ichiro, Teisha and Shoshi lends a truly authentic air to the depiction of 11th century Court Japan.
I do not know how 'realistic' it can be deemed, but Dalby's fictionalising is breathtaking. The intermittent poetical lines are sheer genius and I look forward to more from the pen of this talented writer. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A peek into the past
Review: This novel about Lady Murasaki and her world is a well-written story providing both a glimpse of Heian court life as well as the role of a female in said society. The focus on the aesthetic pleasures of life shows the sensitivity of this culture of the past, though at times the frivolity of the lavish lifestyle of the ruling class seems excessive to the modern mind.

At the outset Murasaki is likeable because she displays a sense of individuality, intellectualism, a hint of stubbornness, and rebellion against the role of subserviant, compliant female; her somewhat taboo relationship with the Chinese visitor Ming Gwok reveals an uncompromising element to her personality as she pursues that to which her own interests guide her, versus bowing to the strictures of her society (though she is aided by the fact that her fairly enlightened father looks the other way). She also fights the societal insistence of marriage for much longer than most women would have had the staying power to do.

As the book progresses it becomes somewhat frustrating to see her buckle to fit the role of court lady, though this is likely a historically accurate portrayal of what would have become of her at the time. Because of this, the latter part of the book seems somewhat vapid at times and loses its sense of substance, even if it is accurate.

Still, this is a worthwhile read from Liza Dalby, a tried and true scholar and analyzer of Japanese culture.

Rating:
Summary: Rich, visual novel
Review: Wow, I learned so much from this rich, visual novel. Historical fiction about the 11th century Japanese woman who wrote the WORLD'S FIRST NOVEL!! I hadn't even heard of her before. Liza Dalby (author) is an anthropologist and the only westerner to have become a geisha. This book was a magical find. Whether due to the small print or lyrical, sometimes dreamy, prose I found myself reading much SLOWER than I normally do, but that's not a bad thing. Very lush, i really felt transported. The translations of the poetry were quite good. I now feel very well-schooled in 11th century Japan (an era I knew little about before reading this novel). Very nice.