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alex_ellermann's review against another edition
2.0
'The Tale of Genji' is a heavy lift. This 1100-year-old story; considered by many to be the world's first novel; reflects a time, culture, and sensibility so alien to my own that I found it offputting at best, offensive at worst, and boring throughout.
Hikaru Genji is the son of a Japanese Emperor of the Heian period. He's incredibly attractive, charismatic, smart, and capable. He's also a serial rapist, sexual harasser, sexual abuser, pedophile, and all-around sex pest. Most of the book is about him going about the Japanese Imperial Court raping people and getting promoted. Eventually, someone rapes one of his wives and sires a son by her, so he blames his wife. What a scumbag.
Once he dies, the story goes on to the tale of his grandson and the grandson's friend, who carry on the family tradition of rape, sexual assault, and so on. Together, the two drive a young woman to attempt suicide. She's blamed for her selfishness because Heian culture seemed to assume that it was women's jobs to be completely prostrate before the whims and desires of men, and anything else was considered scandalous.
All this is framed as normal, which leads me to believe that Heian culture was so alien from my own that the book gave me no entry points. I couldn't relate to its characters, which made it extremely difficult to empathize with them and emotionally involve myself in their stories. Consequently, I spent most of this audiobook's 72.8 hours waiting for it to be over.
But, hey, now I've read 'The Tale of Genji.' That was the last of the literary mountains on my list. I'm off to cleanse my palate with a nice science fiction adventure.
Hikaru Genji is the son of a Japanese Emperor of the Heian period. He's incredibly attractive, charismatic, smart, and capable. He's also a serial rapist, sexual harasser, sexual abuser, pedophile, and all-around sex pest. Most of the book is about him going about the Japanese Imperial Court raping people and getting promoted. Eventually, someone rapes one of his wives and sires a son by her, so he blames his wife. What a scumbag.
Once he dies, the story goes on to the tale of his grandson and the grandson's friend, who carry on the family tradition of rape, sexual assault, and so on. Together, the two drive a young woman to attempt suicide. She's blamed for her selfishness because Heian culture seemed to assume that it was women's jobs to be completely prostrate before the whims and desires of men, and anything else was considered scandalous.
All this is framed as normal, which leads me to believe that Heian culture was so alien from my own that the book gave me no entry points. I couldn't relate to its characters, which made it extremely difficult to empathize with them and emotionally involve myself in their stories. Consequently, I spent most of this audiobook's 72.8 hours waiting for it to be over.
But, hey, now I've read 'The Tale of Genji.' That was the last of the literary mountains on my list. I'm off to cleanse my palate with a nice science fiction adventure.
gwenkooi's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
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