Welcome to my new reading blog / commentary on The Tale of Genji. These are being created as I reread Genji monogatari front-to-back in two full translations. When it is an even-numbered chapter, I read Seidensticker then Tyler. When it is an odd-numbered chapter, I read Tyler, then Seidensticker. While doing so, I refer frequently to an annotated original Japanese version (Nihon koten bungaku zenshu, Shogakukan, not the new verion). I am not checking the translations for accuracy; however, after reading, I look over my reading notes, then upload to the web site here some general comments, the essential highlights of a chapter, and some more specific reading notes at the level of sentence and word that seem to me might be useful. Finally, I link to some multimedia that I think add another aspect to thinking about the chapter though this is not the priority of this particular rereading.
This is slow work; I expect to finish in March of 2009. If the chapter below has a link to it, I have uploaded a page set for that chapter. Each set has a time stamp at the top of the commentary so you can see when it was last edited.
The comments that are being uploaded should be considered in "blog"-style; that is, I am writing down impressions as I read each chapter, allowing opinions and interpretations to change as I move forward. At some later date, the entire set of documents will be reconsidered and edited from a more total point of view, with more research, but at this point they should be taken as the thoughtful but somewhat casual reactions of a scholar who reads Heian literature, but does not consider himself a specialist in The Tale of Genji specifically, and who is reading at a chapter-by-chapter level, not a more organically whole perspective.
| Seidensticker | Tyler | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 桐壺 | Kiritsubo | The Paulownia Court | The Paulownia Pavilion |
| 2 | 帚木 | Hahakigi | The Broom Tree | The Broom Tree |
| 3 | 空蝉 | Utsusemi | The Shell of the Locust | The Cicada Shell |
| 4 | 夕顔 | Yūgao | Evening Faces | The Twilight Beauty |
| 5 | 若紫 | Wakamurasaki | Lavender | Young Murasaki |
| 6 | 末摘花 | Suetsumuhana | The Safflower | The Safflower |
| 7 | 紅葉賀 | Momiji no ga | An Autumn Excursion | Beneath the Autumn Leaves |
| 8 | 花宴 | Hana no en | The Cherry Blossoms | Under the Cherry Blossoms |
| 9 | 葵 | Aoi | Heartvine | Heart-to-Heart |
| 10 | 賢木 | Sakaki | The Sacred Tree | The Green Branch |
| 11 | 花散里 | Hanachirusato | The Orange Blossoms | Falling Flowers |
| 12 | 須磨 | Suma | Suma | Suma |
| 13 | 明石 | Akashi | Akashi | Akashi |
| 14 | 澪標 | Miotsukushi | Channel Buoys | The Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi |
| 15 | 蓬生 | Yomogiu | The Wormwood Patch | A Waste of Weeds |
| 16 | 関屋 | Sekiya | The Gatehouse | At the Pass |
| 17 | 絵合 | Eawase | A Picture Contest | The Picture Contest |
| 18 | 松風 | Matsukaze | The Wind in the Pines | Wind in the Pines |
| 19 | 薄雲 | Usugumo | A Rack of Cloud | Wisps of Cloud |
| 20 | 朝顔 | Asagao | The Morning Glory | The Bluebell |
| 21 | 少女 | Otome | The Maiden | The Maidens |
| 22 | 玉鬘 | Tamakazura | The Jeweled Chaplet | The Tendril Wreath |
| 23 | 初音 | Hatsune | The First Warbler | The Warbler's First Song |
| 24 | 胡蝶 | Kochō | Butterflies | Butterflies |
| 25 | 蛍 | Hotaru | Fireflies | The Fireflies |
| 26 | 常夏 | Tokonatsu | Wild Carnations | The Pink |
| 27 | 篝火 | Kagaribi | Flares | The Cressets |
| 28 | 野分 | Nowaki | The Typhoon | The Typhoon |
| 29 | 行幸 | Miyuki | The Royal Outing | The Imperial Progress |
| 30 | 藤袴 | Fujibakama | Purple Trousers | Thoroughwort Flowers |
| 31 | 真木柱 | Makibashira | The Cypress Pillar | The Handsome Pillar |
| 32 | 梅枝 | Umegae | A Branch of Plum | The Plum Tree Branch |
| 33 | 藤裏葉 | Fuji no uraba | Wisteria Leaves | New Wisteria Leaves |
| 34 | 若菜・上 | Wakana jō | New Herbs: Part One | Spring Shoots I |
| 35 | 若菜・下 | Wakana ge | New Herbs: Part Two | Spring Shoots II |
| 36 | 柏木 | Kashiwagi | The Oak Tree | The Oak Tree |
| 37 | 横笛 | Yokobue | The Flute | The Flute |
| 38 | 鈴虫 | Suzumushi | The Bell Cricket | The Bell Cricket |
| 39 | 夕霧 | Yūgiri | Evening Mist | Evening Mist |
| 40 | 御法 | Minori | The Rites | The Law |
| 41 | 幻 | Maboroshi | The Wizard | The Seer |
| 雲隠 | Kumogakure | Vanished into the Clouds | ||
| 42 | 匂宮 | Niou miya | His Perfumed Highness | The Perfumed Prince |
| 43 | 紅梅 | Kōbai | The Rose Plum | Red Plum |
| 44 | 竹河 | Takekawa | Bamboo River | Bamboo River |
| 45 | 橋姫 | Hashihime | The Lady at the Bridge | The Maiden of the Bridge |
| 46 | 椎本 | Shiigamoto | Beneath the Oak | Beneath the Oak |
| 47 | 総角 | Agemaki | Trefoil Knots | Trefoil Knots |
| 48 | 早蕨 | Sawarabi | Early Ferns | Bracken Shoots |
| 49 | 宿木 | Yadorigi | The Ivy | The Ivy |
| 50 | 東屋 | Azumaya | The Eastern Cottage | The Eastern Cottage |
| 51 | 浮舟 | Ukifune | A Boat upon the Waters | A Drifting Boat |
| 52 | 蜻蛉 | Kagerō | The Drake Fly | The Mayfly |
| 53 | 手習 | Tenarai | At Writing Practice | Writing Practice |
| 54 | 夢浮橋 | Yume no ukihashi | The Floating Bridge of Dreams | The Floating Bridge of Dreams |