MURASAKI, Lady; WALEY, Arthur (trans.).

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The Tale of Genji: A Novel in Six Parts. First one-volume edition. The influence of Waley's Genji extends beyond Japanology: reviewing the first instalment for Vogue, Virginia Woolf praised him for helping her recognize that "the differences between Japanese and Anglo cultures did not make the Anglo superior" (Henig, p. 76). She acknowledged this literary debt in the preface to Orlando (1928).Lady Murasaki was an 11th-century courtier from the Fujiwara clan. "The Tale of Genji [is] informed by a comprehensive knowledge of Chinese and Japanese poetry and [is] a graceful work of imaginative fiction... At its most basic, The Tale of Genji is an absorbing introduction to the culture of the aristocracy in early Heian Japan - its forms of entertainment, its manner of dress, its daily life, and its moral code. The era is exquisitely re-created through the story of Genji, the handsome, sensitive, gifted courtier, an excellent lover and a worthy friend" (Ency. Brit.).Arthur Waley is still regarded as one of the most skilled translators of Chinese and Japanese literature, poetry, and philosophy into English. His achievements are all the more remarkable considering that his language skills were entirely self-taught. His translations of the Genji were first released in parts from 1925 to 1933.

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