Welcome to Litsy!

“The path I would rather take is the one that leads to life”
Starting late for the readalong and still on #Genji1
A funny thing happened, when I took my copy off the low bookshelf I discovered that one of my cats had actually “marked it” 😓 he was in a weird phase marking all over the place and sadly this was a casualty. Had to get a new copy as the other one is ruined.
Covering XI century on my #amillenniuminbooks challenge
@Lindy

I found it interesting that His Majesty‘s deep love for Haven and the favor and attention he shows her is considered a scandal and an embarrassment for both of them. “From this sad spectacle the senior nobles and privy gentlemen could only avert their eyes,” (3). I‘m really enjoying the Tyler translation—I love the cadence of it.
#genji1

Like father, like son. Genji went and fell in love someone he shouldn‘t have. One of his father‘s ladies...who also happens to look like his mother. 😳
#Genji #Genji1

Definitely an interesting start to #Genji. Lots of melancholy over lost loves. I thought this was a poignant quote as the Emperor grieves the loss of his Haven. #Genji1

The kiri or paulownia tree: In Japan there remains a custom of sending over a kimono dresser made of paulownia wood with the bride as she settles into her new marital home. This tradition is a relic from olden days when the aristocratic families would plant several paulownia trees at the birth of a girl.
(Source: https://japanesemythology.wordpress.com/tag/kiri-paulownia/)
#Genji1

“Fragile, transient life, however, pays no heed to vows of eternal love, and he was lost in melancholy regrets.”

Image: portion of a 17th c. Japanese hand scroll by Kano Sansetsu, a depiction of Bai Juyi‘s “Song of Everlasting Sorrow”

#Genji1 #Genji

I like the illustrations in this edition. Nice to see what Genji‘s boyhood hairstyle was like before his hair was cut at age 12.
“He had feared that Genji‘s looks might suffer once his hair was put up, at least while he remained so young, but not at all: he only looked more devastatingly handsome than ever.”
#Genji1
@Cindymylifeislit @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka

This scene (Tosa school of painting, 17th c) shows Genji (on the dais) being studied by the Korean physiognomist (or fortune-teller, in the Waley translation). I hadn‘t known that physiognomy was practiced so long ago. I‘ve seen it mentioned in historical novels set in 19th c Europe.
#Genji1

Litsy was glitchy earlier, so I focused on reading the first chapter of #Genji while I ate breakfast. (Fried leftover oatmeal porridge with leftover poached pears.) Those of you following the read along, please note that I suggest using the chapter number along with the hashtag whenever it‘s something specific to a chapter. (ie: #Genji1 )

Opening sentence (Arthur Waley translation): At the Court of an Emperor (he lived it matters not when) there was among the many gentlewomen of the Wardrobe and Chamber one, who though she was not of very high rank was favored far beyond all the rest; so that the great ladies of the Palace, each of whom had secretly hoped that she herself would be chosen, looked with scorn and hatred upon the upstart who had dispelled their dreams.
#Genji1