Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s interesting that the hammers of workers beating cloth were so distasteful to #Genji when he was slumming it in #Genji4 but not the loud ring of iron mortars everywhere in his home, as people pound wood into incense in #Genji32. I guess the noise is okay if classy folk are making it.

@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit @xicanti

#Genji4 also gives us this gem (Tyler translation). “I know I would like such a woman more, the more I lived with her and FORMED HER TO MY WILL.” As I said, quite over the top. He‘s 17! #Genji

“What home is ours forever?”

#Genji #Genji4

“He was indeed a common peasant, such a one as in old days would have been unceremoniously bundled out of Genji‘s path. Now Genji found himself welcoming the fellow as an equal, and commiserating with him upon his plight.” #Genji13
Quite a change from chapter 4 in which Genji was irritated by the “uncouth sound of peasant voices.” So, I think we are witnessing some growth in Genji‘s character.
(Internet image)

Slowly slowly making my way through the Tale of #Genji - I‘ll aim to catch up by next weekend! I‘m kind of embarrassed to admit I hadn‘t even heard of it until the buddy read started (an 11th Century Japanese classic, written by a woman, and one of the first novels out there) but I‘m really enjoying it so far. Especially the author‘s asides and side comments- at times it feels like she‘s eye-rolling at her own characters - and her readers. #genji4

Genji‘s attitude toward women reflects (hopefully) a different age: “It is frailty that gives a woman her charm, though. I do not care for a woman who insists on valuing her own wits. I prefer someone compliant, perhaps because I myself am none too quick or self-assured—someone easy for a man to take advantage of if she is not careful,” (76). Hopefully not the sentiment of the modern man! 😁
#genji #genji4

"I had hoped, out of deference to him, to conceal these difficult matters; but I have been accused of romancing, of pretending that because he was the son of an emperor he had no faults. Now, perhaps, I shall be accused of having revealed too much." (Seidensticker translation)

I like the authorial voice chiming in too - I think this bit from the end of #genji4 corresponds to the quote you posted the other day, @lindy. #genji

Using the new book light I got for Christmas for some late night reading with Gandalf and really appreciating the illustrations in this edition. They show a lot of just every day kind of things that are mentioned in the story.

#Genji #Genji4 #CatsofLitsy

This quote from page 61 of almost 1200 amused me today.

“All that makes a long story, though, so as usual I have left it out.”

#Genji #Genji4