The Tale of Genji: The Tale of Genji; The Sacred Tree; A Wreath of Cloud; Blue Trousers; The Lady of the Boat; The Bridge of Dreams. Translated from the Japanese by Arthur Waley [Complete in 6 Vols.]

Bookseller Notes

Arthur Waley's translation of this eleventh-century Japanese novel, 'Genji monogatari', was a task and achievement comparable to Scott-Moncrieff's translation of Proust, and in a cultural sense more of a challenge. The earlier translation into English, by Suematsu Kench in 1882, was heavily abridged, and Waley's situation was an isolated one - without much in the way of existing models or scholarly commentaries to guide him in attempting to render the courtly vernacular of the Heian period. Even if Waley's work has been built upon and improved by subsequent translations, its reputation remains high and its significance - particularly in respect of forging an analogy between early Japanese and modern Western sensibilities as represented in the form of the novel - supreme.