This book disgusted me. I have never read anything so incestuous. 'Tale of Genji' is an overindulgent, horrific story. Any man who covets a girl of approxiamately age seven for a wife is what I would call a 'pedophile' not a prince. Not to mention that he impregnates his step mother. I have to wonder about those who gave this book 5 stars. Spare yourself the disgust, and use your money more wisely.

It sure is a women's book; someone is in tears on every other page. Yet it does get through to a common nipponophile like me. It presents a certain ultimate in civilization, an elite who communicated to each other with brilliant artistry in subtle couplets.

If you are reading this it is probably because you have enjoyed Liza Dalby's "Tale of Murasaki" and are wondering if you can handle something of this size. Or perhaps you are already familiar with the scintillating Waley or Seidensticker translations (also worth acquiring and reading) and curious as to why Tyler has even bothered to produce another one. In fact, even in Japan there have been several recent attempts to render the obscure language of the Heian Court into modern Japanese. Junichiro Tanizaki, for example, managed the feat twice. With such a precedent Tyler therefore, perhaps, needs no justification. Anyway, what you need to know is that the new translation surpasses Seidensticker's in being faithful to the poetic economy of Murasaki's prose (though "economy" here still leaves room for some marvellously glutinous, clause-laden sentences) and even succeeds in maintaining the shifting identities of the characters (which change when they receive promotion within the court) without leaving the reader lost. There are also some wonderful and irreverent moments, such as when Tyler has the libidinous Genji complain "I'm not out for hanky panky; all I want to do is sit for a while on her creaky veranda." But the main thing is that this translation is utterly absorbing, wonderfully readable, and as difficult to put down as many a bestselling novel I have come across. It will guarantee around two months of enjoyment to those who like a good psychological story and therefore represents excellent value, even in hardback. For me personally it is simply the best novel I have read and I recommend this translation without any reservations.

It is interesting to read the diary of someone who is in process of translating a masterpiece such as, _Tale of Genji_. Truly done in a journal style it is fearless in certain ways --the admission of sexual orientation and desire for pornography being but two of the starling things found in the text. What is truly interesting is how the author related to the original text of Genji and the Waley translation. The importance of these things loom large in the diary. For the hard core Japanese literature buff are the conversations with Kawabata and Mishima who the author knew very personally.

What would have been quite fascinating would have been to have written material from various translators of Genji and their impressions.

Seidenstucker is an interesting read on Japanese literature especially for a man who is one of the big translators. Also, the reaction of a person living through interesting times and observing Japan from post-war to the beginning rise of a world power.

Overall, this diary is only interesting for the Japanese literature scholar or those interested in the field. Siedenstucker is a capable diarist but his is not the stuff of epic or lyrical letters. It is a dialogue with a text (Genji), it's author (Murasaki) and those who have translated previously (Waley and Enchi).