The Tale of Genji

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1010 CE · Novel · Japanese · Medieval

The beautiful son of an emperor by a low-ranking consort, Genji is removed from the succession and spends his life in the courtships, exiles and returns of Heian Kyoto. The later chapters pass to the generation after him, into a colder world. Often called the first novel: the loves and impermanence of a Heian prince, steeped in melancholy.

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Lineage

• alludes to ↑ The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
  Anonymous · c. 900 CE · Folktale
• ↓ The Tale of the Heike
  Anonymous · c. 1330 CE · Poem — influenced by this
• ↓ Snow Country
  Yasunari Kawabata · 1937 CE · Novel — influenced by this
• ↓ The Makioka Sisters
  Jun'ichirō Tanizaki · 1948 CE · Novel — influenced by this
• ↓ The Bridge of Dreams
  Jun'ichirō Tanizaki · 1959 CE · Short Story — takes its title from this
• ↓ Spring Snow
  Yukio Mishima · 1969 CE · Novel — influenced by this
• ↓ The Life of an Amorous Man
  Ihara Saikaku · 1682 CE · Novel — responds to this

Attributes

Closest analogues

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  Yasunari Kawabata · 1937 CE · Novel

  53% · 11 shared
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• Lost in Translation
  Sofia Coppola · 2003 CE · Film

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