The Tale of Genji Abridged (Penguin Classics) Paperback – Abridged, 28 Sept. 2006

This will be my third reading of this epic novel. It is reputed to be the first true novel ever written and gives us a wonderful insight into Japanese court life in the Heiean period. It takes a number of months to read and there are so many characters that it is easy to lose trachk of who is who. I have the hardback copy and there is a list of all the characters at the front which I find invaluable to keep referring back to. For anyone interested in Japanese history and literature this is the one book you should definitely buy.

Ah, it is an epic that I want to read. An e-version is portable

I lived in Japan for a couple of years and I had heard a lot about this book. . When I finally got to read it however I was disappointed as it seemed to be rather shallow and a bit disjointed.

My son loved the book as he is very interested in anything Japanese