Synopses & Reviews
A masterpiece of world literature; the samurai saga of pride, romance, and warfare of medieval JapanWith a reflection on the fleeting nature of power and glory begins The Tale of the Heike, an epic from twelfth-century Japan. Comparable in stature to The Tale of Genji, The Tale of the Heike narrates with wit, energy, and compassion the stories of such unforgettable characters as the ruthless warlord Kiyomori, who dies still burning with such rage that water poured on him boils; Hotoke, the beautiful young dancer who renounces wealth and fame to follow her conscience; Shigemori, the tyrantandrsquo;s righteous son, who struggles against all odds to uphold fairness and justice; and Yoshitsune, the daring commander who defeats the enemy in battle after battle, only to be condemned by his jealous, powerful brother.
The Tale of the Heike is a foundation stone of Japanese culture and a major masterpiece of world literature. Lavishly illustrated and accompanied by maps, character guides, and genealogies, this book is a volume to treasure.
Review
Tyler skillfully catches the erotic flavor, the vivid characterizations, and the allusive poetry of this classic. (The Philadelphia Inquire) A landmark event. (The Wall Street Journal)
Review
"Spectacularly beautiful...This will be the English Heike for our time and for many decades to come."
Review
Praise for THE TALE OF GENJI
andldquo;Superbly written and genuinely engagingandhellip;one of those works that can be read and reread throughout oneandrsquo;s life.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;An enormous achievement.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A new translation that makes Genji accessible to contemporary readers is a landmark event. [Tylerandrsquo;s translation has clearly been a labor of love. In his beautifully written translation he tries to get as close to the original as possible, immersing us in eleventh-century Japan. Mr. Tylerandrsquo;s translation is richly embellished with footnotes that flag for us everything that Murasaki and her contemporaries would have taken for granted. All in all, Mr. Tylerandrsquo;s translation is likely to be the definitive edition of The Tale of Genji for many years to come.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;The Tale of Genji set an insanely high standard for anything that came after it. This latest edition is reader friendly at every turn, with generous footnotes, character lists and lots of illustrations to show what robes looked like, or swords, or houses. You have to reach for comparisons to Tolstoy or Proust to convey just what a captivating experience this story can be.andquot;
Review
andldquo;Tylerandrsquo;s delicate ear for the language of the original helps breathe new life into the story of Genji.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Though [Murasakiandrsquo;s] setting was the royal Japanese court of one thousand years ago, her characters managed to draw the reader into their passion and terrors in an uncannily modern way. [Tylerandrsquo;s translation is] beautifully readableandhellip;it sets a new standard. Not only is this new English edition the most scrupulously true to the original, it also is superbly written and genuinely engaging. We are blessed to have Tylerandrsquo;s help in reading it.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Tyler has long shown himself to be one of the finest translators of Japanese in our era. In producing this new Genji translation, he has been able not only to draw upon his own skills as a writer, but also to build on the efforts and accomplishments of his predecessorsandhellip;the Tyler version is by far the most helpful to the general reader.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;[Tyler] has crafted an elegant translation that remarkably renders this eleventh-century tale in language so lively, vivid and transparent, one could easily believe that the book was written by some gifted postmodernist. Royall Tyler devoted space to explaining, through the introduction and footnotes, nuances of the time, helping help us place them into a modern context. This edition of The Tale of Genji is beautifully realized, both asand#160; translation and as a seamless art object.andrdquo;
Review
and#160; "An elegant new translation [and] an account of a 12th century civil war that is an important historical document as well as a work of great power and beauty."--
Los Angeles TimesReview
"Encountering Homer in a vivid translation made Keats feel like an astonished astronomer watching a new planet swim into view. Readers unfamiliar with medieval Japanese literature and#8212; and that must mean most of us and#8212; may feel a kindred excitement on first looking into The Tale of the Heike, in a taut new rendering by Royall Tyler."--The New York Times Book Review
Review
and#8220;This modern translation of the Japanese medieval classic tracing the rise and fall of the Taira (Heike) clan reads like the Iliad filtered through Akira Kurosawa, with battlefield panoramas and personal tragedies captured in an exquisitely cinematic narrativeand#8230;Following his noteworthy translation of The Tale of Genji, Tyler offers accessible language while observing literary tradition in names and format. To help both old hands and newcomers navigate the vibrant yet sometimes arduous masterpiece, he provides an introduction, character list, maps, geneaologies, chronologies, footnotes, and glorious 19th-century illustrations.and#8221; --Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Synopsis
One of the world's oldest novels and the greatest single work of Japanese literature, this 11th-century romance centers on the lives and loves of an emperor's son. It offers a vast tapestry of the intrigues and rivalries of court life, as well as an exquisitely detailed portrayal of a decaying aristocracy. Rich in poetry and wordplay in addition to subtle social and psychological observations, this splendid translation of the first part of a tremendously influential masterpiece provides Western readers with a memorable taste of one of the world's first and greatest novels.
Synopsis
An abridged edition of the world's first novel, in a translation that is "likely to be the definitive edition . . . for many years to come" (The Wall Street Journal)
The inspiration behind The Metropolitan Museum of Art's The Tale of Genji A Japanese Classic Illuminated -- Now through June 16 at The Met Fifth Avenue A Penguin Classic
Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world's first novel--and is certainly one of its finest. Genji, the Shining Prince, is the son of an emperor. He is a passionate character whose tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes form the core of this magnificent epic.
Royall Tyler's superior translation is detailed, poetic, and superbly true to the Japanese original while allowing the modern reader to appreciate it as a contemporary treasure. In this deftly abridged edition, Tyler focuses on the early chapters, which vividly evoke Genji as a young man and leave him at his first moment of triumph. This edition also includes detailed notes, glossaries, character lists, and chronologies.
Synopsis
An abridged edition of the world's first novel, in a translation that is "likely to be the definitive edition . . . for many years to come" (The Wall Street Journal) A Penguin Classic
Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world's first novel--and is certainly one of its finest. Genji, the Shining Prince, is the son of an emperor. He is a passionate character whose tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes form the core of this magnificent epic.
Royall Tyler's superior translation is detailed, poetic, and superbly true to the Japanese original while allowing the modern reader to appreciate it as a contemporary treasure. In this deftly abridged edition, Tyler focuses on the early chapters, which vividly evoke Genji as a young man and leave him at his first moment of triumph. This edition also includes detailed notes, glossaries, character lists, and chronologies.
Synopsis
The original novela classic of Japanese and world literature and a stunningly beautiful story
Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the worlds first noveland is certainly one of its finest. Genji, the Shining Prince, son of an emperor, is a passionate character whose tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes form the core of this magnificent epic. Royall Tylers superb translation is detailed, poetic, and true to the Japanese original while allowing the English reader to appreciate its timeless beauty. In this deftly abridged edition, Tyler focuses on the early chapters, which vividly evoke Genji as a young man and leave him at his first moment of triumph. This edition also includes detailed notes, glossaries, character lists, and chronologies
Synopsis
A masterpiece of world literature; the samurai saga of pride, romance, and warfare of medieval JapanWith a reflection on the fleeting nature of power and glory begins The Tale of the Heike, an epic from twelfth-century Japan. Comparable in stature to The Tale of Genji, The Tale of the Heike narrates with wit, energy, and compassion the stories of such unforgettable characters as the ruthless warlord Kiyomori, who dies still burning with such rage that water poured on him boils; Hotoke, the beautiful young dancer who renounces wealth and fame to follow her conscience; Shigemori, the tyrantandrsquo;s righteous son, who struggles against all odds to uphold fairness and justice; and Yoshitsune, the daring commander who defeats the enemy in battle after battle, only to be condemned by his jealous, powerful brother.
The Tale of the Heike is a foundation stone of Japanese culture and a major masterpiece of world literature. Lavishly illustrated and accompanied by maps, character guides, and genealogies, this book is a volume to treasure.
Synopsis
From the acclaimed translator of The Tale of Genji, a groundbreaking rendering of Japanand#8217;s great martial epic The fourteenth-century Tale of the Heike is Japanand#8217;s Iliadand#151;a moving depiction of the late twelfth-century wars between the Heike and Genji clans. No work has had a greater impact on later Japanese literature, theater, music, film, and mangaand#151;indeed on the Japanese peopleand#8217;s sense of their own past. It has also been a major source for medieval-Japan-based fantasy in English. With woodcuts by nineteenth-century artist Teisai Hokuba, a major student of the great Hokusai, Royall Tylerand#8217;s stunning presentation of this touchstone of Japanese culture recreates the oral epic as it was actually performed and conveys the rich and vigorous language of the original.
About the Author
Murasaki Shikibu, born in 978, was a member of Japan's Fujiwara clan, which ruled behind the scenes during the Heian Period by providing the brides and courtesans of all the emperors. Lady Murasaki's rare literary talent, particularly her skill as a poet, secured her a place in the court of Empress Akiko. After the death of her husband, she cloistered herself to study Buddhism, raise her daughter, and write the world's first novel Genji Monogatari, the tale of the shining Prince Genji.
Royall Tyler was born in London, England, and grew up in Massachusetts, England, Washington D.C., and Paris. He has a B.A. in Far Eastern Languages from Harvard, and an M.A. in Japanese History and Ph. D. in Japanese literature from Columbia University. He has taught Japanese language and culture at, among other places, Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Oslo, in Norway. Beginning in 1990, he taught at the Australian National University, in Canberra, from which he retired at the end of 2000. He will spend the American academic year 2001-02 as a Visiting Professor at Harvard.
Royall Tyler and his wife Susan live in a rammed earth house on 100 acres in the bush about seventy miles from Canberra, where they breed alpacas as a hobby.
Royall Tyler’s previous works include Japanese Noh Dramas, a selection and translation of Noh plays published by Penguin; Japanese Tales and French Folktales, anthologies published by Pantheon; and The Miracles of the Kasuga Deity, a study of a medieval Japanese cult published by Columbia University Press.