All Formats & Editions

The most famous work of Japanese literature and the world's first novel--written a thousand years ago and one of the enduring classics of world literature.

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)

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)

This Norton Critical Edition includes:

Completed in the early 11th century, The Tale of Genji is considered the supreme masterpiece of Japanese prose literature, and one of the world's earliest novels. A work of great length, it comprises six parts, the first part of which (also called The Tale of Genji)... Read Full Overview

In the early eleventh century Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, wrote what many consider to be the world's first novel, more than three centuries before Chaucer. The Heian era (794--1185) is recognized as one of the very greatest periods in Japanese literature,... Read Full Overview

"What Waley did create is literary art of extraordinary beauty that brings to life in English the world Murasaki Shikibu imagined. The beauty of his art has not dimmed, but like the original text itself retains the power to move and enlighten."--Dennis Washburn, from his foreword... Read Full Overview

In the eleventh century Murasaki Shikibu, a lady in the Heian court of Japan, wrote the world's first novel. But The Tale of Genji is no mere artifact. It is, rather, a lively and astonishingly nuanced portrait of a refined society where every dalliance is an act of political... Read Full Overview

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji--widely considered the world's first novel--during the early years of the eleventh century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation... Read Full Overview

About Dennis Washburn's translation

"Washburn's version of Murasaki Shikibu's masterpiece is lucid and engaging, irresistibly drawing the reader further and further into the story and the exquisite world it creates for us of Japan's Heian court. A... Read Full Overview

The Tale of Genji Monogatari is a classic work of Japanese literature attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu in the early eleventh century, around the peak of the Heian Period. It is sometimes called the world's first novel, the first modern... Read Full Overview

Murasaki Shikibu, born into the middle ranks of the aristocracy during the Heian period (794-1185 CE), wrote The Tale of Genji--widely considered the world's first novel--during the early years of the eleventh century. Expansive, compelling, and sophisticated in its representation... Read Full Overview