560. The Golden Age of Japan: Lady Murasaki and the Shining Prince (Part 1)
Books Mentioned
“It's a novel called The Tale of Genji. And to give you a sense of the sheer weight of it, in the translation by Royal Tyler, which we'll be quoting from a fair bit today, that book is more than 1,000 pages long.”
“The only other book that I've heard you say those words about, the only other moment I've heard you talk about with the same sort of respect and even, dare I say, awe, was the chapter on Snooker in my book, Who Dares Wins.”
“In it, Chris describes Genji as irrepressibly amorous, which is basically saying he's a massive shagger.”
“The kind of intense experiences of joy and sorrow and love are repeatedly portrayed as being kind of as ephemeral as cherry blossom, which is the great metaphor in Japan. I mean, they love that. A cherry blossom metaphor in a Japanese novel, Tom. You astound me.”
“The discussion mentions 'The Pillow Book' and indicates it will be the topic of the next episode.”