japanese literature

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Translator: Tyler, Royall

  • The glass slipper and other stories

    In addition to “The Glass Slipper,” this collection contains eight other stories held together by a common thread of self-perception. Yasuoka writes from the belief that the self has such depths that at times it can appear to be illusory. Set against the chaotic backdrop of the era running from before World War II to…

  • The tale of the Heike

    With 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…

  • The tale of Genji

    Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the worlds first novel. 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…

  • The tale of Genji : abridged

    A portrait of Genji, the Shining Prince, son of an emperor. It features on his tempestuous nature, family circumstances, love affairs, alliances, and shifting political fortunes

  • Flowers of grass

    Outside Tokyo, a tuberculosis sanatorium in the village of K has a six-bed ward that the narrator, an aspiring poet, shares with a student of linguistics and budding writer named Shiomi. After the stubborn Shiomi insists on undergoing a dangerous surgical procedure and dies in the process, two notebooks turn up in his bed-sheets. Flowers…