My reading list of late has been fictional stories set in Japan.
At the moment, The Tale of Murasaki, written by Liza Dalby, is my choice of travel companion. Most days I travel to work on Sydney Rail, so it's necessary for me to have something to read. As a consequence I have a huge book collection.
Liza Dalby was the technical assistant in relation to Geisha tradition on the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, which I've also read when first released. She was also the only woman of Euopean background to have entered the Geisha world. She lived and trained as a Geisha in the 70's.
The Tale of Murasaki is about a Japanese courtesan who wrote a story about The Shining Prince, Genji. Ironically in the story, the love of Genji's life was also a Murasaki.
The Tale of Genji is the most well-known story in Japanese history and has been depicted in numerous ways in the hundreds of years since it was first written. The New South Wales Art Gallery's exhibition in 2009 'The Shining Prince - Genji', provided a glimpse into the many ways artists have interpreted the story. Books, screens, paintings, woodblock prints, fabric, Manga comics.
This is a book about the Tale of Genji I bought in Japan. An illustrated story with each chapter depicted by a Japanese artist who's genre is paper art/illustrations. Beautiful. I picked it up from a craft centre in Kyoto. 8 stories of craft, kimonos, books, woodblock prints, souvenirs. My sons were very patient with me!!!Other stories I've read over the last couple of years: 4 books of The Tales of the Otori, The Last Concubine, The Courtesan and the Samurai, The Embers of Heaven.
