12017-05-31T17:02:47+00:00Nathanael Roesche2b52a0fe25f47457902361b2112b14c75ecc6aa22plain2017-05-31T17:16:16+00:00Nathanael Roesche2b52a0fe25f47457902361b2112b14c75ecc6aaWritten more than a thousand years ago by court poet and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 973-1031), The Tale of Genji is a massive and extraordinarily complex work. Tracing the lives of the fictional prince Genji and his descendants, the Tale's 54 chapters include more than 400 characters whose narratives intersect amid the political intrigues and romantic entanglements of the Heian imperial court (794-1185).