Famed for being the only Westerner to have become a geisha, Liza Dalby delves deep into the history of Japan for her novel, 'The Tale of Murasaki.' The title is meant to allude to the famous 'Tale of Genji,' written by Lady Murasaki in the 11th century and considered to be the world's very first novel.
Spanning about 35 years in the life of Murasaki, Dalby tries to take her readers into the mind of a girl just entering womanhood and society in the illustrious Heian period, but finally renouncing the world in her later years. Many elegant-looking characters of the court with not-so-elegant personalities glide through her life to help her create the world for her beloved fictional Genji.
The novel is told from Murasaki's point of view, from old letters, journals and poems her daughter has found after her death. She leads a relatively normal life as a middle-class occupant in the capital city of Miyako, today's Kyoto. A rather forward-thinking young woman, she has the undesirable knack for furthering her education that is sure to keep her from becoming a proper lady.
She resists the idea of marriage and even exiles herself to the farthest reaches of Japan in an attempt to avoid it. Eventually bowing to her fate, she keeps herself afloat by breathing life into Genji.
As the daughter of a low-ranking court poet, Murasaki is the last person to expect that her tales would attract the attentions of the regent and lead her to a court life in service of the empress. Nor could she fathom that her dream world would turn into a nightmare that would make her want to retreat from everything she ever knew.
Dalby's novel is lush in its sensory imagery. She evokes the sights and smells of a Japanese garden with such attention to detail that the reader gets to know every leaf and blossom. But she is not restricted to traditional garden scenes. She can easily transfer her characters from the rich urban smells of the city to the thin, cold air of a mountain hideaway. If a bamboo branch is out of place or a chrysanthemum drooping, Dalby is there to record it in all its majesty for her audience.
Dalby's characters, however, don't live up to the scenery. Murasaki is not hard to be drawn to; any writer or melancholy soul could find an outlet in her. Yet once one is close to Murasaki, it's easy to get the feeling that she is poorly defined and quite inconsistant. Her friends drift in and out of her existence, never really defining themselves, and the men and women who do occur frequently never really develop anyway.
More than 400 pages long, 'The Tale of Murasaki,' can be a trek to get through, but for those familiar or interested in this period of Japanese history and art, it may prove a treasure trove of information. The novel picks up pace in the last 100 pages with court intrigues that resemble today's soap operas.
Lovers of Japanese literature may find the book worthwhile just for its epilogue, where Dalby gives us her rendition of the lost last tale of his epic.
Murasaki is a character the reader wants to care about, but in the end just can't. Perhaps the first-person device wasn't the voice for this story, as Murasaki doesn't really have the depth to tell the audience about herself, let alone others. 'The Tale of Murasaki' is filled with beautiful scenery; unfortunately, it gets too wrapped up in it.
