Upon her entrance to court life, she finds 'the sacred presence of the emperor and empress was overwhelming'. In Murasaki's experience, how does the process of writing a novel compare to composing poetry? What about to the other forms of written expression appearing in the novel, i.e., writing lists, 'pillow books,' diaries or 'scribbling' to record current events? According to Murasaki, is there a hierarchy of written forms of expression?Ĥ. A novel is clearly not a 'pile of poems with a fragile thread of story holding them together,' as Murasaki, the young writer, learns. Why does Dalby choose to begin the book with Katako's letter to her daughter? In what other ways does the theme of one person acting as a scribe in order to preserve the present for posterity run throughout the book? In what other instances, and in what manner, do people in Murasaki's world communicate on behalf of one another?ģ. Do Katako's and Murasaki's observations, in fact, describe what Dalby herself is doing in re-creating Murasaki's life and her world through the art of historical fiction? How is that different than writing the fictional The Tale of Genji?Ģ. Reality was neither the subject nor object of the tales, for Genji created his own reality'. into thinking I could shape reality by my writing. And Murasaki agrees in her conclusion that she had been 'deluded.

Once created, it makes its own way without apology, brooking no influence, making friends and enemies on its own'. Katako describes her mother's fiction as 'a perverse child.

The tale of murasaki by liza dalby