The Tale of Genji

The world's first novel, in a translation that is "likely to be the definitive edition . . . for many years to come" ( The Wall Street Journal ) A Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, with flaps and deckle-edged paper Written in the eleventh century, this exquisite portrait of courtly life in medieval Japan is widely celebrated as the world's first novel. Genji, the Shining Prince, is the son of an emperor.