Sessions will be facilitated by Roxana Zirakzadeh and Andy Gilman.

A life lived without passion is merely existence wrapped in monotony.

​

Written in the early 11th century by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikoku, The Tale of Genji is considered the first classic novel and a masterpiece in Japanese literature.

Much of the tale follows the life of the handsome and sensitive Genji - the son of the Emperor and a low-ranking concubine - with each of his loves described in great detail. Against the backdrop of the central story, the reader is delighted with images of refined court life, the beauty of nature and a wide array of human emotions. The Buddhist understanding of impermanence is also skillfully woven throughout the story in beautiful images. 

During this time in Japan, Chinese was the court’s scholarly language while Japanese was initially used by women and in personal accounts of life at court. Works written in Japanese and in prose were not taken seriously. All that changed with the creation The Tale of Genji. Jorge Luis Borges is among the modern authors who have cited it as inspiration. He said of it, "The Tale of Genji is written with an almost miraculous naturalness, and what interests us is not the exoticism—the horrible word—but rather the human passions of the novel. Such interest is just: Murasaki's work is what one would quite precisely call a psychological novel ..."[41] The novelist Yasunari Kawabata said in his Nobel Prize acceptance speech: "The Tale of Genji in particular is the highest pinnacle of Japanese literature. Even down to our day there has not been a piece of fiction to compare with it."

Online seminars in this series will take place on Wednesday evenings, 5:30-7:00PM Pacific Time. Attendees will be mailed the text. Sessions will be facilitated by Roxana Zirakzadeh and Andy Gilman. Groups will be limited to 16 participants and no prior knowledge is required. Teachers will be offered 3 CEU credits for participating. This sixteen-week series is $950. Community of Lifelong Learner subscribers receive a discount of $100 through a refund. Payment options are available.