Litsy

The History of the Hobbit | John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, John D. Rateliff

I managed to get in just a few pages for each of my readalongs this morning before leaving the hotel. I‘m in the middle of #Genji35 and just finished the chapter “King Bard” for #HobbitHistory.

Lindy You‘re doing great! Thanks for reporting in. 😊 5y

JazzFeathers I hope to read King Bard tonight. Let's go after this catch up! 5y

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

Still she remained mute, & maddened by her obstinacy, he burst out: “I see it is no use. Well, that decides matters for me. This is my last night on earth. It was the thought of you that alone gave life any value in my eyes, & now that I must think of you no more... But stay, are you so heartless that, knowing I have scarce an hour to live, you grudge me the gift of one kind word to take with me as my prize to the grave?” 🙄 #Genji35 #Genji

Lindy He rapes her and then threatens to kill himself afterwards if she won‘t speak to him. 😡🤮Kashiwagi is even worse than Genji. @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit @xicanti 5y

batsy @Lindy And worse still, he gaslights her while he rapes her. I'm beginning to understand social mores among the aristocracy. A man can decide out of nowhere that he must have a woman, "ravishes" her, and then she has to play her cards right in how she handles the aftermath and that's the value of her virtue and elegance and whatever ??? (Nothing has really changed, in all honesty). 5y

batsy Sorry for the spoiler, but happily he dies in the next chapter. 5y

Lindy @batsy Yes, I read chapter 36 and didn‘t shed a tear over Kashiwagi‘s death. Genji pissed me off though, for forgiving the third princess her sin of getting raped. 5y

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Lindy

Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikubu

It was difficult enough to satisfy the living; but existence was intolerable if even one‘s most intimate conversations might at any moment let loose the vindictive fury of the dead. #Genji35 #Genji

@Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit

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batsy

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

"Many other poems followed these, but what purpose would it serve to recite them here? As a rule, poems that are composed on occasions such as this—even by men who consider themselves masters of the art—are never particularly distinguished or memorable [...] No one could escape clichéd allusions to thousand-year-old pine trees, & in failing to come up with something fresh and modern, these poems were tediously repetitious." #Genji #Genji35 @Lindy

batsy Lady Murasaki's literary metacommentary is once again on point. 5y

Lindy Indeed. 😂😂😂 @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit @xicanti (edited) 5y

Tanisha_A 😂 Lady Murasaki is badass. 😎 5y

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rockpools 😂😂 Perfect! 5y

Tanisha_A And this meme! 🤣 I have fallen off the chair, and if I have sprained my ankle, it's your fault! 5y

quietlycuriouskate So that's what my vicious inner critic looks like, then. I did wonder. And now I cannot ignore it because it's a CAT and cats must never be ignored on pain of oh I don't know terribly and precisely-inflicted cat vengeance of the worst order. Damn it, @batsy , what have you done? 😉 5y

Cathythoughts ✅😂😂love this 5y

Leftcoastzen 😂I love grumpy cat! 5y

batsy @Tanisha_A @RachelO @Cathythoughts @Leftcoastzen Grumpy cat never fails to perk me up 😹😹 5y

batsy @kathedron I'm sorry! The inner critic is cat is going to ruin us 😼😼 5y

saresmoore Bahahaha! 5y

Suet624 😂😂😂😂 5y

Suet624 @kathedron your response is perfection! 5y

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Lindy

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

“You seem to have some even nicer cats here, Your Highness. May I keep this one for a while?” He felt secretly like a complete idiot for asking. #Genji35

(Internet photo. Today‘s the last day of the Year of the Dog. The Year of the Pig starts tomorrow.)

Lindy Chapter 35 is entertaining so far. Cat theft! What next? @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit @xicanti 5y

llwheeler I am behind (still...) but I'm interested to get to this part! From what I've seen of others' posts, this shows cats as positive companions. I can't think of too many (any?) other sources from the middle ages where that's the case, but maybe that's because I'm only familiar with Western works? 5y

saresmoore I don‘t know if I want to know what‘s next. 😑 5y

Lindy @saresmoore Did you get to the part with the possession by a vengeful ghost yet? 5y

saresmoore Ooh, not yet! That does sound promising, though. 5y

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saresmoore

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

Ah, yes, nothing to soothe unrequited love like cleverly absconding with a sad, young princess‘s cat...and then composing a poem for it.

The aforementioned princess also happens to be married to his best friend‘s dad. 🤦‍♀️ I‘m just along for the ride, here, people.

#Genji #Genji35

TrishB I‘m enjoying all your comments on reading this 😁 5y

Tonton Love your sideways asides! 5y

batsy Oh my god, he absconds with the cat! I haven't had time to read today's one yet ? In the previous chapter it was all, "the soft fur and its scent reminds me of my beloved". Things really catscalated! (Sorry, bad puns are how I can get through some of these things these people do ?) 5y

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erzascarletbookgasm 😄 💛 5y

Lindy Tyler translation: …when it came to him going Meow! Meow! ever so sweetly. My, we are eager, aren‘t we!* Tyler footnote: The cat‘s meow apparently sounds to Kashiwagi like nen nen, ‘Let‘s go to bed, let‘s!‘ 5y

erzascarletbookgasm Haha! Bad puns but actually funny @batsy 5y

batsy @erzascarletbookgasm 😆😽 5y

Lindy Waley places this scene in the previous chapter: Kashiwagi posted himself near the window, where he sat gazing vacantly before him, his new friend soon stole gently to his side and mewed several times as though in the tenderest sympathy. Such advances on the part of a cat are rare indeed, and smiling, he recited to the animal the following verse: “I love and am not loved. But you, who nestle daily in my dear one‘s arms—what need have you to moan?” 5y

Lindy Is anyone else reading the Waley translation? I‘m going between Waley and Tyler, but I‘ve heard some chapters ahead are eliminated in Waley. Also, this cat scene is in #Genji34 instead of #Genji35. @Daisey @llwheeler @bianca @saresmoore @bookandcat @mhillis @SoniaC @batsy @KathyR @TheWordJar @Faibka @RachelO @CindyMyLifeIsLit @xicanti 5y

batsy @Lindy I'm only reading the Washburn but I did read somewhere that Waley took some liberties with the text and sort of took stuff out or moved things around. I'm trying to recall where I read it. 5y

saresmoore @batsy Never apologize for a pun. Puns are my only solace some days. 5y

saresmoore @Lindy First, I had to double check and make sure I had referenced and read the correct chapter! And regarding the amorous anthropomorphizing, I wish I was surprised or dismayed, but it seems to be par for the course. 5y

shawnmooney So excited to finally be starting this one in mid-March! 5y

saresmoore @shawnmooney I think I might have finished it by then...maybe. I hope you enjoy the experience and can‘t wait to hear (watch) your thoughts on it! ♥️ 5y

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saresmoore

The Tale of Genji | Murasaki Shikibu

Yesterday‘s chapter (#Genji34) was painful to me—long, confusing in characters & their relationships, and upsetting in the subject matter. Today‘s is just as long, so I have to buck up for it! At this point, I just hope Genji will die soon because he is the worst. But then I‘ll certainly have to read all about his lavish funeral & the myriad wet sleeves produced by grief... 😝 Ah, well, trying to focus on the poetry and symbolism.

#Genji #Genji35

TheWordJar, xicanti, dylanisreading, Daisey, rockpools, Faibka, Lindy, SoniaC, mhillis, bookandcat, llwheeler, batsy, KathyR, CindyMyLifeIsLit

Lindy Pssst. Chapter 42. Get your sleeves ready. 😉 5y

Lindy I thought chapter 33 would never end. The babies being born made for a nice change of topic, however. Am I correct that Yugiri wouldn‘t let his father Genji see his grandson? I feel too lazy to go back and reread that section. 5y

batsy Oof, this chapter! I hate how I always fall for the paternal "Can you please care for my daughter as I'm getting older and am ill" and think to myself, "That's nice" but "caring for daughter" always translates to a man of rank marrying a 13-year-old girl and consummating the marriage in an elaborate ceremony of whatever. Ugh. (Sorry for the rant!) 5y

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saresmoore @Lindy You are correct in that. Genji‘s son seems to be his antithesis in many ways. I can‘t say I blame him for withholding his grandchildren from their radiant, philandering grandpa! 5y

saresmoore @batsy I KNOW, RIGHT?! I had to stop after that and come back to it. Too much. Also, she‘s his niece?! Which is just... Too. Much. I can‘t even make sentences about it. 5y

Lindy @batsy @saresmoore I felt stupid for believing “take care of her” meant something compassionate, and also horrified when I realized she had become another of Genji‘s wives. ☹️ Another shocker: the new princess bride‘s calligraphy is shitty, so Genji only sleeps with her for propriety‘s sake. 5y

batsy That's exactly how I felt, guys! @Lindy @saresmoore And Lindy I thought of you about the calligraphy thing, when he goes back to Oborozukiyo and her calligraphy "had achieved full maturity and was even more accomplished than in the past", so much so that Genji reading it "could hardly stand it" ? 5y

SoniaC I couldn‘t agree more with all of you. 5y

Lindy @batsy We could get crude here and talk about Genji‘s sleeves getting wet from something other than tears when he reads sexy calligraphy … but we won‘t. 5y

batsy @Lindy 😂😝😭 5y

saresmoore @Lindy 😅 5y

shawnmooney @Lindy OMG we‘ve been spending too much cyber time together – I am corrupting you! 😂😂 5y

Lindy @shawnmooney Hahaha! I had forgotten about that comment. 💦 5y

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