It’s all about the boyfriends.

Clawing my way though The Tale of Genji. It’s basically just a huge two-volume kimono-ripper. Lord, if that’s the basis for the whole of Japanese culture for the last thousand years — at least until recently — then the island chain has been run by the Harlequin Romances.

Gilbert and Sullivan must have read at least the short first translations of the Tale when producing The Mikado. All Tale characters are designated by their court titles.  They actually have titles like “The Secretary Captain” and “His Cloistered Eminence.”  They change as the characters change court rank; the women go from being somebody’s daughter or adoptee/wife to Consort, Haven, Intimate — all titles for various bedmates of the Emperor. “Marriage” is sneaking in and having sex with somebody, and we never know who’s going to end up with half a dozen sexual relationships, honorably supporting those women and raising their kids — or hiding the secret of who fathered whom.

No wonder the latest translations list all the characters and their relationships at the beginning of each chapter.  If you think a Russian novel is convoluted, you need to pick up the literary chopsticks.  It’s good bedtime reading; you will drift off after about a half chapter.