The Genji's Dit, this great classic of universal literature that Borges said was never equaled, was written at the beginning of the eleventh century by Lady Murasaki, an aristocrat who lived in the imperial court of Heian-kyô (present-day Kyôto).
However, writes René Sieffert who worked on his translation almost twenty years, "not for a moment did I have the feeling of a real change of scenery, neither in time nor in space, but on the contrary haunted me the constant impression of being engaged in a surprisingly modern mental adventure. He seemed to discover situations, analyses, dialogues that could have been imagined yesterday, if not tomorrow."
This "flavoured novel", which recounts the political destiny and rich love life of a prince, Genji, is worth as much by the vigour of the narration as by the evocation of a climate, an atmosphere, a state of soul, the chords of a cithar or the fragrance of a plum tree in flower – a perfect illustration of the impermanence of this world and of the the ultimate vanity of any human enterprise.