Finished: The Tale of Genji (Shikibu) omg, I'm finally finished with the behemoth, 9th century Japanese tale of the many loves of Genji. The story spans four generations with dozens of characters, four different emperors, scads of princes and princesses, and even more concubines. Genji is the son of the emperor at the beginning of the story. His mother is one of the "lower class" concubines, so rather than make Genji a prince to potentially become the crown prince, the emperor makes Genji a commoner...but still, a very rich and privileged commoner...who also happens to be handsome, charming, etc. He grows up getting practically everything he wants, and is hard for anyone to resist. He becomes known as the "shining" Genji. He falls in love with several women over the years and we get to hear of each one in detail. I was able to keep most of them straight...Murasaki, the Akashi lady, Oborozukio, the Orange Blossom lady, etc. However, when they started having their own children. And when Genji's best friend and rival To No Chujo started having children with his many women. And when Genji's brother, the crown prince, started having children with HIS many women. And, then all those children started growing up and mingling, the story was a little harder to follow! I'll just say this...I would not have wanted to be a woman in 9th century Japan, lol. The courting was very formal back then, i.e., the men were not allowed to see the women at all. They had to speak to them from behind screens or curtains. And, they constantly sent notes in the form of little poems to each other as communication. The poems would be mostly about nature, but apparently with strong innuendo that many times I didn't understand until the author explained what it meant. Anyway...the screens were not really such protection if a man wanted to be with a woman. Several times Genji, and then his ancestors, would "push through" the screen and "touch the woman's sleeve". The next thing you know it would be "dawn" and there had been relations began that usually the woman was unhappy about! I suppose it was the way of the world there and then. I just couldn't really get myself interested in or be compelled by Genji's dramatic emotions knowing that he had his wife, Murasaki, who he loved more than life waiting for him at home having to look the other way. Once Genji dies in the book, then the tales keep going with one of Genji's sons (who is really not his son, but shhhh, don't tell Genji), Kaoru. His best friend and rival is Prince Niou, his cousin, and mostly like the next emperor. The book ends rather abruptly as if there might have been more to the story, but at 1090 pages, I'm rather glad it ended when it did. Does it belong in the top 100 books? It's not for me to say, I guess. I mean...to think that such an intensive book with so many story lines and characters woven so intricately was written in the 9th century, with many a poetic verse, well perhaps it belongs there. It just, once again, wasn't really my cup of tea. The good news??? I'm DONE with the Top 100 Book List!! yay! Now, I can keep reading the many books I have put on my list to read and not worry about that goal any longer!