You can approach reading The Tale of Genji at a few different levels:

Read straight through chapters 1-33 (then continue with 33-41 and 45-54 as interest and time allows)

Follow either of two levels of abridgment:

Chapters 1-14, 17 (Seidensticker); or

Chapters 1-2, 4-5, 7, 9, 12-13 (McCullough)

These are the passages to concentrate on for our upcoming discussion. The references are to Book and paragraph numbers which should correspond to most editions.

1.1, 1.20

2.4 through 2.9

3.5 through 3.8

4.8

5.10 through 5.14

6.6 through 6.12

7.5 through 7.13

8.7 through 8.12

9.10 through 9.13

10.6; 10.26 through 30; 10.35 through 37; 10.40

11.4

13.2 through 13.4; 13.17 through 13.18; 13.35 through 13.36

Welcome back! You can now download our Syllabus with recommended editions and schedule for discussion: Syllabus

For our first session of Brilliant Minds, Spring 2018, we'll be discussing poems and fragments of Sappho. I've ordered Anne Carson's wonderful edition, which offers the Greek text on facing pages. You can visually discern some of the linguistic patterning and poetic devices even without knowing the language.

Back in 2000, I translated selected poems and fragments (three of which were published by William Packard in The New York Quarterly). I recently found my old word processing files and converted them to create an eBook version in both PDF and EPUB formats. A complimentary PDF version is available here: Download Sappho_fragments_180203

(Both versions are available on the Lulu store: EPUB, PDF)