# The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/murasaki-shikibu/the-diary-of-lady-murasaki/9780141907659

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- Book: [The Diary of Lady Murasaki](https://www.bookquiver.com/murasaki-shikibu/the-diary-of-lady-murasaki) ([The Diary of Lady Murasaki.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/murasaki-shikibu/the-diary-of-lady-murasaki.md))
- Authors: [Murasaki Shikibu](https://www.bookquiver.com/murasaki-shikibu)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-01-4190-765-9
- Published: 1996-03-07
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

The Diary recorded by Lady Murasaki (c. 973-c. 1020), author of The Tale of Genji, is an intimate picture of her life as tutor and companion to the young Empress Shoshi. Told in a series of vignettes, it offers revealing glimpses of the Japanese imperial palace - the auspicious birth of a prince, rivalries between the Emperor's consorts, with sharp criticism of Murasaki's fellow ladies-in-waiting and drunken courtiers, and telling remarks about the timid Empress and her powerful father, Michinaga. The Diary is also a work of great subtlety and intense personal reflection, as Murasaki makes penetrating insights into human psychology - her pragmatic observations always balanced by an exquisite and pensive melancholy.