The novel novel

Here are two definitions of the word novel:

    An extended fictional work in prose; usually in the form of a story

    Something fresh: original and of a kind not seen before.

Not all that is novel arrives in the form of the novel and not all novels are novel.

The first novel was, by definition novel.

The consensus on the first and therefore novel novel is that is was written in the eleventh century, in Japan by an unknown woman whom scholars have called Murasaki Shikibu after the novel’s main character. Called, ‘The Tale of Genji’ it runs, in its English translation, to over 1,000 pages and is set in the Japanese imperial court in what is now Kyoto. The story follows Genji, the son of the emperor and what happens to him when he loses his place at the court and becomes a commoner. Surely one of the world’s classic tales.

Go here to see the Amazon site for the book and you can read the first few pages and see if it hooks you.