The Tale of Genji: 5

In the generation after the Shining Prince, two young men dominate the court. Kaoru, grave and inward, carries an inexplicable fragrance; Niou, grandson of the emperor, follows beauty and desire without always measuring the unrest he leaves behind.Both are drawn to the secluded estate of Uji, where the Eighth Prince lives in Buddhist retirement with his two daughters. Kaoru finds in the elder daughter, Oigimi, an intelligence that answers his own; Niou pursues the younger with a passion that threatens the fragile peace of the house.The second part of the volume follows Ukifune, Oigimi's half-sister, brought to Uji between Kaoru's patient devotion and Niou's urgent desire. A snowy night beside the river forces her toward a path whose cost no one can fully foresee.This fifth and final volume gathers chapters 43 through 54, from "Red Plum Blossoms" to "The Floating Bridge of Dreams," the celebrated Uji chapters. Murasaki Shikibu, one of Japan's most influential literary voices, brings her art of psychological nuance and restrained emotion to its most searching conclusion.