I'm only reading the introductory essays of the book now and will refer to the chapter summaries of the novel only when I need to.

The essays were a little simplistic and actually poked a bit at [b:The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan|73389|The World of the Shining Prince Court Life in Ancient Japan|Ivan Morris|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266466187s/73389.jpg|71032], which I am reading now.

Both of these books are read in preparation for starting [b:The Tale of Genji|7042|The Tale of Genji (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)|Murasaki Shikibu|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1266449345s/7042.jpg|2212225].