Dennis Washburn's new translation of "The Tale of Genji" brings the total number of English options to four and a half, but the novel remains as daunting as ever. How do you approach a 1,000-page novel from 1,000 years ago, in which most of the characters don't even have proper names? The book's insight into the human condition may be timeless, but the mores of Heian Period (794 to 1185) court society can be baffling to modern readers.