It is considered to be the supreme masterpiece in the history of Japanese literature due to its excellence of fictional structure, psychological description and plot, as well as its beautiful writing and delicate sense of beauty.
物語としての虚構の秀逸、心理描写の巧みさ、筋立ての巧緻、あるいはその文章の美と美意識の鋭さから日本文学史上最高の傑作とされる。