Tale of Genji

I've been meaning to read this for years, and for some reason the present moment feels right to begin. Any thoughts or comments on the book? Fascinating portrait of lively characters who you can't forget, or tedious slog through the arcana of a long-lost civilization? Or somewhere in between? I've opted to go with the Arthur Waley translation, since I'm a flowery-prose type person, but would love to hear opinions about the two later translations by Edward Seidensteicker (sp?) and Royall Tyler.