Once and Forever: The Tales of Kenji Miyazawa (New York Review Books Classics)

A Collection Of Classic, Fantastical Tales From Northern Japan That Are Equal Parts Whimsical And Sophisticated, Perfect For Readers Of All Ages. Kenji Miyazawa Is One Of Modern Japan's Most Beloved Writers, A Great Poet And A Strange And Marvelous Spinner Of Tales, Whose Sly, Humorous, Enchanting, And Enigmatic Stories Bear A Certain Resemblance To Those Of His Contemporary Robert Walser. John Bester's Selection And Expert Translation Of Miyazawa's Short Fiction Reflects Its Full Range From The Joyful, Innocent Wildcat And The Acorns, To The Cautionary Tale The Restaurant Of Many Orders, To The Earthgod And The Fox, Which Starts Out Whimsically Before Taking A Tragic Turn. Miyazawa Also Had A Deep Connection To Japanese Folklore And An Intense Love Of The Natural World. In The Wild Pear, What Seem To Be Two Slight Nature Sketches Succeed In Encapsulating Some Of The Cruelty And Compensations Of Life Itself-- Kenji Miyazawa Is One Of Modern Japan's Most Beloved Writers, A Great Poet And A Strange And Marvelous Spinner Of Tales, Whose Sly, Humorous, Enchanting, And Enigmatic Stories Bear A Certain Resemblance To Those Of His Contemporary Robert Walser. John Bester's Selection And Expert Translation Of Miyazawa's Short Fiction Reflects Its Full Range From The Joyful, Innocent Wildcat And The Acorns, To The Cautionary Tale The Restaurant Of Many Orders, To The Earthgod And The Fox, Which Starts Out Whimsically Before Taking A Tragic Turn. Miyazawa Also Had A Deep Connection To Japanese Folklore And An Intense Love Of The Natural World. In The Wild Pear, What Seem To Be Two Slight Nature Sketches Succeed In Encapsulating Some Of The Cruelty And Compensations Of Life Itself-- The Tales Of Kenji Miyazawa ; Translated From The Japanese By John Bester. Stories First Published In Japanese, Translated Into A New Original, Never Before Published Collection. The sheer storytelling skill is most evident in pieces like the joyful, innocent "Wildcat and the Acorns," or in a classic cautionary tale like "The Restaurant of Many Orders." But even a superficially whimsical tale like "the Earth-god and the Fox" can in a short span construct a genuinely moving little tragedy. "The Last Deer Dance," a fanciful account of the origins of a well-known folk dance, works its gentle way to a climax of pure poetry. "Tokkobe Torako" makes folk superstitions the basis for a piece of amusing farce in a historical setting The magic of Miyazawa's tales reaches out to people of all ages and lands. The sophisticated reader can savor them consciously as literature, while the younger reader can delight in them as imaginative stories that comment on and deepen his own experience. The underlying themes are universal, but the forms and treatment can be appreciated at many levels and vary subtly from piece to piece