Miyazawa

Editor and translator John Bester, in his intro to Kenji Miyazawa's once and forever tales notes that those slight unusual moments of topical detail add to the sense of strangeness that we sense throughout the collection: the voice of a child calling out in the night from a passing train, the straw cape worn by an old man who lives in the forest, the child's bright red blanket that covers him as he's buried in the snow, the rag or towel left on the forest floor that somehow draws the attention of a herd of deer - most of these details have no direct bearing on the plot but their inclusion draws us to the stories and serves as a guidepost if we try to "illustrate" these stories in our minds - a process that they seem to invite. I have no idea what sequence Bester followed in arranging these tales, but it seems to me that a few near the end of the collection are less gruesome and frightening than most of the others,e.g.,Kenju's Woods tells of a young man w some kind of mental retardation who is cruelly teased when he's young in particular for the seeming folly of planting a field w trees - but years later the trees become a park and play area for children and the villagers name the park for Kenju - tho in keeping w KM's strangeness Ken just dies years before this recognition (in almost all contemporary children's stories the narrative would lead to a big celebration for a beaming kenju.) other stories near the end are in the mode of how did birds get their color or why is one of the stars named for the nighthawk sweet pieces but without the originality and ominous notes of the best in the collection.
.
Sent from my iPad