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A review by guybrarian133
The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales by Vasily Eroshenko
4.0
The collection of stories here are a delightfully curious bunch. They are clearly modeled in classical fairy tale style, especially with their primarily non-human casts and frequent fantastical elements, but their intended lessons are clearly not the same as the you’d find in say, a Hans Christian Anderson collection. Some of them clearly jumped out at me, like a tale about a young fish and its thinly failed-stab at religion, but admittedly there are quite a few of them whose leftist themes I still haven’t figured out yet. However, that’s not meant as a criticism. These tales were clearly written for a particular context in history, and so far I’ve actually quite enjoyed the time spent reflecting and trying to discern their greater meaning and to see just how potentially applicable I find them today.
To be perfectly honest though, I think I would have just enjoyed this for the forward alone and for the opportunity to learn about Vasily Eronshenko, creator of these fairy tales. A blind man who spoke many languages but was strongly involved in the Esperanto movement, lived all around Europe, China, and particularly in Japan, and whose extensive resume included massage therapist, lecturer, musician, left-wing activist, and lecturer. To put it succinctly, the life he lived was a fascinating one, and I enjoyed being able to follow it in greater detail in the short biography that starts off his collection. And between that and the stories themselves, The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales has been making for a delightfully unique reading experience.
To be perfectly honest though, I think I would have just enjoyed this for the forward alone and for the opportunity to learn about Vasily Eronshenko, creator of these fairy tales. A blind man who spoke many languages but was strongly involved in the Esperanto movement, lived all around Europe, China, and particularly in Japan, and whose extensive resume included massage therapist, lecturer, musician, left-wing activist, and lecturer. To put it succinctly, the life he lived was a fascinating one, and I enjoyed being able to follow it in greater detail in the short biography that starts off his collection. And between that and the stories themselves, The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales has been making for a delightfully unique reading experience.