Book Review: The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales by Vasily Eroshenko (translated by Adam Kuplowsky)

My Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Narrow Cage and Other Modern Fairy Tales is a selection of short stories written by Ukraine-born Vasily Eroshenko, “A BLIND poet. An Esperantist. A humanist. An egoist. A partisan. An anarchist. A “red” Russian. A “white” Russian. A Ukrainian. A child-like dreamer. A harborer of dangerous thoughts . ..” translated from Japanese and Esperanto by Adam Kuplowsky.

A bit of perspective on the author- his life and times- are of vital importance to fully appreciate these tales. I would urge readers to not skip the Foreword (by Jack Zipes) and the detailed Introduction ( by Adam Kuplowsky.) which give us insight into Eroshenko’s life - from his early days to his life and times in Western Europe and Central Asia, Esperantism, his activism and his political leanings for which he was constantly under watchful eyes.

Heavy in metaphors and political messages, the tone of these stories tends toward melancholic, dark and depressing. The tales feature interactions between humans, nature and animals (anthropomorphism is a common feature in these stories as in most fables). A few stories feature characters who are blind but rarely is the disability the central focus of the story.

Of the thirteen stories from the Japanese Tales ( written between 1915-1921), my favorites were “The Tale of the Paper Lantern”, a story that inspired the author’s experiences as a blind man (He lost his eyesight when he was four years old); “An Eagle’s Heart” and “Spring Night’s Dream”. Of the four Chinese tales ( written between 1921 -1923) I found “Father Time” and excerpts From “Tales of a Withered Leaf” particularly moving. Toward the end of the book, we also find a few autobiographical stories from the author’s life. The stories include excerpts from his experiences during his school days and his deportation and journey from Japan back to his homeland in 1921. The book concludes with “A Chukchi Story” (1933), inspired by the folklore of the indigenous population of north-eastern Siberia.

Eroshenko’s writing is poetic and profoundly insightful. These deceptively simple stories cannot be considered light reading and are more like fables with political and philosophical undertones. Overall this is an exceptional collection of tales that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Many thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this collection of stories. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be published on March 07, 2023.