THE GOLDEN CASKET

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 21, 1964

A collection of Chinese novellas of two millennia, from the earliest period to the end of the 18th century. The English translation, based on a German version of the original, is twice-removed, so to speak, and in matters of sensibility and style, as compared to Western counterparts, the tales seem more distant than the moon. Or almost. Perhaps the Brothers Grimm or Boccaccio, the Arthurian and Charlemagne legends or Roman de la Rose, might suggest vague parallels. Anyway, on these pages charm flutters about like a butterfly on May day: the lovely prose interspersed occasionally with lovelier lyrics, the adventures of warriors, though as stalwart as those of the Japanese samurai, embedded in delicate descriptions. Everything glitters. The underlying philosophic and/or religious shadowings are either Buddhist (the conflict of good and evil), Taoist (other worldliness) or Confucian (civic virtue). There are licit and illicit interludes (wife and courtesan); there is the factual and the supernatural (spirits and revenants fulfilling fated quests); heroes performing miracles; wretched wars; peaceful preoccupations... Learned and lush, fanciful yet deepened with humanist wisdom, erotic at times but also wryly domestic, these are socio-cultural evocations rather than ""myths"" or outright romances- even something so operatic as the Golden Oriole has its bitter-sweet moral, its cautionary message. An enlightening exhibit, for all libraries.

Pub Date: Oct. 21, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1964

Categories: FICTION