Stories from Beyond the Clouds: An Anthology of Tibetan Folk Tales

by Clifford Thurlow (Translator)

Paljor Publications Stories From Beyond The Cloud

Genres: Fantasy

175 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Should have been a nice change from all the depressing historical books I've read from the same period, but still just reinforces how much is being lost - correction, has been lost - of this once-vibrant land and culture.

[Arpad Okay · Rating 5 out of 5]

The style of these folktales is a kind of Aesop's Fables meet Lord Dunsany vibe. Princes, paupers, wise men, and parents go on journeys to elevate their station or better understand the mysteries of the world. Thing is, pass high enough into the mountains or deep enough into the woods and you're still likely to find demons, magic items, magic animals, giants and blind magicians, storytelling corpses. The descriptions are vividly unique and always hiding between the words, a deep understanding of the Way makes each page pulse with life. Delightful. More delightful still is there is no one type of story. You get the adventures that tell a tale of moral balance, but you also get open-ended stories with no discernible meaning, and stories of mixed morals the narrator prompts the reader to puzzle out themselves. Surprisingly pre-20th century in its style for something originally compiled in 1975 (except for an odd reference here and there), but timelessly approachable. Humor, depth, lust, the surreal, the mundane, the beauty of skies and mountains and the voices of the trees.