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Folk Tales of Northern Lithuania: Selected from the collections of Matas Slanciauskas
The first known English translation of the collected folktales of noted Lithuanian folklorist Matas Slanciauskas.
260 pages, Paperback
Published November 12, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 18, 2022
This book fills a welcome hole in any folklore collection (how many of you English speakers already have a bunch of books on Lithuanian folklore? Let alone Northern Lithuania?). The translation isn't always smooth, but this was clearly a labor of love for the editor, who is related to Matas Slanciauskas. It's interesting to see the themes, similarities and differences between Lithuanian and other Slavid folklore.
Highly recommended for any folklore nerd or if you're just looking for something light and fun to read.
Highly recommended for any folklore nerd or if you're just looking for something light and fun to read.
June 16, 2019
Strange, at times absurd. Best read as bedtime stories or aloud to friends. The translation could be better, but perhaps the clunky literal translation enhances the rhythm and magic. I love imagining my ancestors telling these stories in snowy winter or hot summer nights in small Lithuanian towns.
December 31, 2022
My husband is the child of Lithuanian immigrants. I have a good friend and university colleague who is Lithuanian and teaches religion and folk lore. I have traveled to Lithuania twice, 2012 and 2015. And honestly, these stories are just redolent of the pagan, dark, eccentric imaginings I have come to expect.
Having said that, this particular book needs editorial and design attention. The sharer and editor of the stories is the grandson of the compiler but not, I think, someone experienced in publishing. The translators seem to have a better grasp on Lithuanian than they do on English. The result is that the text can be hard to follow in places, and there is no organized style sheet having to do with the use of words in Lithuanian, the application of footnotes, and other structural elements. An experienced copyediting hand would be a boon.
But what fun the stories are and how extremely odd! There's a lot of violence. "Death by battering" is a common fate. Poor young men manage to find themselves married to the daughters of lords and kings, but there is never a Prince Charming for Cinderella. That pagan culture that survives to modern times--Lithuania was not Christianized until 1387, when the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło, and his cousin Vytautas the Great, imposed conversion. This is really late, if you stop to think about it. The rest of Europe and much of Russia was Christianized by the 7th or 8th century.
The stories ramble and wander off in strange directions. There tends to be no clear moral message other than the idea that the slyest, strongest, sneakiest party in the conflict wins. Few of the stories have a clear narrative arc and often seem to be a linkage of several unrelated plots. I have managed to pick up a little Lithuanian through researching my husband's genealogy. I have read and copyedited several of my colleague's draft articles. Both experiences have added to my pleasure in this book.
But fun. Really. So much fun.
Having said that, this particular book needs editorial and design attention. The sharer and editor of the stories is the grandson of the compiler but not, I think, someone experienced in publishing. The translators seem to have a better grasp on Lithuanian than they do on English. The result is that the text can be hard to follow in places, and there is no organized style sheet having to do with the use of words in Lithuanian, the application of footnotes, and other structural elements. An experienced copyediting hand would be a boon.
But what fun the stories are and how extremely odd! There's a lot of violence. "Death by battering" is a common fate. Poor young men manage to find themselves married to the daughters of lords and kings, but there is never a Prince Charming for Cinderella. That pagan culture that survives to modern times--Lithuania was not Christianized until 1387, when the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło, and his cousin Vytautas the Great, imposed conversion. This is really late, if you stop to think about it. The rest of Europe and much of Russia was Christianized by the 7th or 8th century.
The stories ramble and wander off in strange directions. There tends to be no clear moral message other than the idea that the slyest, strongest, sneakiest party in the conflict wins. Few of the stories have a clear narrative arc and often seem to be a linkage of several unrelated plots. I have managed to pick up a little Lithuanian through researching my husband's genealogy. I have read and copyedited several of my colleague's draft articles. Both experiences have added to my pleasure in this book.
But fun. Really. So much fun.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews