Suncranes and Other Stories: Modern Mongolian Short Fiction

by Simon Wickhamsmith (Translator)

Over the course of the twentieth century, Mongolian life was transformed, as a land of nomadic communities encountered first socialism and then capitalism and their promises of new societies. The stories collected in this anthology offer literary snapshots of Mongolian life throughout this tumult. Suncranes and Other Stories showcases a range of powerful voices and their vivid portraits of nomads, revolution, and the endless steppe.

Spanning the years following the socialist revolution of 1921 through the early twenty-first century, these stories from the country’s most highly regarded prose writers show how Mongolian culture has forged links between the traditional and the modern. Writers employ a wide range of styles, from Aesopian fables through socialist realism to more experimental forms, influenced by folktales and epics as well as Western prose models. They depict the drama of a nomadic population struggling to understand a new approach to life imposed by a foreign power while at the same time benefiting from reforms, whether in the capital city Ulaanbaatar or on the steppe. Across the mix of stories, Mongolia’s majestic landscape and the people’s deep connection to it come through vividly. For all English-speaking readers curious about Mongolia’s people and culture, Simon Wickhamsmith’s translations make available this captivating literary tradition and its rich portrayals of the natural and social worlds.

Genres: Short Stories, Asia, Fiction

296 pages, Paperback

Published July 6, 2021

Reviews

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

I kept trying to come back to these but the stories all feel as if they are from the same voice, there is a lot of repetition, and I've read better books from Mongolia that feel closer to the source.

[Robert Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a survey of Mongolian short stories from the 20th century, reflecting that country's passage from nomadic theocracy to socialist "paradise" to post-communist urban democracy. The stories are arranged mostly chronologically, illustrating the changes in society.

The stories cover a wide range of styles, from pastoral slices-of-life to existential internal monologues, and while one can see similarities to Russian and East Asian literature, these are something different, in my non-expert experience.

I can't speak to the quality of the translation, but the English is fluid and evocative. The translator also provides an introduction that provides context and background, as well as biographies of the authors.

Most importantly, the stories are fun to read. Several are quite memorable, and all are at least of the quality of what the New Yorker publishes.

[Cecilia · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

My Favorite Stories Ranked:
1. The Young Couple
2. Hulan
3. Room for Rent
4. Dark Cliffs
5. Things That Had Never Been Seen

[Sookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its embarrassing how little I know about the culture of Mongolia even though how historically prominent they have been.
I am very glad to have come across this collection where the cacophony of stories tell a much larger story - one that of evolution of Mongolian literature, the styles incorporated also gives the slow social evolutionary changes that the society undergoes from within. The everyday stories reflect the changes - social, economical and sometimes political with the influence of their neighbors absorbed in.
Though there are some stories which I couldn't completely follow (and it could be because of various reasons - cultural gaps, lack of knowledge), as a whole, this collection was quite enjoyable.


Thank you to Netgalley and Columbia University Press for providing me with a free copy of this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

[Karol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book club read. I suspect that this collection was let down by the translation, the stories seemed far too close stylistically for something written by a couple dozens different writers across a century.

[Annie Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this anthology, and I found it to be a great introduction to Mongolian Fiction and Literature. Each story holds it's own and is captivating in it's own right, not to mention a fair variety of genres and themes; for example beautiful love stories like "The Young Couple" or "Hulan", more gothic stories like "Dark Cliffs" or "Room for Rent", or even melancholic-type stories about life, like "The Composer" or the book's namesake, "Suncranes." The translation is also well done, with notes and a glossary to explain culturally specific terms and elements. This book made me giddy at types and deeply saddened at others, and if I may, I'd like to leave a few of my favorite quotes.

"When the heat is so intense, we Mongolians describe the blue sky not as that overly clear blue sky that foreigners are so desperate to write about, but as the dense heat haze of a deep glowing blue that smells of burning." ("Image From a Single Day", B. Baast)

"...Is it not a reward for that love, with which we're forever thinking about home, with which we love someone?" ("Hulan", S. Erdene)

"'...A human might grow wings, but that doesn't make him a creature of the sky. When they die, everybody falls to the earth. Greed and desire made the people of our town grow wings, they were flying toward Hell.'" ("Wings", P. Bathuyag)

[Nicole Witen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as part of my ongoing personal challenge: Reading the World in Translation

This was an excellent collection of short stories that truly highlighted the ever-changing political and cultural landscapes of Mongolia. I liked the way Wickhamsmith laid out the stories chronologically when they were published (assuming it was him.) I hate to admit how very little I knew about Mongolia and I did feel like I had a good grasp on current Mongolia. I was quite surprised by the communist-tenor of the earlier stories, and I just hadn't thought about communism in Mongolia (which when I think about it more deeply, I should have known.) I had also never considered that Tibetans monks would be in Mongolia, which again, makes perfect sense given the history of the area.

Each story really hones in on a different aspect of life in Mongolia, and the characters truly standout. I felt like I did a deep dive into Mongolia in the 20th century. There were, admittedly, a couple of stories that are probably important to the literary scene of Mongolia, but I simply did not follow them - I think they were too experimental and maybe did not translate as well into English.

For my own record, I loved Wings , Room for Rent, Suncranes, Blue as Water, and What Changed Soli.

[Edward Dizengoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to get a taste of Mongolia and Mongolian literature and with this collection, that’s exactly what you get. Suncranes and Other Stories brings together 27 short stories by different authors, offering glimpses into both communist-era and modern Mongolia, across rural steppes and growing urban centers. The quality of the stories varies some are deeply moving, others less so, and most fall somewhere in between but together they form a vivid portrait of a country and culture rarely represented in world literature. All in all, this is a rare and rewarding find for anyone curious about Mongolia’s voice in fiction.

[Jonathan Dunne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found some of the stories disjointed or they didn’t make sense. The language could be stilted. But the themes and images were interesting, coming from a culture that is not so well known. From this point of view, the translation is to be celebrated.

[Jiayuan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good anthology of Mongolian short stories. A lot of the stories sound very similar though this may be because of the English translation. My favourites:

What Changed Soli
The Morning of the First
Bunia Takes Wing
Suncranes
Hulan
Room for Rent

[Wenjing · Rating 1 out of 5]

#全球作家阅读计划# 之蒙古。找的时候完全没找到其它有中文/英文版本的作品，于是找了这本小说集。其中16/23/25是女作家作品，简单说还是不要信任男编者做的小说集，很糟糕。三个故事全部是男主，新旧时代恋爱故事/男宝的一生/拙劣的鬼故事，几乎是我中学时代都不屑于写的故事了。虽然其实能品味出一丝丝如时代变化、人类异化、都市恐怖等元素，但实在也太老土了。分享一条在找蒙古女作家作品时候的发现，早期她们的女作家都是政治家。