Author:Royall Tyler,Royall Tyler,Royall Tyler

Japanese nõ theatre or the drama of 'perfected art' flourished in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries largely through the genius of the dramatist Zeami. An intricate fusion of music, dance, mask, costume and language, the dramas address many subjects, but the idea of 'form' is more central than 'meaning' and their structure is always ritualized. Selected for their literary merit, the twenty-four plays in this volume dramatize such ideas as the relationship between men and the gods, brother and sister, parent and child, lover and beloved, and the power of greed and desire. Revered in Japan as a cultural treasure, the spiritual and sensuous beauty of these works has been a profound influence for English-speaking artists including W. B. Yeats, Ezra Pound and Benjamin Britten.
A novel of stature that explores our cancerous condition more persistently than any other novel has done before, and without the benefit of an anesthetic
—— Alan PatonPeter Carey, García Márquez, Alexander Solzhenitsyn: André Brink must be considered with that class of writer
—— The GuardianStrikingly effective
—— The TimesA brutal, harrowing, desperately sincere piece of writing
—— Sunday TimesImpressive . . . Rutherfurd has indeed embraced all of Russia
—— The Washington PostRusska succeeds where [other books] of trendy Soviet-watching have failed ... Rutherfurd can take his place among an elite cadre of chroniclers such as Harold Lamb, Maurice Hindus and Henri Troyat
—— San Francisco ChronicleFast moving ... Rutherfurd believes in adding color and adventure to facts that are exhaustively researched, making history palatable if not delicious
—— Milwaukee Journal SentinelSprawling ... Rutherfurd's close observation of Russia's religious and ethnic diversity gives this epic a distinctive flavor
—— Publishers WeeklyRutherfurd literally personifies history
—— New York Daily News






