Its length is particularly well used to explore a varied complexity beyond what the other shorter works here have room to offer. “Precious Stones” by Erika Kobayashi, translated from the Japanese by Brian Bergstrom - The anthology starts with the longest work, one of the best, and one representative of the varied styles and approaches to the elemental theme. On to thoughts on the individual selections: An appendix does provide nice biographies on the authors and their translators.

I wish the editors (who are the editors by the way? – it’s not actually credited anywhere) had indicated when works were excerpts or not.

However, now let’s get the actual full works published. This has given me a chance to discover several new voices. On the other hand, I can give a pass to excerpting in this case of literature in translation, given the full texts are otherwise just not accessible to me. I dislike excerpts for precisely this reason. In retrospect after reading, this isn’t surprising, as many of these worked for me as themed mood pieces, but the ‘plots’ often felt unresolved, fragmentary. For most it’s their first appearance in English, but from what I’ve read elsewhere, many are actually excerpts from novel-length works. I enjoyed and appreciated some stories more than others, of course, but I would not say there’s a bad story in this bunch. Most enjoyably, the quote is rendered not just in the English translation, but in the original language script as well.

Each story begins with a title page, featuring a duo-toned photo and a quote from the story that both connect to the Elemental theme. The stories span vastly different styles, but all appear beautifully rendered into English. More particularly to the anthology’s theme, it’s often about humans trying to find connection and freedom in the natural world. Like all literature, it’s also at heart an investigation of humans, their interactions and foibles. In this sense Elemental is very much an ecological anthology, a look at how humans impact the abiotic environment and vice versa. Others treat the theme of elemental more subtly, and some also approach it in broad terms of how humanity is impacted as a part of nature – even when humanity tries to bend nature to its will. Many place the elemental theme into the central turning point of the plot or character development. Some of the authors chose to make the elements into something akin to characters themselves. Though not ever speculative, the literary tales frequently incorporate magical realism into the plots, with nods to mythology. Most approach the term from in the classical sense of the Four Elements: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, but others also incorporate actual physical elements from the Periodic Table. The eight stories of this anthology span the globe and language, but also span a wide range of approaches to the Elemental theme.

Elemental by Erika Kobayashi