Homunculus: Fairy Tales from the Left Pocket

Marc Notes: Translated from the Macedonian.;'Homunculus' is billed as a collection of sixteen 'fairy tales for adults' with something for every reader. The author has largely retained the classical fairy-tale structure with its elements of surprise and the constant intertwining of the real and unreal, but he transcends the sugar-sweet endings we are familiar with. Along with typical fairy-tale features like the interplay of humans and animals, he presents us with a wide range of more mature themes set amidst dichotomies on an adult wavelength: mythical vs urban, banality vs wisdom, as well as issues of guilt and longing.