num_pages: 139
description: Rainer Maria Rilke felt that the world's joys most truly belonged to the young. His 14 'Stories of God' captured for them the magic, charm &amp; wisdom of fairy &amp; folk tales. "By Way of Introduction: The Tale of God’s Hands" introduces the book's framework, the storyteller &amp; his neighbors. The framework is that the storyteller will tell stories to townspeople &amp; they in turn will tell the stories to children. The 1st story is about God &amp; His hands. St Nicholas briefly appears. "The Stranger" is another critical episode concerning God's hands, related to a stranger. In "Why the benevolent God wants there to be poor people," we meet a teacher &amp; are given an answer to the question posed in the title while told of an encounter between God &amp; a sculptor. In "How betrayal came to Russia," we meet the storyteller’s lame neighbor, Ewald. The tale told Ewald is set in the time of Ivan the Terrible &amp; answers the title's question. "How old Timofej died singing" is set in czarist Ukraine. Ewald is told of an old singer of epics &amp; fairy tales. It also answers the question posed in its title. "The Song of Justice" is set in the Ukraine while it was ruled by Polish noblemen &amp; at civil war with the Cossacks. In the tale told Ewald, we again meet an ancient singer, here of a song of justice. "A Scene from the Venetian Ghetto" is told to a Mr Baum, a civic leader. Set loosely in Renaissance Venice, it tells of an old Jewish goldsmith confined to a ghetto, of his grand-daughter, Esther, of her child &amp; of the sea. In "About One Who Eavesdrops on the Stones," Ewald learns about Michelangelo. "How the thimble came to be God" is told to a group of evening clouds, both young &amp; old, impertinent &amp; wise. They &amp; we hear a tale of 7 children &amp; discover the answer to the question posed in its title. In "A Tale of Death &amp; a Strange Postscript to It," our storyteller has a walk with a gravedigger &amp; tells of death &amp; this strange postscript. "An Organization Called Forth by an Urgent Need" tells of a young musician on a civic errand on behalf of Mr Baum &amp; relates a tale of 3 painters. "The Beggar &amp; the Proud Maiden", set in Renaissance Florence &amp; told to the teacher met previously, tells of an encounter outside a church. "A Tale told to the Dark," tells of one man’s search for meaning &amp; his encounter with his long-lost sole childhood friend.
language: English
title: Stories of God
titlecomplete: Stories of God
genres: Literature, German Literature, Classics, Faith, Philosophy, Religion, Spirituality, Fiction, Short Stories, Poetry
ratings_count: 904
publisher: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. (NYC)