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Books by Jennifer Abel NINE VISIT TO THE MYTHWORLD by Ghandl. Translated by Robert Bringhurst. Douglas & McIntyre, 222 pp. From academic footnotes to stories where young men are transformed into snot, Nine Visits to the Mythworld is not your typical bedtime read. This is just what Canadian poet Robert Bringhurst intended with his translations of the greatest tales of Haida storyteller Ghandl. These aren't fairy-godmother-and-slipper children's stories; they're earthy, blood-soaked, powerful visions of a world which may or may not have existed – where men, animals and spirits live in balance, but not always in harmony. The stories, with names like "Spirit Being Living in the Little Finger" and "The Red Feather," appear deceptively simple at first glance. A closer look reveals spare, even oblique tellings which evoke the essence of the Haida people, their homeland and their spiritual tapestry. The free verse structure which Bringhurst imposes on the tales allows each finely crafted moment to shine both on its own and as a part of the whole. Bringhurst brings not only a love of words and sounds to his translations, but also a love of form and structure. He revels in the repetition which builds the backbone for each story, and the powerful patterns of numbers which emerge across the stories. He makes no attempt to water down Ghandl's not-always-linear, world-crossing narratives for a post-literate audience, choosing instead to create an atmosphere of clear but fleeting images, half-glimpsed meanings, and universal truths clothed in unfamiliar garb. One reading is not enough to grasp the complexity of Nine Visits to the Mythworld. Read it once with the footnotes, for the background; once for the rhythm and flow; once for the twinned beauty and violence; and at least once aloud.

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