Richard von Sturmer’s Slender Volumes is a meditative and intricate collection that journeys through Zen philosophy with poetic exploration. As his tenth published work and the first from emerging independent press Spoor Books, Slender Volumes is both a literary and philosophical undertaking. Comprising 300 seven-line poems, each responding to a traditional kōan, the collection invites readers into a space of contemplation, where meaning is not prescriptive but evocative.
Von Sturmer, a Zen teacher and co-founder of the Auckland Zen Centre, presents a poetic practice that aligns with the tradition of kōans—paradoxical stories or questions that transcend rational thought, instead requiring intuitive engagement. As he notes in his introduction, “There is a paradoxical kernel to each kōan that cannot be accessed by the rational mind.” His poems function in a similar way: they are not puzzles to be solved, but invitations to observe, reflect, and experience.
The collection’s depth is demonstrated through its engagement with time, continuity, and perception. Adept in the poetic tradition, von Sturmer writes each observation with confidence and control, introducing moments of wit and - at times - humour.
Von Sturmer also introduces wry, modern observations into his philosophical meditations. In poem 105, The Hands and Eyes of Great Compassion, a jigsaw puzzle of the Mona Lisa, bought second-hand, becomes an entry point into artistic perception. The poet, drawn not to her enigmatic smile but to her hands, imagines her engaged in labour before sitting for Leonardo. This mundane, almost playful consideration brings high art into the everyday, echoing a Zen aesthetic that finds profundity in the ordinary. The puzzle itself becomes emblematic of interpretation—how breaking apart an image allows for renewed and unexpected ways of seeing.
THE HANDS AND EYES OF GREAT COMPASSION
I bought a jigsaw puzzle of the Mona Lisa for five dollars at a
second-hand shop. The reproduction was yellowish and several
pieces were missing. While doing the puzzle, I was drawn not to
her eyes or smile, but to the delicate fingers of her right hand,
slightly spread apart and resting on her left forearm. I noted that
her hands were warmer in colour than her face as if she had been
washing clothes next door before coming in to sit for Leonardo.
Slender Volumes elegantly stitches the distant past with the immediate present, embedding classical Zen teachings within the textures of contemporary life. Its themes—impermanence, perception, and interconnectedness—are explored with a clarity and curiosity that invite readers to linger. With its fusion of poetic form and Zen philosophy, this collection is both intellectually rigorous and deeply human, offering a space where language, history, and the natural world converge in quiet revelation.
Reviewer: Chris Reed
Spoor Books