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nghia's review
2.0
This book delivers exactly what it says on the cover: 70 writers contribute their own "modern fable". How much you enjoy this is probably going to come down to how you feel about fables.
What is a fable, in your mind? What do you want to get out of reading one? And, maybe this is the key point, how much we can't think of literally any other fables besides Aesop's?
This is what Wikipedia has to say
And if you look at the titles of Aesop's fables you'll see that there is a lot "the X and the Y", with two Animals in a dialogue followed by an explanation of the moral point. The kite and doves, the lion and the mouse, the eagle and the fox, the fly and the ant, the wolf and the crane, the scorpion and the frog.
It is such a different form of story than we're used to consuming. No plot, really. No character arcs. Do we even want a story to be giving us moral instruction? So, in retrospect, a collection like this is an interesting artistic project but it also has set itself quite the challenge.
With 70 writers in 280 pages, these are all quite short. Just a few pages for the most part. And most of them hew towards the classical fable feel, though a few through in more modern novelistic touches. It is almost impossible to talk about this in any cohesive singular way, because the only underlying theme is "write a modern fable" and 70 authors are going to give very different answers to that prompt.
The ones that I liked best took the classic formula but gave it a very modern twist. The titular "The Lion and the Aardvark" is about an online troll (the lion) and a company astroturf shill (the aardvark) with a moral of "if you must be awful on the internet, make sure that you are paid really well for it".
But so many of the stories just didn't land. They were trying a bit too hard to have that moral lesson. Take "Two Cats on a Ledge" as an example. Two Cats live with a Woman in an apartment building high above the street. One day the window screen that keeps them from venturing onto the window ledge is being replaced. They wander outside to explore and end up getting trapped there when the new screen is affixed and there's a moral lesson of "You must do what you are doing when you are doing it". Except then the workman replacing the screen decides to try on the Woman's blouse(?!) and the Woman comes back in and sees him wearing her clothes and hits him with her purse.
To be honest, I'm not sure there's much a collection like this could have done to make me love it. The odds were stacked against it. I admit, I largely read this to try something outside of my comfort zone. One great thing about this collection is that since all of the fables are extremely short you can read one in under 10 minutes. This makes it very easy to read 2 or 3 in a brief sitting and then decide if this is the kind of book you want to read cover to cover.
What is a fable, in your mind? What do you want to get out of reading one? And, maybe this is the key point, how much we can't think of literally any other fables besides Aesop's?
This is what Wikipedia has to say
In Classical times there were various theorists who tried to differentiate these fables from other kinds of narration. They had to be short and unaffected;[4] in addition, they are fictitious, useful to life and true to nature.[5] In them could be found talking animals and plants, although humans interacting only with humans figure in a few. Typically they might begin with a contextual introduction, followed by the story, often with the moral underlined at the end.
And if you look at the titles of Aesop's fables you'll see that there is a lot "the X and the Y", with two Animals in a dialogue followed by an explanation of the moral point. The kite and doves, the lion and the mouse, the eagle and the fox, the fly and the ant, the wolf and the crane, the scorpion and the frog.
It is such a different form of story than we're used to consuming. No plot, really. No character arcs. Do we even want a story to be giving us moral instruction? So, in retrospect, a collection like this is an interesting artistic project but it also has set itself quite the challenge.
With 70 writers in 280 pages, these are all quite short. Just a few pages for the most part. And most of them hew towards the classical fable feel, though a few through in more modern novelistic touches. It is almost impossible to talk about this in any cohesive singular way, because the only underlying theme is "write a modern fable" and 70 authors are going to give very different answers to that prompt.
The ones that I liked best took the classic formula but gave it a very modern twist. The titular "The Lion and the Aardvark" is about an online troll (the lion) and a company astroturf shill (the aardvark) with a moral of "if you must be awful on the internet, make sure that you are paid really well for it".
But so many of the stories just didn't land. They were trying a bit too hard to have that moral lesson. Take "Two Cats on a Ledge" as an example. Two Cats live with a Woman in an apartment building high above the street. One day the window screen that keeps them from venturing onto the window ledge is being replaced. They wander outside to explore and end up getting trapped there when the new screen is affixed and there's a moral lesson of "You must do what you are doing when you are doing it". Except then the workman replacing the screen decides to try on the Woman's blouse(?!) and the Woman comes back in and sees him wearing her clothes and hits him with her purse.
The woman screamed at the top of her lungs and hit the man with her purse. He scrambled to snatch his crumpled clothes from the floor.
“You see?” said the steel-gray cat. “Like you, the man was distracted and didn’t do his job. Now she is teaching him the same lesson.”
To be honest, I'm not sure there's much a collection like this could have done to make me love it. The odds were stacked against it. I admit, I largely read this to try something outside of my comfort zone. One great thing about this collection is that since all of the fables are extremely short you can read one in under 10 minutes. This makes it very easy to read 2 or 3 in a brief sitting and then decide if this is the kind of book you want to read cover to cover.
jdhacker's review
3.0
Another solid anthology product from Stoneskin Press. If you haven't been reading of their collections, I strongly recommend you do so.
This particular collection consists of modern retellings of a variety of myth/folk/fairy tales and fables. I admit, I was not as engaged as I expected to be, in part because I expected something maybe a little more along the lines that Yolen, McKinley, and others have done in retelling fairy tales as short stories or even novellas/novels. This is not that. These are much more in the vein of fables, being only one to five pages in length each, often with explicitly stated morals. It is very clear which fables or stories some of these are drawn from, some are more mysterious in their origins. We also get a nice mixture of retellings of non-european fables, with some Native American, African, Asian, and Pacific Islander fables getting equal treatment here.
As in any collection, I felt some entries were stronger than others. Particular personal favourites were: The Wolf and Death, The Very Rude Salmon, The Loquacious Cadaver, The Fox & the Quantum Physicist, The Scientist and the Zen Master, Three Zombies & the Crypt Keeper, The Squirrel and the Pigeons, The Muskrat & the Deadline, The Clan of the Crzy Babies, and The Coyote & the High Density Feed Lot.
While some of these may be a little 'mature' in theme, I think their overall morals and length make them, like their forebears, well suited to be read and discussed with children. I would consider reading a lot of these to my own god-children who are quite young, but can also see using these with my high school English classes as well.
This particular collection consists of modern retellings of a variety of myth/folk/fairy tales and fables. I admit, I was not as engaged as I expected to be, in part because I expected something maybe a little more along the lines that Yolen, McKinley, and others have done in retelling fairy tales as short stories or even novellas/novels. This is not that. These are much more in the vein of fables, being only one to five pages in length each, often with explicitly stated morals. It is very clear which fables or stories some of these are drawn from, some are more mysterious in their origins. We also get a nice mixture of retellings of non-european fables, with some Native American, African, Asian, and Pacific Islander fables getting equal treatment here.
As in any collection, I felt some entries were stronger than others. Particular personal favourites were: The Wolf and Death, The Very Rude Salmon, The Loquacious Cadaver, The Fox & the Quantum Physicist, The Scientist and the Zen Master, Three Zombies & the Crypt Keeper, The Squirrel and the Pigeons, The Muskrat & the Deadline, The Clan of the Crzy Babies, and The Coyote & the High Density Feed Lot.
While some of these may be a little 'mature' in theme, I think their overall morals and length make them, like their forebears, well suited to be read and discussed with children. I would consider reading a lot of these to my own god-children who are quite young, but can also see using these with my high school English classes as well.
daveversace's review
4.0
A vast and eclectic collection of short stories updating Aesop's style for the information age. Talking foxes, weasels and carp use mobile phones, troll the internet and drive cars. Every cautionary fable has a moral for modern times, though some are more explicit than others.
Not all of these tales work, but there are some stunning pieces here (too many good ones to list). Editor Robin Laws' introduction is an erudite and comprehensive examination of the enduring value - necessity even - of Aesop (whether or not he was a real person) and a sound justification for the existence of an update.
Not all of these tales work, but there are some stunning pieces here (too many good ones to list). Editor Robin Laws' introduction is an erudite and comprehensive examination of the enduring value - necessity even - of Aesop (whether or not he was a real person) and a sound justification for the existence of an update.
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