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archytas's review
4.5
These books feel so very startingly modern. But not in that jarring, what-is-the-translator-trying-here way, but in the sense of feeling connected to some fundamentals of humanity through millennia. Much less atomised than the Aesops Fables derivatives I was familiar with, these characters argue and roll their metaphorical eyes at each other, battling for perspective and some kind of way to live life, using story to understand experience, more than as simple metaphor.
The stories are very nested: testing modern memories, used to relying on written words, and now omnipresent internet, rather than the discipline of oral-based societal memory making. The nested nature is a wonderful commentary itself on the power of storytelling, drawing the reader in to a process as a new layer, adding to the various existing layers. For the characters in Kalila and Dimna the fourth wall is more of a window, they exist in a world where all experience is a story, that will be retold and examined as necessary by various audiences. An audience for this week, including an audience of children, will feel themselves to be part of this continuum, their own experiences worth examining and thinking about.
This was perhaps the most surprising aspect of the book for me, that it was less a series of lessons, and more an approach to an examined life. The characters solve dilemmas by listening to experiences and then debating, and applying, what that means for them. Kalila and Dimna themselves, for example, differ greatly in their conclusions from their own choices of stories and what they mean. We see the evil that comes from Dimna's approach, but also the self-gain, and the emotional peace, but perhaps naivety of Kalila's approach. The reader can make up their own mind about conclusions to much of this, but the process, of thinking it through, is the point.
Loved the translation, which clearly went for modern examples without being over the top or referencing pop culture, but also didn't heavily remind you that this was based in millenia ago or make an audience look up what a caravanserai was etc.. Obviously, not a scholarly edition, but one designed to transmit culture in a way that fits the popular audience for this.
Just one strong criticism of the edition: the choice to feature quotes relating to views of Kalila and Dimna, and the culture that produced it to start chapters needed some context. The fact that several of the quotes featured were racist, Islamaphobic or just stupid, may have relied on the audience's intelligence to reject, but was just distracting and mildly infuriating. I'm guessing the author's wanted to make a comment about our changing perceptions, but instead it just came across as trivialising the whole.
The stories are very nested: testing modern memories, used to relying on written words, and now omnipresent internet, rather than the discipline of oral-based societal memory making. The nested nature is a wonderful commentary itself on the power of storytelling, drawing the reader in to a process as a new layer, adding to the various existing layers. For the characters in Kalila and Dimna the fourth wall is more of a window, they exist in a world where all experience is a story, that will be retold and examined as necessary by various audiences. An audience for this week, including an audience of children, will feel themselves to be part of this continuum, their own experiences worth examining and thinking about.
This was perhaps the most surprising aspect of the book for me, that it was less a series of lessons, and more an approach to an examined life. The characters solve dilemmas by listening to experiences and then debating, and applying, what that means for them. Kalila and Dimna themselves, for example, differ greatly in their conclusions from their own choices of stories and what they mean. We see the evil that comes from Dimna's approach, but also the self-gain, and the emotional peace, but perhaps naivety of Kalila's approach. The reader can make up their own mind about conclusions to much of this, but the process, of thinking it through, is the point.
Loved the translation, which clearly went for modern examples without being over the top or referencing pop culture, but also didn't heavily remind you that this was based in millenia ago or make an audience look up what a caravanserai was etc.. Obviously, not a scholarly edition, but one designed to transmit culture in a way that fits the popular audience for this.
Just one strong criticism of the edition: the choice to feature quotes relating to views of Kalila and Dimna, and the culture that produced it to start chapters needed some context. The fact that several of the quotes featured were racist, Islamaphobic or just stupid, may have relied on the audience's intelligence to reject, but was just distracting and mildly infuriating. I'm guessing the author's wanted to make a comment about our changing perceptions, but instead it just came across as trivialising the whole.
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