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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the short fables, most of which I hadn't heard before. The main thing that I didn't like was the negative slant of many of the messages, rather than more positive morals. The illustrations in the book were great, made the fable come alive, and in my copy, the fables were numbered, which was nicely organized for me.
A lot of these tenets still hold true, good read.
A lot of these tenets still hold true, good read.
In college I took a class called Greek Thought and Literature, the space between Homer and Herodotus was filled by Hesiod and the lyric poets (Sappho, Pindar, etc). Hesiod's spot should have been taken by this, the great missing link in Western culture. It's unbelievably underrated. After all, you already know quite a few of the stories. However, there are also sayings that you already know but are actually morals to fables you never heard (e.g. "Quality, not quantity) and the reverse, stories that you know but not the morals. (I downloaded this from Project Gutenberg, and it came with an intro by G.K. Chesterton that was right on.)
What it says on the tin.
Lessons learned?
1. Don't trust anybody, especially someone of a different species, gender, or ethnicity.
2. If something bad happens to you, it's your own damn fault.
There are some gems, if you have a twelve-year-old's sense of humor:
"O you perverse dull-head! it is not yet come to this, that men pay worship to an Ass."
"Upon arriving at home they prepared to kill the Cock, who thus pleaded for his life: "Pray spare me; I am very serviceable to men. I wake them up in the night to their work."
Lessons learned?
1. Don't trust anybody, especially someone of a different species, gender, or ethnicity.
2. If something bad happens to you, it's your own damn fault.
There are some gems, if you have a twelve-year-old's sense of humor:
"O you perverse dull-head! it is not yet come to this, that men pay worship to an Ass."
"Upon arriving at home they prepared to kill the Cock, who thus pleaded for his life: "Pray spare me; I am very serviceable to men. I wake them up in the night to their work."
Nearly a year or so ago, I began putting together my plans for my 2022 reading challenges, back when all my books were either on hand or a quick drive away and I knew exactly what editions were best for what reading I wanted to achieve. Fast forward to the end of summer of said year, and we have me as a reader, my personal collection lacking a few major chunks and the public libraries of my youth far behind me. So, if you're wondering why I'm marking this pathetic driblet as read, this is the edition I could get on what pressed opportunities I have available to me, so I'm taking what I can get and holding out hope of an eventual reread of something more substantial further out. For all that, the fact that I spend half of my typical workday staffing at a children's library means my brain is in a good place for appreciating what ended up being a luxurious picture book, each story accompanied by at least one full page illustration that took up at least twice, if not more, space as its textual counterpart. Hardly the sort of edition that values attention to the text's origins or accuracy of the translation over presenting the base material in as culturally mainstream fashion, but with my relocated existence still encountering new pleasures alongside new problems all amidst a continual lack of free time, it's probably for the better that I take a break from all my adult pursuits and spend some time indulging the inner child.
A quick Wiki-ing of Aesop leads one to several suppositions: one, that the figure of Aesop actually existed; two, that he existed in the seventh to sixth centuries BCE; and that, during a chunk of his life, he was a slave. Barring the uncertainty of however many of these tales in both this edition and at large that this figure was actually responsible for composing, it's one thing to know their most famous iterations as a child, quite another to come back to them after having experienced many of their iterations, with their flattering predators, their pride cometh before the falls, the turns have tabled nature of power in a world before bodycams and AK-47s. In that respect, it's no wonder that the tales remain popular, for what can one do in an imperfect world in the wake of the latest failed protest and in the aftermath of the most recently hushed up tale of the bodies of the powerless bought and sold at the whims of the powerful? When the plans lay fallow and the bones begin to regroup, then it is the time for stories that lay out their scene, draw up their dichotomy, and then set the wheels spinning that can either follow a line of the hero pulling through through increasingly grandiose unrealities, or an everyfolk making their way in a world of giants and snake oil peddlers and being blessed with both sufficient fortune and sheer wit to sidestep both. Mainstream media clamors for 'representation' and 'influence', but when one is on their own amongst the horrors that go unpunished and the violence that go ever on, it's the kind of story that seeps into the brain when young and seen as prophesy when old. For all that, this selection still rates a firm three stars, but I do have to wonder what the world would be like had these tales not made their way down for the last two and a half millennia. Very different, I imagine, and not likely for the better.
As it has been the case for the last three months, it continues to be a time at work, and the fact that this distracts me from how much of a time the rest of the world is at least three times a week is a double edged sword, at best. This means that pulling together my brain for even a review of less than 50 pages of what would be easily (perhaps lazily) classified as children's material is just at the limits of my strength (although the two vaccines I received twelve hours ago may also be kicking in with a vengeance). In any case, I'm not going to quibble about this work being a classic. I'm just rather put out by what circumstances went into my first experience with the piece, as the seeming simplicity of the text usually makes for a perfect leaping off point into the most luxurious depths of annotations and references for a brain like mine. However, when all is said and done, my procrastination on writing this review ended up timing it rather perfectly, considering the relevancy of the text to the present moment. In a word, a cat may look at a queen, and it is the Aesops of the world that remind us of such when we need it most.
A quick Wiki-ing of Aesop leads one to several suppositions: one, that the figure of Aesop actually existed; two, that he existed in the seventh to sixth centuries BCE; and that, during a chunk of his life, he was a slave. Barring the uncertainty of however many of these tales in both this edition and at large that this figure was actually responsible for composing, it's one thing to know their most famous iterations as a child, quite another to come back to them after having experienced many of their iterations, with their flattering predators, their pride cometh before the falls, the turns have tabled nature of power in a world before bodycams and AK-47s. In that respect, it's no wonder that the tales remain popular, for what can one do in an imperfect world in the wake of the latest failed protest and in the aftermath of the most recently hushed up tale of the bodies of the powerless bought and sold at the whims of the powerful? When the plans lay fallow and the bones begin to regroup, then it is the time for stories that lay out their scene, draw up their dichotomy, and then set the wheels spinning that can either follow a line of the hero pulling through through increasingly grandiose unrealities, or an everyfolk making their way in a world of giants and snake oil peddlers and being blessed with both sufficient fortune and sheer wit to sidestep both. Mainstream media clamors for 'representation' and 'influence', but when one is on their own amongst the horrors that go unpunished and the violence that go ever on, it's the kind of story that seeps into the brain when young and seen as prophesy when old. For all that, this selection still rates a firm three stars, but I do have to wonder what the world would be like had these tales not made their way down for the last two and a half millennia. Very different, I imagine, and not likely for the better.
As it has been the case for the last three months, it continues to be a time at work, and the fact that this distracts me from how much of a time the rest of the world is at least three times a week is a double edged sword, at best. This means that pulling together my brain for even a review of less than 50 pages of what would be easily (perhaps lazily) classified as children's material is just at the limits of my strength (although the two vaccines I received twelve hours ago may also be kicking in with a vengeance). In any case, I'm not going to quibble about this work being a classic. I'm just rather put out by what circumstances went into my first experience with the piece, as the seeming simplicity of the text usually makes for a perfect leaping off point into the most luxurious depths of annotations and references for a brain like mine. However, when all is said and done, my procrastination on writing this review ended up timing it rather perfectly, considering the relevancy of the text to the present moment. In a word, a cat may look at a queen, and it is the Aesops of the world that remind us of such when we need it most.
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’m not sure how to rate this. Some of the fables are stories I’ve heard all my life. Some are silly and a few are misogynistic.
What was fun was reading my dad’s copy of the book from 1941. It was published when my dad was 10 and it’s possible he’s had it since then.
What was fun was reading my dad’s copy of the book from 1941. It was published when my dad was 10 and it’s possible he’s had it since then.
This book was really interesting to read; I knew some of the more familiar fables, but I had no idea that some of the most famous adages came from Aesop! There were also some very interesting stories I'd never heard before. Plus, I am always somewhat shocked by how "modern" these tales strike me - even though they were written by a Greek slave several hundred years ago. A fun read, and very quick - since every fable is short. It's easy to pick up & put down.
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was good, but it gets pretty damn tedious when you try to do the whole thing in one go.