Aesop

There are some books I’ve been aware of since childhood; this is one of them. Recently, I asked myself if I could recall ever having read it from start to finish. So I gave it a try. These are charming tales, some of which suffer from overexposure. I was interested to see the fox featured in many of them, the relatively powerless creature who has to live by his wits. An appropriate stand-in for the fabulist and his listeners.
There are also many tales warning against the danger of trying to pass yourself off as something you’re not. I guess the big bluff is not only a modern plague.
The translation offered here is agreeably colloquial and appropriate for passing on these common-sense bits of folk wisdom.… (mer)

I received a copy of this book for free for promotional purposes.

This was such a lovely collection of fables! I loved so many of them that I started writing down the ones I liked, but had to stop because there were way too many. By the time I stopped, the list was at 60 (for reference there are 487 fables and I stopped my list around the 250 mark).

I enjoyed the fables and the morals/lessons they displayed. Many of them resonated with me and made me stop and think. There were some repeat fables (the same story with the same characters and morals just written slightly different), but as a whole it was an expansive collection.

I also enjoyed the introduction that gave some background into the fables, where they came from, and who Aesop was.

Additionally, this edition is absolutely stunning. It’s leather bound with gold edges and a ribbon bookmark. It also has illustrations, which I also liked. They were so cute!

Overall, I’m really glad I finally read this!… (mer)