Customer Reviews

Bambi (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I first read Bambi 30 years ago and was lucky enough to find a 1929 copy that I will hold dear to my heart forever. The author takes you deep into the forest where you become one of the animals. You can feel the cold and smell the fear among them when the two-legged animal called "Man" arrives. It allows readers to immerse themselves in the world, seeing it from an animal's point of view.

It's a great book to share with kids and a valuable learning experience about the ways of nature. At times it is cruel and very true to life. It teaches respect for our elders, and love of family. We stand back and watch Bambi grow stronger until he has a sense of wisdom that only experience can bring. This is truly a book to share with your kids. It is so much more than a Disney cartoon.

To all who are confused by sleek marketing: THIS IS NOT THE "REAL" BAMBI!!!

The real "Bambi" is written by Felix Salten, period. And, it wasn't meant as a book for children. It is a philosophical tale about attaining knowledge, wisdom and the enlightenment, if you will. It is an allegory of human life, suffering and the ultimate quest for the TRUTH.

That you can only infer from the original text by Salten, which today seems to be available only on vintage editions from the 20-s. TO give you an idea, the edition being reviewed is 192 pages long, and the 1929 edition of the Salten's text is 293 pages long (same size print). This is how much has been cut out of Salten's text, where IMO every word is thoroughly meaningful and irreplaceable.

The continuous efforts to dumb down this book really makes me wonder. The sugar-coated Disney version of the story started the trend. The "adaptions", while claiming to return to authenticity, reduce the scope of the questions raised in the story to growing up and learning, and to the environmentalist \ anti-hunting issues.

No, it is much more than that. Do not settle for less, get the original. Borrow it from your local library if you must. And, read it to your kids -- they can handle its wisdom.

The only reason I read Bambi by Felix Salten was because I thought the Disney movie was kind of "cute."

THE BOOK IS SOOOOOOOO MUCH BETTER.

This isn't exactly what you would call a children's book. Salten has written what some would almost call a satire about survival in the woods and the dangers of manpower. This book (along with Salten's other book, Fifteen Rabbits) has been the only book that has moved me to tears. This is a must-read for ANYONE. You won't be able to put it down. But, beware, there are some pretty moving and powerful scenes in this story, so have some kleenexes ready! (In the end, EVERY major character, including Faline, his father, etc., is killed except for Bambi and his two young children.)

P.S.--If you liked this book, be sure to go out and read Salten's other book about forest life, except this time from a rabbit's point of view: Fifteen Rabbits. You'll love it!

Salten's 1929 children's story bears little resemblance to the famous animated version; no saccharine tale, this little masterpiece presents the story of the value of Life in the forest. In his Foreward to the original novel, British author John Galsworthy praises two elements of BAMBI: the realistic depiction of the challenges facing deer and other woodland creatures, as well as the light-hearted style of dialogue and witty comments on human nature. Translated into English, this literary gem has delighted readers for three generations, truly having earned its classic status.

Born into a large family of deer, Bambi is not yet congnizant that he is the son of a prince. More observant and thougtful than the other fawns, young Bambi learns many harsh lessons about survival against Nature, other animals, and most of all Man--described as the ubiquitous, merciless predator with the pale face, HE. After winning his beloved Faline, Bambi matures over the seasons; but an essential part of his education is provided by his solitary mentor, the old stag. Can Bambi learn enough from him (and other species) to save his family from hated humankind, or will he study merely for his own self-preservation?

Beneath the author's charming tale in which animals act and sound much like the humans they fear, there remains a serious underlying theme: man' wanton destruction of the forest for sport or amusement. Hinting at our moral obligation Salten subtly shames us--and our faithful pets--for blatant disregard or disrespect of nature. Disney's version is fine, but until you have read the original, you don't really Know Bambi. A story of personal growth and a gentle study in compassion, for readers of all ages.

This is not the nauseatingly cute and precious Disney version. This is the REAL Bambi, the version where a terrible creature called MAN is the enemy, and where the cute and cuddly forest creatures die, and die horribly because of said MAN.

Like Black Beauty, Bambi is a plea for the rights of animals. The message was not lost on me as a young girl, nor is it lost on me now. The senselessness of hunting (my personal point of view) is described in terms an older child can understand--and remember. But a word to parents. Bambi's beloved, gentle, wonderful mother is shot and dies. That's enough to traumatize a young child right there (I didn't do so well with it either, and I was around 8 or 9). There is a vicious, graphically described forest fire. There is the death of the noble, revered (both by Bambi, the forest creatures, and the reader) Great Stag. In the end, Bambi comes into great stagdom himself, and we look to him to continue to try to save the forest and everybody in it.

This is a book, however innocent it seems, that can literally change a life. It did mine, and I know it did others whom I knew and have met since. My lifelong horror of hunting definitely came from this book, as did my reluctance to "cull" the deer that run wild in suburban Pennsylvania, eating one's roses. I don't want them to do it, and I see the logical reason for a "cull," but I cannot abide the thought.

I think every older child should read this version of Bambi as part of one's coming of age. It's a masterpiece of its kind.

This is an excllent book. It describes every detail. When you read this you will actually think that you are really there where the event is happening. My daughter who is 12 loved this book so much that she has already read it 4 times. It's about a young deer who grows up to be a handsome, strong prince. He faces many hard and sad times, and you may even cry a couple of times but it is a wonderful book! Your children will love this. If you like reading about animals you should love this story!

The book is head and shoulders above the overly cute Disney cartoon. It is not, however, just a children's book. Like the Grimm fairy tales, Bambi is a story with a message in social behavior and consequences of one's actions. From the book trivia side, it's quite interesting to learn that Whittaker Chambers, former member of the Communist Party of the USA and star witness at Alger Hiss' trial and author of "Witness," translated Salten's book from the German in the 1920s, while Chambers was still an active CPUSA member. Makes one wonder what kind of message Chambers thought Salten had written... Read the book, avoid the movie.

Before I read this book, I was a fanatic of the movie Bambi. I still am, but it's very different from the book and it seems like 15 minutes after you read the book. I could see EVERYTHING that was described in the text of the book. It really has an effect on emotions. Some things are lighthearted, some things are truly heart breaking, there's even a few laughs. Everything is described in much detail. I felt like, at one point, that I was Bambi running for the first time in the meadow, drinking in the warm air. I could hear the dogs barking, the hoofbeats, and the gunshots. I HIGHLY recommend it to nature lovers and fans of the film. Now I just need to read Bambi's Children!

Felix Salten's Bambi: A Life in the Woods is a masterpiece and an original. I agree with much of what others have written below about this book. I have this to add: Read the book to read about the character of Gobo. Also, I'm not sure it's an anti-hunting book. What does the last chapter mean? The book does not end with a fire as in the Disney version, but ends with something found on the ground. When you begin to ask yourself how this got there, you begin to see, it may not be what you first thought. To read Bambi: A Life in the Woods and then to read the rest of Felix Salten's writings is the greatest pleasure. The story of this forest continues in other books by Salten including Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family, Perri, Fifteen Rabbits and A Forest World (my favorite). Other books by Felix Salten not to be missed are Good Comrades, Renni the Rescuer, Jibby the Cat, Florian the Emperor's Stallion, The Hound of Florence, and Samson and Delilah. Find them if you can. Read them and be transported and informed.

Don't let the cartoons fool you. This book is an excellent afternoon's read. It is lyrical in its descriptions of both the forest and the animal personalities that abound there. You will no doubt find people you know mirrored through these accounts. I was very much touched by chapter 8 - only mature adults will truly appreciate it! The story is honest and thought-provoking. I recommend it to teenagers and adults. I don't really know that it is good for children to read until they are fairly advanced as it introduces death plainly and touchingly.