Customer Reviews

Beastly Tales

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Everything is great about these poems. The rhymes are clever, beautiful and very often funny. In the tales the good wins from the bad, but after trial and tribulations, and always in unexpected ways. One of my favourite lines is about a goat and a ram: "They ate with pride as if to balance, their total lack of other talents". But quoting excellent lines would take about as long as the book itself.

These are not children's rhymes, but I read them to my sons of 10 and 13 years old and we all three have a great time.

I wanted to buy this book for my nephews and nieces, but I am shocked to find it out of print. I believe it is in print in the UK, so I will try at amazon.co.uk but if it is not available there.... I strongly, urgently, furtively, unashamedly emplore you contact the publisher en masse, yelling PUBLISH THIS BOOK! with all your heart. It's a future classic by an great author.

Traditional stories from all over the world told in rhyming couplets. I am amazed at the rhymes that Vikram Seth came up with to tell these tales....and that he says he wrote the first poem becuase it was too hot to concentrate on his (real?) work!
I have this is hardcover. It's a keeper!

The fables most of us have read or heard since childhood are in this book, but all in beautiful verse form. As we read, we experience the joys and the sorrows of all the animals in the book, so much so that it feels like we are actually witnessing the events as they unfold. The language is simple and the delightful rhyme sees to it that you don't put the book down till you have read it from cover to cover. This book is sure to appeal to the young and the young at heart!

Yes, Virginia, poetry can be fun, amusing, enlightening, moralistic, wise, and intellectually challenging all at the same time. If ever there existed an argument for the joy of mastering a large vocabulary, this is it. The book should be required reading for all middle school students who think poetry begins and ends with Longfellow and Poe. I, for one, will pester the publisher to bring it out of retirement--nothing else comes close!

The tales are surprisingly refreshing considering the time elapsed since they were first told. The poet interweaves the fables with delightful humour and his quirky philosophy which make the animals jump out of the pages and talk to the reader.

In short, this is a feast for the mind and for the ears. Try reading the poems out loud and u'll know what i mean. Ten beautiful fairy tales taken and woven into pages of beautiful humourous poetry, what else would you want? I could not resist reading them 4 times... do buy them u'll REEEELY enjoy them.

Beastly Tales from Here and There is the 4th book of poetry by Vikram Seth. The book contains ten tales in verse, written by Seth on a day that was too hot for him to concentrate on his work. There are tales from India, China, Greece, the Ukraine and the Land of Gup. They are light-hearted and can be enjoyed by both adults and children. My personal favourite is The Goat and The Ram, which is a great choice for dinner parties, especially the lines: "They ate with pride, as if to balance Their total lack of other talents". Highly enjoyable!

The first time I read this book was about 10 years ago and then sort of lost track of it.Upon coming across it recently,I marvelled at it anew--this is the stuff of childhood memories and warm fuzzy reading sessions to be shared with your kids.The amazingly witty rhymes are indeed a treasure.

Yes, Yes, Yes! Please get the publishers to publish the book. I want to gift this book to a dozen people I know. Delightful verses, charming illustrations too.