Selected Fables (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jean De La Fontaine (Author), James Michie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1995 | Series: Classics S

The most famous fabulist after Aesop, the French poet Jean de la Fontaine published his three collections of fables in the second half of the seventeenth century, and found that not only had he an instant popular success on his hands; he happened to have written a literary masterpiece as well. Though not specifically composed for the young, these tales have a freshness and vividness which continue to appeal to children today, while the psychological astuteness of the author and the wit and elegance of his style will impress adults as well. La Fontaine happily ransacked a whole range of sources for his stories - from ancient Greek and Latin to contemporary French and Italian - adapting, interweaving, blending, inventing and transforming as he went. The result is a unique and imaginative tour de force which has delighted and entertained readers for over 300 years.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Jean de La Fontaine (1621-1695) French poet, whose FABLES rank among the masterpieces of world literature. His FABLES CHOISIES MISES EN VERS, usually called 'La Fontaine Fables', were published over the last 25 years of his life. The first volume appeared when the author was 47. The book includes some 240 poems and timeless stories of countryfolk, heroes from Greek mythology, and familiar beasts from the fables of Aesop.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 141 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (January 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140443762
• ISBN-13: 978-0140443769
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,327,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The frog who wanted to be as big as an ox, January 26, 2005

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Selected Fables (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

LaFontaine was born in 1621 in Chatieur Thierry on the Marne. He was the son of a provincial office and was himself slated to be that. Instead he wandered off to Paris, had a number of patrons , tried to write great and noble verses but had his one great success with the Fables. The Fables taken from Aesop, and the Indian fabulist Bidpai were written in verse. They were published in two volumes, the first of which is considered the superior. They often take a kind of dual subject form, i.e. the this and the that, the Cicada and the Ant, the Crow and the Fox , the Wolf and the Lamb.James Michie's translation is according ton Geoffrey Grigson who introduces this volume the best one. But I do not feel it really succeeds as poetry.I read the little one- dimensional stories as prose. They have a touch of the cruelty Fables often have and the stories and morals do not most often rise above the commonplace. But generations have read and enjoyed these fables and what is my taste that it should argue against them?