Misadventures in the Land of Fables #75
ON ILLUSTRATING ~~~ When I write a new version of an old fable I can usually find a vintage illustration or three to add some visual appeal to my commentary. For an original, it’s not so easy. I can source an image of the animal protagonist—there’s a tradition of highly aesthetic, scientific illustration to draw […]
Misadventures in the Land of Fables #74
James Thurber’s ‘Further Fables For Our Times’ James Thurber’s second volume of modern fables offers more of the same whimsical, witty, and remarkably wide-ranging short narratives. Entertaining, but for those who like their fables to strike a more serious tone the collection is disappointing. Nothing sticks, nothing much. I was amused to see a version […]
Misadventures in the Land of Fables #73
James Thurber, ‘Fables For Our Times’ A few weeks ago I picked up a two volume collection of works by James Thurber, ‘Vintage Thurber.’ Among these works were the ‘Fables For Our Times.’ These were very nice. Fantastic, in the superlative if not the ‘wildly imaginative’ sense of the word. Where Ambrose Bierce is cynical […]
Aphorisms #5
~~~ “Those born into brambles find a world full of thorns.” ~~~
Misadventures in the Land of Fables #72
AMBROSE BIERCE’S ‘FANTASTIC FABLES’ ~~~ The title ‘Fantastic Fables’ is as misleading as the cover image. These are not ‘fantastic’ or ‘fantastical.’ You might call them whimsical if they weren’t so deeply misanthropic and if the characters weren’t figures of contemporary life, familiar objects of satire (politicians, clergy, doctors, judges). These are the caustic amusements […]
Aphorisms #4
~~~ “You are like the man who lay down to give his shadow a rest.” ~~~ This proverb in the second person feels like the application of a fable: ‘you’ are being criticised by way of comparison to a fable. But there is no such fable, nor indeed is there a ‘you’ because the object […]