Jean de La Fontaine: Fables
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Authors
La Fontaine, Jean de
Issue Date
2018
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Abstract
Here is a very welcome find along the Seine on a hot afternoon. The volume has a curious heritage. It seems to derive completely from Sfar's 2018 hardbound edition published by Michael Lafon. Something like half of the fables there are included here with their lively illustrations. This book was never for sale. Its cover advertises it as vacation reading -- perhaps a giveaway for students as a cheap lure to put into one's backpack? The organization is different here, with the first three quarters of fables devoted to animals and the last quarter to persons and objects. I continue to enjoy Sfar's creative, lively approach to understanding the fables. Some of my favorites from the Lafon book are here. GA presents a rainy, muddy, brown world with a grasshopper in what might be a raincoat appearing at the door of an aristocratic ant with a huge hat and a very sturdy home behind him (19). The town mouse lives not in splendor but among trash (24). The lion is a hell's angel meeting the mosquito in a bar (51). Sfar often provokes a curious mixture of fear and laughter. I welcome this kind of creative interpretation of La Fontaine! T of C on 9-10.
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Reseau Canopé
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13357 (Access ID)