Otherwise Fables

Abstract

This is an enlargement, perhaps with emendations, of Gobble-Up Stories, a copy of which is in the collection, written in 1966. That collection of thirty-three fables has grown here to forty-six, and the collection of fables forms the first of three parts of this present book covering the first eighty-five pages. Oscar Mandel is a Belgian-born American writer in French and English. His foreword here shows a healthy respect for fable and La Fontaine -- and for his own particular contribution to the genre. The great news about thiis book -- and the 1966 shorter edition -- is that these stories really are fables. They are brief, witty, and apt. Mandel may allow himself a bit of a comment a la La Fontaine, but it will be an insightful comment. As Mandel himself points out in the foreword, several of the stories here are based on traditional fables, but Mandel takes the story in his own direction. I have read the first ten and thoroughly enjoyed them. I will be happy to read more, and I would not say that of every book in this collection! In Mandel's reworking of the Chanticleer story, The Cock Who Made the Sun Rise (12), Chanticleer misses a day but explains -- logically of course -- that he probably did such a good job the day before that it counted for two days. The fisherman catches a minnow (13) and is about to throw it back when the minnow objects that it is not being taken seriously. Of course, the convinced fisherman takes the minnow along for his supper. MSA on 19 again takes the story into a new direction -- and a delightful one. The fox eats the cheese and declares it a vile Gorgondola that would have hurt the crow's great voice. So both go away happy! There is a T of C on 6-7, which includes La Fontaine's Apology (34). Who could pass that up?