The World is Full of Foolish Men

by Jean de la Fontaine

'The pleasure is twice as sweetWhen you cheat a cheat.'An illustrated collection of fables from one of France's most vital writers.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.

Genres: Classics, Poetry, Fiction, Short Stories, France, Literature, Fables

Paperback

First published January 1, 1694

About the author

French writer Jean de la Fontaine collected the stories of Aesop and other persons in his Fables (1668-1694).

French literary figures, including Molière and Jean de la Fontaine, gathered at Auteuil, a favorite place.

People most widely read the famous poet Jean de la Fontaine of the 17th century.

According to Gustave Flaubert, only this poet understood and mastered the texture of the language before Victor Marie Hugo. A set of postage stamps, issued in 1995, celebrates la Fontaine. Jean de La Fontaine, le défi , a film, released in April 2007, starred Lorànt Deutsch of his life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_de...

Reviews

[leynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the little book I bought at Shakespeare & Company in Paris [insert my longest yeah boy ever here], so I desperately wanted it to be a hit. You don't know how relieved I am that I wasn't disappointed.

Sure, the morality of de la Fontaine is outdated in many places, but give the man a break, he wrote in the 17th century - what do you expect? ;)

I bend, but I never break.

Funnily enough, I was raised on de la Fontaine because my dad had to learn most of his fables by heart during his school days, and so I was already quite familiar with their vibe and structure. So YAY for nostalgia, am I right?

I got along really well with the clear structure of his fables, and also thought that he displayed a great sense of humour. Some of these scenarious had me cracking up. I mean, he was literally talking about a rat, weary of the troubles of this world, retiring into a Dutch cheese. Well, if that isn't me. :D

Jean de la Fontaine is best known for the morals at the end of his fables. Many of his lessons have become traditional proverbs, that even people outside of France are familiar with. You have probably heard of one of those at least:

For the pleasure is twice as sweet
When you cheat a cheat.

An enemy with common sense
Is far less dangerous than a friend who's dense.

Patience and perseverance at length
Accomplish more than anger and brute strength.

A bird in the hand is reckoned
Worth two that you haven't yet shot.

My favorite fable was probably The Stag Who Saw Himself in the Water. It can be read as an examination of beauty standards and how we only value things that are beautiful, and overlook things that are actually useful to us. It was a treat to read.

The only thing that really rubbed me wrong way were his attempts at keeping the reader's ambition at bay. Jean de la Fontaine kept pushing the idea of 'staying in yo lane' way too hard. I totally get that oftentimes we should be more appreciative of what we have, but that doesn't mean that we cannot challenge evil and demand better treatment? Also, his sexism oozed through some of his verse, and whenever he talked about how weak females are, I just rolled my eyes so hard I saw the back of my head.

In conclusion, one definitely has to acknowledge that some of his morals are completely outdated [and trash, let's be real here!] but I still appreciated how casual, funny and well-written all of his fables were.

Favorite quote: Which of us isn't mildly insane?

[Ezgi T · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

Hepimiz çocukken o ya da bu şekilde La Fontaine’in “masalları”nı duymuşuzdur. Ben çocukken resimli bir La Fontaine’den Masallar kitabım vardı, annem ya da babam ara sıra ben uyumadan önce bana oradan bölümler okurdu. Ama o tarz, çocuklara yönelik resimlenmiş bir kitabın dışında daha önce hiç La Fontaine okumamıştım.

Bu yüzden de, “masallar” dediğimiz şeylerin kısa kısa şiirler olması beni çok şaşırttı. En uzunu bir buçuk sayfa, kaldı ki kitabın boyutu normal kitap boyutunun altında olduğundan sayfaları epey küçük. Bunun üzerine gidip resimli baskılara bir göz atmayı çok isterim. Aralardaki boşlukları nasıl doldurduğumuzu görmek ilginç olabilir.

[Marjolein (UrlPhantomhive) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of moralistic fables from the french author Jean de La Fontaine, which didn't really work for me. I thought the moralistic part of it was a bit too obvious and I prefer it to be a little bit more subtle. I was also not familiar with these (as I have been with the fables from for example Aesop's fables), so there was little nostalgic feeling from my sight.

The quote however, is very true:
'The pleasure is twice as sweet
When you cheat a cheat.'

~Little Black Classics #83~

Find this and other reviews on https://www.urlphantomhive.com

[Luizita ❊ · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're in search of an easy, fun, and wise read to perfectly match the festive yet reflective New Year's Eve mood, please, please, please, do yourself a favor and start reading this short selection of some of the most remarkable La Fontaine fables. Within the lines, you will find endless hidden messages, some of which will turn out to be valuable lessons and words to live by. While some of the stories may seem naive at first, soon you will realize that the real beauty of such tales lies in the number of opened doors left in your mind after you've finished reading them. Lastly, consider this a reminder that 'simple' reads are not that simple; it may be true that 'the world is full of foolish men,' but you don't have to be one of them.

[Mathieu Blaize · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining to rediscover, in English, fables I used to learn in French when I was younger

[JK · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a delightful little collection of moralistic fables. They were even written as poetry and I was able to get into them – a success.

The collection included many tales which have transformed into well-known stories, or even sayings. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; the tortoise and the hare; the town mouse and the country mouse. I enjoyed knowing these tales in advance, and yet reading them for the first time in de la Fontaine’s words. The illustrations here were also a complete bonus for me; they were gorgeous. I particularly enjoyed the ant in the dress.

My favourite tale was that of a gardener becoming friends with a bear, which had a disastrous, yet hilarious, finale, and put across the moral of choosing your friends wisely.

I was given some rather scathing and old-fashioned opinions of women, which I will grudgingly forget due to, y’know, the seventeenth century.

A lovely collection of illustrated fables with some old-fashioned morals alongside some which will stand the test of time. A true worthwhile addition to the Little Black Classics range.

An enemy with common sense

Is far less dangerous than a friend who’s dense.

[julia ☕️ (winnow’s and kitt’s version) · Rating 3 out of 5]

”The world is full of foolish men.”

[Hayley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tell me something I don’t know am I right

[Jodie Darlow-Stott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incredible title, no notes.

[Alba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reliving my entire childhood in 50 pages

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sorry, but they did nothing for me. I have never enjoyed these moralistic tales even has a child.

Four stars for the beautiful illustrations.

If you love them, great. Just not for me.

[Andreea Călăraşu · Rating 3 out of 5]

back to childhood in an instant

[Inkym · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some important lessons from this book, like: don't make friends with anyone who might smash rocks into your face, don't try and help people in case they want to bite you and if you can't have something you want then just convince yourself that it was actually terrible in the first place.

[Callum McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The typically playful writing and the nostalgic nature of the fables themselves made this a charming little read.

[Jacky Vervaart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poetry,
Words whom are not words you read, but a story, soul breaking, and emotional.

Something new for me, where i unknowingly went without for so long. I have definitely missed the otherworldly understanding of letters, whom are weaved together as words, on a paper.

Some are full of questions, life lessons, or emotions. Many can be seen or.. felt.

[Mohibullah Salarzai · Rating 2 out of 5]

The World Is Full of Foolish Men has clever lessons, but it feels old and a bit hard to follow. The stories make good points, just not in a very fun way. The language is heavy, so the humor doesn’t always land. It’s smart but slow to read. I liked the ideas more than the book itself.

[Asif Syed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute.

[Hikaoru · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are obviously all the old fables we've read as a child. But it rhymesssss now

[Mariliza Karalioliou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back to childhood in a second, even if these moralistic fables never did anything to me.
Beautifull illustrations!

[Kasper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I might be one of them... :(

[Cael · Rating 3 out of 5]

the world is full of foolish men.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Name still as relevant as ever

[Toby Irvine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, nice write-up of some classic fables. Could be fun bedtime reading for kids.

[Noëlle · Rating 3 out of 5]

the title is very fitting

[Argesa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this because of the title.

Extremely easy to read and amazing stories that we probably know but still cute.

[Vivien · Rating 3 out of 5]

“What is beautiful we prize;
What is merely useful we despise;”

A pretty good collection of life lessons hidden in poetry :)

[Ayesyah Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

surprised myself that i actually enjoy reading poems this much.

[Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I was a child my Grandad would combine short moralistic fables like these into one lengthy ultra-mega-moralistic story to tell my brother and me before bed. I have only one sentient memory of him baiting me into a dustbin by equivocating that my golf ball was inside, beside stood my nan outside their thatched cottage in Oxford, and closing the lid, leaving me trapped and helpless for a good 8 seconds (Now that I think about it, this might have actually caused years of trauma but love you Grandad). My non-sentient memory of him is through an old VHS video my wonderful Aunt took of a summer in Menton, near Monaco. At a restaurant located on the side of a mountain, overlooking the sea, where he spent all evening dancing, alternating between holding my nan and me. He never got the chance to read the story to me as I was too young to understand language (nothings changed there), but my Dad read it to my brother and me every night before we fell asleep, top-to-toe, in the little cottage.

Aesop featured in this story and now all I can think about is hand soap and incense when I hear that name. What in the consumerism has happened to me.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a delightful little collection. I needed a change of pace from what I was reading and small volumes like this (51 pages) are perfect to read in one sitting and to return to if and when you feel like it.

Many of the fables in this 50-page volume were familiar to me in one way or another and it was interesting to read the 17th century versions of them. I think the translation worked really well and was very readable.

I do think that this was a great way to dip my toes into Jean de la Fontaine’s fables and I will be sure to pick up a bigger collection of them in the future to enjoy.

In the meantime I would happily recommend this smaller volume, which does have some nice ink illustrations as well.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is what free verse poetry should be. Rupi Kaur and Lang Leav are doing no favours for this genre.

A collection of fables written in free verse, each of these poems has a moral message whether implied or outright stated in the body of the poem. They, for the most part have a connection to animals and/or human nature.

I had a couple of favourites, including:
The Rooster and the Fox
The Bear and the Garden-lover
The Peasant and the Snake
The Oak and the Reed
The Dairymaid and the Milk-can

But this is a wholly good collection of verse poetry. Contemporary poetry, frankly, for me, is not worth reading. Classic poetry is, and this is a perfect example.