Aesop's Fables: The Cruelty of the Gods

by Carlo Gébler

A witty, scatological illustrated version of the world's greatest collection of fables, allegedly written by a slave in the 5th century BC. A book for our as Gebler notes, Aesop has two subjects – the exercise of power and the experience of the powerless who endure life and all that it inflicts on them. This retelling of the Fables makes them relevant and richly enjoyable. Large and fierce animals kill and butcher weaker creatures; gods play games with the hopes and fears of lesser species, including men and women; and occasionally the weak turn the tables on the strong, exposing their pretensions. This is a stunning new version of a book that was often bowdlerised and used to teach moral lessons to children. Gebler's Aesop is darker and more realistic, and compulsively readable.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published April 4, 2019

Reviews

[Berit Lundqvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nymph who enters people’s rectums to install shame. A guy who bangs a ferret. An animal carcass count that exceeds the body count in any Tarantino movie.

Those readers who had expected a sweet children’s book with stories like the tortuoise and the hare might be a little surprised. I wasn’t exactly surprised. Still the book was harsher than I’ve thought. Maybe I didn’t read the full title.

Anyway. This book is partly amusing and partly revolting. It’s better digested in small parts. Otherwise, the stories are hard to tell apart. Some many foxes, so many lions ...

Lesson learned: We have the same problems today, as in ancient Greece.

[Celeste · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. I thought this collection for adults would have been more whimsical, witty and delightful than the children's versions we're more well versed with, but this edition didn't do anything for me. I found each story random, each moral absurd/random (perhaps the meta point of this collection), and the illustrations didn't do much to elevate it.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great! All the fables were really good and had great meanings. Also the illustrations were amazing and it was nice having them scattered throughout the text.

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great language, polished all the way through, from intro to the very last page. Saturates and becomes a little repetitive towards the end. Still, very refreshing.