Bambi: A Life in the Woods (1923)

Good. Hardcover green binding with embossed deer on cover. No Dust Jacket. Color illustrated end sheets. Previous owner name and year in pencil on title page, sticker of Snow White on front end sheet. No other markings. One small cut on spine. one small tear on fly leaf. Binding and text block are solid. 1st Edition. "First Printing in America, July, 1928".

This is a new translation of the 1923 novel Bambi, on which the Disney movie was based. Or, more accurately, the movie was based on the 1928 English translation, but Whittaker Chambers. Yes, that Whittaker Chambers, if you recognize the name. If you do, you're most likely a Boomer like me. If you don't, that bit of weird background would probably not be that interesting to you.

What's more relevant is that Felix Salten didn't write a sweet children's story about a deer born in the forest, making friends with all sorts of other forest animals, and growing up to live happily ever after with Faline. It's a darker story, and in part an allegory of the dangers of life for minorities in Europe, particularly the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where Salten, a secular Jew, tried very hard to assimilate and be accepted. In the book, the deer, birds, foxes, hares, and other animals, are trying to peacefully live their lives. Predation happens, but it's always shown as both shocking, and something those not directly involved should stay out of the way of. I don't think this is the strongest aspect of Salten's book, but I don't recall that the movie acknowledges this aspect of forest life at all.

The great danger is He, Man, with the ability to kill at a distance, and hounds--animals who have betrayed their fellow animals--to help Him find and track them. Some of the most pleasant places in the forest, such as the meadow, are also places of great danger, because the animals are more visible there. Bambi's mother teaches him about the dangers and the need to take care, but the Great Prince of the Forest, who may be Bambi's father (the book never says so directly), goes further. He teaches Bambi many useful skills, but also that he must learn to live alone--truly alone.

Bambi and Faline do fall in love, and do mate, but this doesn't become the film's happily ever after. That's not how deer live.

Missing from the book are some of the film's most popular characters, such as Thumper the rabbit and Flower the skunk. Missing from the movie is Faline's brother, Gobo, whose story is one of great lessons of the dangers of Man. It's differences like this that make Salten's original story so much darker. As a child, I had a copy of the 1928 translation by Whittaker Chambers, and read and reread it till it fell apart. Chambers had done his own toning down, mostly of the political allegory, with more emphasis on the animal rights message--which I should note was also important to Salten. Even as a young child, I noticed the differences between book and movie, although the movie of course was a delight, and quite intentionally more fun. As an adult, my memories have been a bit of a mishmash of the two, such as "remembering" Gobo as part of the movie, which he wasn't. Now, it's fascinating to read a better translation of the original, as well as getting more background on the story, the author, and the circumstances in which he wrote it.

Recommended.

I bought this audiobook. And the ebook, too, because yes, I really loved this book, dark though it is, as a kid. ( )

This is a review of "The Original Bambi: The Story of a Life in the Forest," translated by Jack Zipes, not the prior English translation of the book, a translation that has been roundly criticized pretty much since it was published because it lacked Salten's nuance and lost the sense that Salten's book is an allegory about discrimination against Jews in early 20th century Austria-Hungary. As Zipes's translation has just been released, I've not had time to read the whole thing yet but I have compared the two translations and have to say that Zipes's translation reads much more naturally. I wanted to post this here ASAP as the other reviews all seem to be for the older (and problematic) translation. If you're in the market for this book, make sure you get this new translation. ( )

A thought-provoking, if at times also a rather grim, read. Similar to the Disney movie that was based on this book, it focused more on the role of humans within nature, as well as domesticated animals versus wild ones. Although I can't say that I agree completely with the picture that Salten paints here, I do think that sometimes we don't respect nature enough and for that, this is a valuable book, especially for younger readers. ( )

There is so much more here than the Disney movie. I had pretty much written it off as a classic that I didn’t care about, then I had heard a discussion of it on a podcast. The not-quite-hour that it cost to listen to the audiobook was well worth it; the story of a young deer discovering the world around him was the truest thing I had read about a child in a long time - kids really are blank slates and they require constant input, guidance, and supervision for their own safety, and sometimes, survival. If I had realized this more as a young parent, I probably would have structured things differently and had a lot more patience with my kids. Some insights into man’s relationship with the natural world round out a story that’s deeper than you would expect, full of warmth, humor, and understanding. ( )