Bambi as Gaeilge

There are a number of ways of approaching Bambi, but one way it should not be seen is as a children's book; it was originally published in Austria in 1923 for adults - it was the Disney film that associated Bambi with children's fare. Bambi is considered by some critics to be the first

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"environmental novel" which is probably the most significant aspect. The descriptions of woodland life are some of the most sublimely beautiful I've ever read. It's also been called a political allegory on the treatment of Jews in Europe, and was banned in Nazi Germany (Salten was Jewish), which makes the novel even more powerful as you read along considering how history would unfold and who the author was. It would probably lessen the novel to call it a political allegory though it easily stands alongside Animal Farm; and it's more than just a beast fantasy even though it has echoes of Watership Down. It is all these things and also just a beautifully told story.

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I am not sure if it is possible to find someone who can now read the book BEFORE seeing the movie.. but if you are one of those people, you might try it out. For the rest of us, as the first reviewer hinted.. there is at least one lesson left out of the movie.

I'm really not completely sure how I feel about this book now that I've finished it. On one hand, it is well written and there are scenes that illustrate the beauty and innocence of nature so vividly that one is able to picture them even without the wonderful illustrations of this particular

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version. Yet, there is also much of this book that deals with the violent and grisly destruction that humans bring to the wildlife of the forest.

How this became regarded as a children's story, I'm not really sure. The scenes of death throughout the book are graphic and horrifying and their is a true feeling of absolute terror at times that is truly palpable. To me, this book is being aimed directly at those who choose to kill and destroy for the pure thrill and feeling of power that they derive from it and is an attempt to illustrate the destruction that these kind of actions provoke. It's done through very powerful imagery and makes one very uncomfortable at times.

Why Disney decided to make this into a mostly feel-good story, I'm not sure, but those unsuspecting children who decided to read the book that one of their favorite films was based upon were surely exposed to quite a shocking experience.

I didn't hate it, but I can't really say that I enjoyed it all that much either.

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A very heartbreaking story about the struggles of a baby dear out in the wild, Bambi is sure to expose your soft side.

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

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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.

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It's a nice little book. It's kind of hard to read, not because of itself but because everyone knows the story of Bambi - the Disney story. Which bears little resemblance to this, like 101 Dalmations. No Thumper, no Flower, a lot more death and grimness. Gobo was completely cut out of the movie -

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not surprising, that's a complicated and morally ambiguous sequence. And the insistence on self-sufficiency is pretty much out of the movie, or at least not given anything like the emphasis it has in the book. Now I wonder if there are other translations of the book, or if Chambers' version is the standard one? This language is just a little odd - slightly stilted, with some odd word choices, particularly with adjectives. I'd be interested to read a different translation, to see if the feel is different. Nice story, but carrying a lot of baggage until it's hard to see it for itself.

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Salten's tale of the forest is much darker and richer than the cartoon version. The animals still talk, but their interactions seem strangely appropriate, as if the author has been given the ability to sense what it actually going on in their minds. This is an unforgiving world, and the weak and

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hurt do not fair well. It is also a beautiful world, with captivating descriptions of Bambi's word and the creatures who inhabit his forest.

I'm not sure I expected a novel about a deer to be a page-turner, but it was. I found myself eager to return to its pages, and feel emotionally invested in the story from the first chapter. I also felt a genuine amount of tension as I read, which is not a feeling I generally get from chapter book fiction.

I'm really glad I decided to read this, and will definitely keep it on the shelves to read to the kids. I might wait for a bit - I'm not sure I'm ready for them to hear a book with quite this much death, even if it is about a deer. But this is an excellent novel, and I do recommend it for your little person library.

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This edited/abridged version of classic children's novel loses some of the harsh, dark charm but is beautifully illustrated.

A classic story for animal fantasy. The book from which Disney’s movie Bambi was based, though the book and movie have only some similarities. The book is a lot more violent though most of it is only hinted and the man (called He and Him in the book) plays a lot more of an in story role. I really

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liked how within the story so many different views are given to what He is from almost a kind of a god to just another living being. A really heart warming tale.

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this is an EXCELLENT book. it's a lot different and much darker than the disney movie(which i also love). there is a chapter with a seriously philosophical discussion between the last two leaves in the forest at the end of fall, which i have to say is one of coolest things i've ever read. ”

I first read this book when I was in the fourth grade. It's probably been over 40 years since I last read it, but as I found an old copy in a resale store, I decided to reread it.

Bambi can be read by children, as I read it many years ago, and enjoyed for the animals, but it's really not a

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children's story, but a story that can be enjoyed by young and old alike, for different reasons. I really enjoyed it from an adult perspective. It told the story of the animals of the woods, and the encroachment of man "He/Him", but not in a preachy manner. There is violence and death, but it is not overdone or glorified for a cause.

Well written, nice dialogue and descriptions of forest and meadow life.

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Let's get Disney out of the way first. This book does feature a deer named Bambi, and his mother is shot by a hunter. There are no other similarities between the book and the animated Disney Classic.
This is a "talking animal" story, in which apart from talking, the animals all largely behave the

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way real animals of their particular species behave. The villain is "man" simply referred to in the book as He, with a capital H, and there are several encounters with man - none of which are positive. Bambi is a fawn through about the first third of the story. Then a "young adult" for the next third, and a full scale Prince of the Deer for the final third.
I would have enjoyed a bit more actual story to the book. Apart from the encounters with He, it felt largely like just witnessing scenes from a deer's life. (To be fair, since these deer mainly behave like real deer, a true plot might have destroyed the effect.) Maybe it hasn't aged well, or maybe it's just not the kind of tale I get into. I'm clearly in the minority of reviewers on this site.

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The differences between this book and Disney's animated version are many. As others have already mentioned, this is definitely a darker tale. I thought the beginning was slow, but by the first appearance of the fall season I was hooked. I hope that other adults will not shy away from giving this

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children's classic a try. You will not be disappointed.

Now that the story is over I find myself still mulling over the conversation between the two leaves. I have great respect for Salten's ability to evoke empathy for something as seemingly innocuous as a leaf. I'm also mentally munching on the face-off between the fox and the hound. That scene was incredible.

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A true classic! I will forever remember Chapter 8 as one of the best chapters ever written. The perfect story for all ages. I'll never look at deer the same way again.

I know what you're thinking...Bambi, seriously? Yes, I've been on a kick of reading children's classics that are also Disney movies, in order to see how Disney ruined them or improved them.

First off, Bambi is a strange book. You could group it with other animals-with-human-characteristics books,

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such as Watership Down and The Rats of NIMH. But, unlike those books, which have a great-escape type plot, Bambi doesn't have much of a plot, it's simply the life of a deer, being born and growing old.

Disney made the film version very cutesy, however, Bambi as a book is very serious. There's no skunk named Flower, no Thumper (although there is a rabbit with a minor role), and no running around being "twitterpated". There's no comedy or laugh out loud cute moments. The film builds up to the potential-childhood-scarring-scence were Bambi's mother dies, making it the great tragedy of the cartoon. However, in Bambi the book, there is much more death.

Seeing as Bambi is probably not on a lot of people's "must read", I'll go ahead and ruin it for ya...animals with minor roles die (squirrel, rabbit, fox), Bambi's mother, Bambi's cousin, Bambi's father, and even one of the hunters dies in the forest. It's unclear if the hunter tripped and hit his head or killed himself with a gun or what since it's from Bambi's point-of-view, anyhow he's bleeding and dead.

One could argue that Bambi's doe, Faline, is dead at the end of the book, because there's a fawn running around looking for her mother that looks just like Faline. However, I just read that Felix Salten wrote a sequel with Faline as one of the characters, so I guess she's not dead. Although, if you didn't know that, you could interpret that way.

Anyhow, after reading the book, I really wish there was a film version that did the book justice. I think the essence of Bambi's story would fit in well with Hayao Miyazaki films such as Pom Poko and Princess Mononoke.

Overall, Salten did a good job in teaching the reader about a deer's life, but it's an odd book.

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I suspect I'm not terribly unique in never having read Bambi and having my only knowledge of the story being the Disney film. Bambi is a short novel written by Felix Salten in the early 1920s and was widely popular when it was released. It even had a sequel (Bambi's Children).

For those unfamiliar

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with the concept of the novel, Bambi is a book set in a forest and centered around the character of Bambi. It just happens that Bambi is a deer. We start the novel learning of Bambi's birth and then continue through the various stages of his life. Initially, the only characters are Bambi and his mother. Slowly, Bambi's circle of existence expands and he meets other animals and eventually even meets other deer, including a pair of other fawns born the same season as him.

The story progresses at a leisurely pace, letting us grow slowly with young Bambi. We learn about the way of life in the forest, the way things are balanced, the various small dangers lurking about. We also see Bambi's innate curiosity when he discovers various topics that his mother is unwilling to expound to him. She teaches him that there is danger standing out in the open meadow in the middle of the day, but she isn't willing to go into detail about the threat of Man. She only tells him that they must only go to the meadow at night and that if they are ever in the meadow and she starts to run, that he must run as well and keep running no matter what.

Bambi's natural curiosity continues to grow with each passing month. I really enjoy the way Salten portrays the childlike innocence of Bambi as he explores his world and asks many questions as he tries to understand the motivations and behaviors of the world around him. I also found it interesting the way Salten portrayed some of the instinctual behaviors of the animals and either explained them or didn't explain them but rather commented that they were just the way things were supposed to be.

Naturally I found many points where the story diverged from the version portrayed in the Disney movie. There were many points of similarity and some familiar characters but I found the book more thoughtful and thought provoking than the film. Both had elements of humor and are definitely appropriate for children, especially for generating deeper conversations with kids, but the cartoon movie was naturally a bit more whimsical while the book had a little more seriousness even during playful sequences.

There were two key differences from the movie that I especially appreciated.

I liked the interactions with the additional fawns, in particular the interaction with the little deer named Gobo. I don't want to reveal spoilers, but I found Gobo to be a very interesting character as he shared his opinions and insights on Man. He provided an interesting counterpoint that sets Bambi thinking and creates later tension and intrigue amongst the animals.

The difference that I most enjoyed between the movie and the novel was that the novel went into much more depth about the other bucks and in particular the Old Stag. In the movie, he is presented as a sort of wise, stoic creature who shows up briefly with words of knowledge. While this is certainly true in the book, he has a much larger presence and Bambi makes a distinct effort to learn more about and from the Old Stag. I really liked the way the book portrayed the animal relationship with their elders and the way the older deer, especially the old stag, interacted with the other deer.

On the whole, this was a great read. With my only knowledge of Bambi being the Disney movie, this book was much different than I expected and I rather enjoyed that. Reading was a peaceful commune with nature that led me down thoughtful paths to ponder on later. Salten's other novels also seem to be explorations of the lives of animals and the natural world. He has one direct sequel to this book (Bambi's Children) as well as a number of stories in the same forest as Bambi (it's unclear to me if those stories are just excerpts from Bambi or if they are new tales). Salten's bibliography has a number of books that look interesting and varied. Bambi is an excellent place to start but I am interested in reading more.

****
4 out of 5 stars

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A very well written children's novel. Bambi, A Life in the Woods by Felix Salten makes you think about how everything in the world, by nature, isn't claimed by one being (from humans, to other animals, even to plant life). Very, different from Walt Disney's animated film but just as charming.

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Reading the book you'll come to the realization that Disney cannot be blamed for the death of Bambi's mother because it was Salten who cam up with the idea. Gobo, Bambi's male cousin, was also an interesting character because that's when you see there is no good or evil in "He" (the name called for humans in the book). My favorite chapter, however, was one where two leaves are having a conversation amongst themselves wondering what happens when they fall off the tree. Overall, I recommend it to anyone who likes books on nature.

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