Summary: Bambi's life in the
woods begins happily. There are forest animals to play with -- Friend
Hare, the chattery squirrel, the noisy screech owl, and Bambi's twin
cousins, frail Gobo and beautiful Faline.
But winter comes, and
Bambi learns that the woods hold danger -- and things he doesn't
understand. The first snowfall makes food hard to find. Bambi's father, a
handsome stag, roams the forest, but leaves Bambi and his mother alone.
Then there is Man. He comes to the forest with weapons that can
wound an animal. He does terrible things to Gobo, to Bambi's mother, and
even to Bambi. But He can't keep Bambi from growing into a handsome
stag himself, and becoming...the Prince of the Forest.
My Review: A friend of mine and I frequently talk about stories, and the story she
constantly remembers from her childhood was Bambi. It's been on my
to-read list for quite a while, and she brought it up again the other
day and I was in the mood for a good animal story, so I went to the
library and picked it up.
I was always a fan of the Disney film, because I'm a fan of anything
that's focused on animals. And this isn't to slam on or say anything bad
about the film, I think it's beautiful, but the book they based it on is
vastly different.
What I liked was how real and raw it
felt, obviously not like a nature documentary, as the animals were given
some human emotions and speech, but it felt more real somehow, more
dangerous and dark.
The characters are complex and intriguing. From a fawn, Bambi is in awe
of the old Prince, a seemingly phantom-like deer who rarely appears to
anyone, but who Bambi sees on and off throughout the book. This Old
Prince, along with other characters, can be curt and standoffish with
the animals in this book, a trait that is hard to relate to sometimes,
especially when I've been raised to be polite and kind. But as I read
the book, I realized this was just survival, they couldn't always afford
to be kind (there are moments where they are, just in general, it was a
harsh world that they must be on constant alert and aren't always
inclined to pleasantries).
The foreboding character of 'He' (the humans) in this animal world was
threatening. 'He' in this story is often only out for blood (though
there is one exception of a human taking care of animals, which actually
turns out to be a detriment later, unfortunately). 'He' is often
spoken of as a dangerous bogeyman, though his threat and presence is all
too real in this animal world. Though I've never personally done it,
I've nothing against hunting at all, and understand there is a place for
it. However, I didn't see this as anti-hunting at all, as the more I
read, the more I found it to be simply a tale of survival above all else
(the danger does not only come from 'He,' but from other places as
well, even other deer).
Overall, it was a quick read, and I really enjoyed it, and it had some
really interesting perspectives (including a fascinating chapter of two
ripe autumn leaves contemplating existence). Beautifully written.
My rating: 4 stars
For the sensitive reader: hoo boy. If animal death makes you squeamish,
you'll want to shy away from this one. Deer are shot and animals are
mauled and killed throughout the book. Nothing on par with something
like Watership Down, but still fairly violent.
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