{"id":26004,"date":"2025-01-13T15:23:34","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T15:23:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/review-bambi-by-felix-salten-on-audrey\/"},"modified":"2025-01-13T15:23:34","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T15:23:34","slug":"review-bambi-by-felix-salten-on-audrey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=26004","title":{"rendered":"REVIEW: \u2018Bambi\u2019 by Felix Salten on Audrey"},"content":{"rendered":"


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I\u2019m delighted to be the first stop on the blog tour today for \u2018Bambi\u2019 on Audrey.<\/h2>\n

Yes, \u2018Bambi\u2019, written by Felix Salten, newly translated and introduced by Jack Zipes to celebrate 100 years since the original publication, and read by John Chancer. You may be familiar with the Disney film, but Salten\u2019s original novel was written for adults and is, at heart, a coming of age tale, a novel that urges greater love of the environment, and an allegory highlighting the experiences of the marginalised and oppressed Jewish community.<\/p>\n

In his translation, Zipes aims to provide a more faithful interpretation of Salten\u2019s original novel, reintroducing anthropomorphic touches that were omitted in the popular 1928 English translation by Whittaker Chambers. There is interesting discussion of choices made by the translators throughout the guiding notes and in Zipes\u2019 introduction, which is the final chapter of this book.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it about?<\/h3>\n

Bambi is born in a beautiful but dangerous forest world. His mother urges him to stay hidden in the safety of the forest during the daytime and to occasionally frolic in the meadow while always being vigilant against Him \u2013 the hunter. As time passes, Bambi meets relatives and makes friends, but also loses his mother to Him while still young. He admires an old stag from a distance and, as the novel progresses, begins to identify more closely with the isolated old Prince, eventually taking his place.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s it like?<\/h3>\n

Full of surprising diversions \u2013 including chapters which explore the demise of a leaf and the gossip of birds \u2013 \u2018Bambi\u2019 shows the brutality of nature whilst simultaneously implying that animals are better than humans. The book is certainly darker than I remember the film being: Bambi\u2019s love interest, Faline, has a brother, Gobo, who loses his fear of man and is punished for it; and, rather than concluding with a tableau of a fully grown Bambi protecting his family, the book closes on a solitary Bambi, who has abandoned love in preference for the independence that the old Prince encouraged.<\/p>\n

Whilst Bambi\u2019s ultimate solitude makes perfect sense from a naturalistic point of view, Salten\u2019s frequent anthropomorphism (we hear his mother\u2019s cries as she gives birth) means that this feels like a slightly sad ending. Salten, however, clearly saw this as the appropriate conclusion, as Bambi\u2019s coming of age \u2013 his education and training \u2013 is complete.<\/p>\n

What is Audrey?<\/h3>\n

I listened to this story on Audrey, an \u2018audiobook app where a curated library of classic novels, novellas and short stories are paired with an expert guide and an illustrator. The guide (in this case, Shauna Laurel Jones,) offers insightful multi-media notes on the book after each chapter, including historical context, author info, personal reflections, discussion questions, photos, a Spotify playlist and more. All books on Audrey come with chapter recaps and character descriptions too.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

I love finding out more about books as I read them, so I was excited about the bonus content. I read all the notes, pausing to do so after listening to each chapter, and followed up most of the links, which followed diverse themes and showed awareness of differing historical attitudes. I even listened to the Spotify playlist. Considering that the cost of books on this platform seems currently to be equivalent to the cost of books without these additional features on other platforms, I\u2019m not surprised that Audrey are planning to increase their costs soon.<\/p>\n

I really liked all the extra features, but as I currently borrow all my audiobooks for free, I\u2019m not sure I would invest in an Audrey audiobook \u2013 though I am very<\/em> tempted by \u2018Metamorphosis\u2019, which feels like a book you would definitely benefit from having a guide alongside, and also by \u2018Pride and Prejudice\u2019, one of my all time favourite books (though actually I feel like I could write my own guide for P&P!) If you do buy audiobooks, though, I think buying them from this platform could really enhance the listening experience.<\/p>\n

Final thoughts<\/h3>\n

Although I like to read classic literature, I don\u2019t think I would have considered reading \u2018Bambi\u2019 without being offered this audiobook. I found the story darker than the Disney film and, with one particularly upsetting scene of death and destruction, and a generally existential tone, can now understand why this was published as an adult novel.<\/p>\n

I liked the narration and found the guide generally interesting, especially when Jones discusses the tension between Salten\u2019s actions as a hunter who shot and killed deer and his writing as a novelist, which emphasises the animals\u2019 abject terror of the hunter. Perhaps, Jones suggests, for Salten these opposing viewpoints are more easily integrated than it may first appear: ultimately, as the old Prince explains to Bambi, the hunter is also mortal, and therefore arguably equal to rather than truly dominant over the deer and the other creatures of the forest.<\/p>\n

Many thanks to Audrey and to Anne Cater\u2019s Random Things Tours for providing me with a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review and a spot on the blog tour.<\/h5>\n
\u2018Bambi\u2019,
written by Felix Salten, translated by Jack Zipes, narrated by John Chancer, guide by Shauna Laurel Jones,
2024, Audrey, audiobook<\/h6>\n