Bambi: A Life in the Woods

Bambi tells the story of the life a deer leads in the forest. It begins with his birth and follows him through the unfolding of his understanding, from the first questions he asks his mother to his playful explorations in the meadow to his youthful feelings of invulnerability. He soon learns that the forest is full of dangers. For some time the exact nature of danger is unclear as his mother is unwilling to speak of it and he speculates with his playmates what it could be. But soon enough he learns about the threat of man, who seems to be an inescapable and incomprehensible horror. This combined with the hardships of his first winter make Bambi realize that life is a very serious thing indeed.

In fact, a lot of the book deals with themes show more of facing mortality and the constant threats to life. Bambi sees plenty of other creatures die, from his mother to other deer they associate with; a squirrel gets its throat torn out by a predator, crows attack smaller creatures, a dog relentlessly tracks down an injured fox, etc. And yet he finds plenty to delight in as well. His first experience of the mating season is a time of giddy passion, surging emotions that culminate in fights with the other bucks (although there's nothing "twitterpated" here at all). He also takes simple joy in his surroundings, the colorful flowers, birdsong, warm sunshine etc. The nature writing is wonderful, beautifully evoking the seasons and surroundings of lush plant life and bird voices. As Bambi moves into adulthood his life becomes more solitary and then he begins to associate closely with an older stag of the forest, who mentors him and shares his wisdom.

One of the most interesting parts of the books is about another deer named Gobo whom Bambi grew up with. During their first winter Gobo collapses in the snow and is rescued by a hunter. The other deer are all shocked and amazed when he reappears later on. But even though Gobo survived at the hands of Man, he is now unfit for life in the forest as is painfully illustrated. Other parts of the story also show how humans affect wildlife (aside from hunting which is a prevalent theme), as in when a massive tree is chopped down and many small creatures are suddenly homeless.

I think most people are only familiar with the Disney film version of Bambi, and that's a shame. There are very few similarities, namely the early death of Bambi's mother. There are no giggling bunny and skunk friends; the Hare Bambi meets is a serious creature and the Owl he knows is a little screech owl who delights in trying to frighten others with his shrieks. There is no forest fire in the book, and the threat of human hunters is much more prominent. This story is so different, much deeper and so beautifully written. I wish more people would read it.

from the Dogear Diary show less

When you hear the name Bambi you will likely think of the Walt Disney movie about a young fawn growing up, learning the joys and hard realities and dangers of a life in the woods. Felix Salten wrote the novel just nineteen years before the animated cartoon was released. Salten’s story is unsentimental and the violence is more on-screen than off. He does write beautiful descriptions of nature, but nature red in tooth and claws is an ominous presence.

The characters are animals–deer, a hare, birds–and they talk and think in human ways.

Bambi is fascinated by the formidable and regal old stag whom he sometimes encounters in the forest. In one scene, Bambi deliberates on speaking to his idol, unaware that the stag’s own internal show more dialogue shares Bambi’s own awe and self-doubt. Bambi has the beauty and vibrance of youth. To Bambi, the stag has imperious majesty. The moment passes in silence.

Bambi fights the other bucks for his childhood friend Faline and they share a splendid summer together before he loses interest and leaves her alone. Don’t you love me still? she asks. I don’t know, he responds.

Salten incorporates comments on society and violence.

The mothers teach the fawns to fear He/Him, the two legged threat with a third arm that blasts thunder and kills. Faline’s brother Gobo was weak and was captured by a hunter who kept him as a pet. Breaking free, Gobo returns to the forest and brags of his wonderful treatment, doted on and well fed, not understanding his captivity as an evil. Without fear of humans, he soon becomes a victim of a hunter.

The privation of winter breaks down society. The adult deer wonder if it will ever get better, holding onto the memory of a beautiful life before.

The terrible hardship that seemed to have no end spread bitterness and brutality. It destroyed all their memories of the past, their faith in each other, and ruined every good custom they had. There was no longer either peace or mercy in the forest. from Bambi by Felix Salten

These lines could have been written about war and persecution, which Salten experienced firsthand. The author changed his name from Siegmund Salzmann to the less Jewish sounding Felix Salten. He was a prolific author and a hunter who loved the forests of Austria. His books were banned under Hitler, and he was forced to escape to Switzerland. Many read the story as an allegory.

The book is suggested for readers ten and older but will capture the attention of adult readers. The 1928 forward by John Galsworthy tells how he read the galley proof completely absorbed, calling it “a little masterpiece.”

This edition of the novel is just gorgeous, with a gold embossed cloth cover, ribbon bookmark, smooth paper, and original illustrations. Just holding it was a delight. There are over fifty volumes published in the Everyman’s Library Children’s Classics series. I am already eyeing volumes of books to reread.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book. show less

Tras el anuncio de Disney de que iban a m̶a̶s̶a̶c̶r̶a̶r̶ hacer una nueva versión de una de las películas más clásicas de su catálogo, decidi leer la novela escrita por Felix Salten en 1923, en la que teóricamente está basado el film de 1942.
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Lo primero que llama la atención es que los animales actúan, bueno, como animales. No hay patinaje en el hielo, no hay enamoramiento, ni zorrinos coquetos. No todos se llevan bien, algunos dan muerte a otros para obtener alimento y no es raro encontrar menciones de sangre aquí y allá. Como en la naturaleza misma, vamos. Celebro que el autor haya mantenido estas características, incluso en mayor medida que en otros clásicos naturalistas como La Colina de Watership (aunque la show more narración en esta última sea mucho más dinámica). El punto de vista de cada especie, su sistema de jerarquías, la falta de un sentido de sociedad, el instinto de conservación; todo está muy bien logrado.
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Otra diferencia es la presencia de los humanos. Mientras que en la película la cacería es un suceso eventual, en el libro hay una tensión constante. A los hombres se los llama colectivamente «Él», reflejándose así la concepción de que son una fuerza más poderosa que cualquier otra cosa en el bosque. No obstante lo cual, Bambi termina comprendiendo que incluso ellos están sujetos a las mismas leyes universales que el resto de los seres vivos.
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Hasta el mensaje final se ve alterado. La moraleja de la película es que la naturaleza puede ser cruel, pero que mientras estés unido a tu familia y amigos, todo será color de rosa. El de Salten, que la lucha es parte de la vida, y que seguramente tengas que hacer sacrificios para sobrevivir.
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Ah, no hay incendio en el libro, pero el epílogo es una genialidad. show less

This is not Disney. This book was incredible. The description was so real, the language not dumbed down for kids. Yes, the animals talked, but it wasn't cutesy, silly talking. It was Watership Down kind of talking. I read this to my five-and-a-half-year-old daughter (I'm trying to give her the original versions of all of the stories before she sees the Disney versions). When the first scary thing happened, I worried that I'd made a horrible mistake. But, although she was upset, she put it all into perspective very quickly. I loved watching her build a connection with the characters. At one point she said something like, "The words seem so real!" How wonderful to watch my daughter's love of reading and storytelling develop!

Update: I've show more thought about this book overnight and now I've got a few more things I wanted to add. Like another reviewer mentioned, the conversation between two leaves at the end of fall was masterful. There are so many issues of life and death and of God and of domestication. I was thinking about this book in the context of Salten's life as a Jew in Austria before the second World War. Apparently, he was born in Budapest in 1869 and moved to Vienna when he was just a baby because in 1867, Jews got full citizenship in Vienna. This book was published in 1926, and I'm just starting to think about the messages in the book in the context of what was going on in Europe at the time. There are just so many layers of understanding. No wonder I found this book so satisfying. show less

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 show more than you would expect, full of warmth, humor, and understanding. show less

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 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 show more 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.

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4 out of 5 stars show less

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 only later that the Disney film associated Bambi with children's fare. Bambi is considered by some critics to be the first "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 show more 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. show less