Wildly Crafty

I finally succumbed to the tiny voice in the back of my head that kept insisting I had to buy the book “1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die”.  I’ve seen the lists posted all over the internet, but they simply weren’t good enough, I had to have the actual book to hold in my hand, so that I could make notes and comments within its pages.

The books listed therein are certainly interesting choices, and subject to much debate.  One theme that I hear often is that it is mainly a list of great authors, and not great books.  Some of them have multiple books listed that aren’t really all that fantastic, while many authors who have seminal works aren’t listed at all.

I’ve decided to try out some of the books, especially the ancient ones that I’m completely unfamiliar with.  For instance Chaireas and Kallirhoe by Chairton is essentially the first published novel.  I’m not sure if it’s readable by the average reader, but thanks to inter-library loan I’m hoping to give it a try.

I started with the first book on the list, Aesop’s Fables.  I’m familiar with the concept of Aesop’s Fables as children’s stories, as I’m sure most of us are.  And am familiar with most of the well known ones, “The Fox and the Grapes”, “The Tortoise and the Hare” and so on and so on.

I wasn’t aware that there are hundreds more, really never stopped to think about it.  So, I got myself a copy of Oxford World’s Classics series Aesop's Fables and discovered that there are at least 600, (including the familiar), some good, some bad, and some that obviously haven’t stood the test of time.  Interesting stuff really, as is the introduction which tells the history of the fable and of Aesop himself.