Post by EbonyPatriot on Feb 20, 2007 20:30:11 GMT -5
I'm glad Ken'ichi added this section- I'm quite a bookworm (heck, since June 2006 to now I've read over 200 books 
).
Anywho, for my first post in this section, I wanted to cover one of my favorite authors: Felix Salten.
Felix Salten (1869-1945) was an Austrian author who wrote over forty books; although even in the 1950's he was best known as a children's author.* Today most either don't know who he was or only for Bambi or at most, Bambi's Children.
But Felix Salten many more animal novels. Here are all of the ones I've been able to get my paws on:
~Bambi- The most famous of Salten's books and the only one still in print (unfortunaetly), Bambi follows the life of a roe deer** fawn from birth until he is an old stag himself. Bambi is the son of the old stag (who is not the Great Prince- all roe deer are princes and all red deer are kings in the Bambi universe) and an unnmaned doe. He is good friends growing with Friend Hare, the screech owl, his Aunt Ena, Ena's children Faline and Gobo, and the young stags Ronno and Karus. In the winter, as everyone knows, Bambi's mother is killed and Gobo is taken away. The grouchy old doe Nettla takes him in until he grows his own antlers, when Ronno and Karus shun him. Eventually, he fights both bucks off and takes Faline as his mate. Gobo returns, having been raised by man and trusting him. Bambi and Faline grow apart and Bambi takes to wandering alone, although often with his father, who has many lessons to teach him.
~Bambi's Children- Exactly when this takes place in the Bambi timeline I don't know; these could be the twins Bambi encounters at the end of the first novel, but Bambi's old then and I personally think that these are Faline's first fawns, as she seems a bit unsure on what they do.
At any rate, the focus is know on Faline and her fawns the male Geno and his sister Gurri. The family is best friends with Faline's widowed sister, Rolla, and her two twins, the male Boso and the female Lana. Time goes on smothly until in wintertime, when Nero, a gray wolf-dog a neghboring city, grows bored and enters the forest, killing the deer. He nearly gets Rolla, but then leaves her and chases Geno far from home. Although Bambi's able to stop Nero, Faline doesn't know this and bitterly blames Rolla.
Eventually, Geno is able to come home, but the two mothers still despise each other- Faline even attempts two orphaned male yearlings, Nello and Membo, as her children so that she can stop feeling guilty about her friend. Geno befriends another buck, a restless fellow named Até, who falls in love with Lana. But more predators hunt the woods: poachers, One-Eye the fox, and a spoiled brat with a gun. The two families will have to get along...
~15 Rabbits- Although this book mentions Gobo earlier in the year, Faline appears and says something about her not raising children anymore. Yet in Bambi's Children, Faline tells her fawns about Gobo. Argh! I've never been able to workout Salten's timeline.
15 Rabbits (despite its name, I think the characters are supposed to be hares- {which is used interchangeably throughout the books} they don't live in warrens) follows a young male named Hops and his female friend Plana. Hops is now an only child as all of his siblings have been lost. His mother warns him to be constantly vigilant, for everythiong wants to kill him- even his own father, out of jealousy. The two struggle to enjoy life, despite foxes, owls, humans, traps, and the runaway hound, Iago.
About the title: there are fifteen rabbits/hares in the book: Hops, Fosco, Epi, Murk, Trumer, Mamp, Ivner, Klipps, Sitzer, Rino (all males), Lana, Lugea, Nella, Olva and Hops's mother (females). In addition, this is the first (and only time, not counting "A Forest World") that the red deer are given names: Brabo, a proud king; Pasto, his rival for his mates; Zebo, a young rival and his love Astalba, one of Brabo's mates.
~Perri- As it wouldn't be a novel set in Bambi's forest without a confusing timeline, Perri has its share of confusion. Bambi makes a cameo appearance to warn a three-year-old buck, calling him 'my son', that the sound he hears is not his mate calling but a hunter. Yet Perri appears in Bambi's Children too and is there at Geno and Gurri's
This novel follows the life of a female red squirrel named Perri. Like Hops, she is an only child, having lost her siblings early on and has a future mate as a frined- in this case, Porro. Her life is relatively safe- humans are no threat to her, foxes can't reach her, and she even is friends with the human child Anna, a two-year-old child who, as she has not grown out of babyhood yet, can still understand the beast's speech. In fact, her only fear is the marten- and what a fear he is, for he is as fast and agile as she is. As she grows older, she learns to fear more: the winter fast and, in the springtime, the unwanted attentions of the older male squirrels, the pitch-colored Mirro and the Gobo-ish Flame-Red.
~Florian the Lippizaner [Florian, the Emperor's Stallion]*** This is the only Felix Salten novel that doesn't have speaking animals. It follows the Lippizaner horse Florian, from colthood to the Emperor's prized horse until his downfall; all played against the fall of Austria before and after WWI. There was also Florian's friend, a terrier and the groom who helped raised him, but unfortunetly I can't remember their names. Quite interesting, actually.
~Djibi [Jibby] the Little Cat- Although for most of the novel, the animals are silent, Djibi/Jibby**** holds a conversation with a weasel (or possibly a marten, I can't remember) for one page.
This one follows a little female cat from kittenhood (when the owner of her mother tried to drown her) through adulthood. She is rescued and adopted by schoolteacher, I think, and eventually takes a mate, although he and the kittens are killed. I'm afraid I don't remember it very well.
~Good Comrades A series of short stories about animals, including Mako the bear cub, Salten's dog Treff the otterhound, a white kitten, and two wolfhounds that run away from cruel owners and are helped by a dog fox. (I wonder if this was the inspiration for Richard Adam's "Plague Dogs"). An interesting read; although Salten says that he a deer-hunter himself.
~ A Forest World The final book set in Bambi's universe, and yet again with a confusing timeline! No mention of Bambi is made at all and the forest is now a preserve with no hunting, yet Perri is mentioned.
At any rate, although there are the roe deer Arilla, Rabot, Genina, her daughters Mena***** and Nerba and sons Loso and Rambano as well as her mate Rombo, the focus is on the red deer Tambo and his love, Debina. Here a king is defined a stag strong enough to keep mates.The story of Tambo alternates with a farm not far from the woods, with the stallion Devil, the red mare Witch, and donkey Manni. This is one of my favorites- it's nice to see things from the red deer's point of view instead of the roe's.
~The City Jungle - The final book I've read. This one focuses on animals in a zoo- the kind with iron bars and cement floors. The animals included are:
-Vasta, a mouse reporter- well, she goes from cage to cage, carrying news.
-Hella, the lioness who dreas the day her sons Barri and Burri will be taken away from her.
-Hella's mate, Mibbel (called 'Jackie'), who is kept sperate from her for reasons he doesn't know.
-Brosso, an old one-eyed circus lion who joins Mibbel.
-Pardinos, the lonely bull elephant whose only friend is the white goat Minka, much to the disgust of the she-giraffes Babina and Zoprina
-The pet wolf Hallo, who is confused by his situation and the wild angry she-wolf Talla.
-Mino, the dog fox who suffers from fits.
-Yppa, the female orangutan with her mate Zato and son Tikki
-Krapus the grizzly, Tripps the young male, the pregnant Papina, and the young female Halpa.
-Opomo the tiger.
-Solb and Fasso the black panthers.
I enjoyed this novel too- it was nice to see such a variety of animals. ^_^
Whew, I've spent hours on this. I know I've rambled a bit; but hey you guys should see if you find any of these. They're out of print, but some of your ibraries might have them.
*My encyclopedia is from 1956; it has a tiny biograhpy of Felix Salten and a picture which I might upload.
**Ever wonder why in the Disney movie Bambi's a white-tailed deer, not a roe deer? At first I thought it was just because it would easier to study white-tails than roes (since white-tails are from the U.S.), but no, it was because, as it said in "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men" (quote from my bad memory)
***I've also seen the title in brackets used.
****I've seen it spelled Djibi and Jibby.
*****Is this where Mena from Bambi 2 gets her name? I like to think so; that they had read this book and not just added an 'm' in front of Ena's name.
Live long and prosper.
-EbonyPatriot
). Anywho, for my first post in this section, I wanted to cover one of my favorite authors: Felix Salten.
Felix Salten (1869-1945) was an Austrian author who wrote over forty books; although even in the 1950's he was best known as a children's author.* Today most either don't know who he was or only for Bambi or at most, Bambi's Children.
But Felix Salten many more animal novels. Here are all of the ones I've been able to get my paws on:
~Bambi- The most famous of Salten's books and the only one still in print (unfortunaetly), Bambi follows the life of a roe deer** fawn from birth until he is an old stag himself. Bambi is the son of the old stag (who is not the Great Prince- all roe deer are princes and all red deer are kings in the Bambi universe) and an unnmaned doe. He is good friends growing with Friend Hare, the screech owl, his Aunt Ena, Ena's children Faline and Gobo, and the young stags Ronno and Karus. In the winter, as everyone knows, Bambi's mother is killed and Gobo is taken away. The grouchy old doe Nettla takes him in until he grows his own antlers, when Ronno and Karus shun him. Eventually, he fights both bucks off and takes Faline as his mate. Gobo returns, having been raised by man and trusting him. Bambi and Faline grow apart and Bambi takes to wandering alone, although often with his father, who has many lessons to teach him.
~Bambi's Children- Exactly when this takes place in the Bambi timeline I don't know; these could be the twins Bambi encounters at the end of the first novel, but Bambi's old then and I personally think that these are Faline's first fawns, as she seems a bit unsure on what they do.
At any rate, the focus is know on Faline and her fawns the male Geno and his sister Gurri. The family is best friends with Faline's widowed sister, Rolla, and her two twins, the male Boso and the female Lana. Time goes on smothly until in wintertime, when Nero, a gray wolf-dog a neghboring city, grows bored and enters the forest, killing the deer. He nearly gets Rolla, but then leaves her and chases Geno far from home. Although Bambi's able to stop Nero, Faline doesn't know this and bitterly blames Rolla.
Eventually, Geno is able to come home, but the two mothers still despise each other- Faline even attempts two orphaned male yearlings, Nello and Membo, as her children so that she can stop feeling guilty about her friend. Geno befriends another buck, a restless fellow named Até, who falls in love with Lana. But more predators hunt the woods: poachers, One-Eye the fox, and a spoiled brat with a gun. The two families will have to get along...
~15 Rabbits- Although this book mentions Gobo earlier in the year, Faline appears and says something about her not raising children anymore. Yet in Bambi's Children, Faline tells her fawns about Gobo. Argh! I've never been able to workout Salten's timeline.
15 Rabbits (despite its name, I think the characters are supposed to be hares- {which is used interchangeably throughout the books} they don't live in warrens) follows a young male named Hops and his female friend Plana. Hops is now an only child as all of his siblings have been lost. His mother warns him to be constantly vigilant, for everythiong wants to kill him- even his own father, out of jealousy. The two struggle to enjoy life, despite foxes, owls, humans, traps, and the runaway hound, Iago.
About the title: there are fifteen rabbits/hares in the book: Hops, Fosco, Epi, Murk, Trumer, Mamp, Ivner, Klipps, Sitzer, Rino (all males), Lana, Lugea, Nella, Olva and Hops's mother (females). In addition, this is the first (and only time, not counting "A Forest World") that the red deer are given names: Brabo, a proud king; Pasto, his rival for his mates; Zebo, a young rival and his love Astalba, one of Brabo's mates.
~Perri- As it wouldn't be a novel set in Bambi's forest without a confusing timeline, Perri has its share of confusion. Bambi makes a cameo appearance to warn a three-year-old buck, calling him 'my son', that the sound he hears is not his mate calling but a hunter. Yet Perri appears in Bambi's Children too and is there at Geno and Gurri's
This novel follows the life of a female red squirrel named Perri. Like Hops, she is an only child, having lost her siblings early on and has a future mate as a frined- in this case, Porro. Her life is relatively safe- humans are no threat to her, foxes can't reach her, and she even is friends with the human child Anna, a two-year-old child who, as she has not grown out of babyhood yet, can still understand the beast's speech. In fact, her only fear is the marten- and what a fear he is, for he is as fast and agile as she is. As she grows older, she learns to fear more: the winter fast and, in the springtime, the unwanted attentions of the older male squirrels, the pitch-colored Mirro and the Gobo-ish Flame-Red.
~Florian the Lippizaner [Florian, the Emperor's Stallion]*** This is the only Felix Salten novel that doesn't have speaking animals. It follows the Lippizaner horse Florian, from colthood to the Emperor's prized horse until his downfall; all played against the fall of Austria before and after WWI. There was also Florian's friend, a terrier and the groom who helped raised him, but unfortunetly I can't remember their names.
Quite interesting, actually.~Djibi [Jibby] the Little Cat- Although for most of the novel, the animals are silent, Djibi/Jibby**** holds a conversation with a weasel (or possibly a marten, I can't remember) for one page.
This one follows a little female cat from kittenhood (when the owner of her mother tried to drown her) through adulthood. She is rescued and adopted by schoolteacher, I think, and eventually takes a mate, although he and the kittens are killed. I'm afraid I don't remember it very well.
~Good Comrades A series of short stories about animals, including Mako the bear cub, Salten's dog Treff the otterhound, a white kitten, and two wolfhounds that run away from cruel owners and are helped by a dog fox. (I wonder if this was the inspiration for Richard Adam's "Plague Dogs"). An interesting read; although Salten says that he a deer-hunter himself.
~ A Forest World The final book set in Bambi's universe, and yet again with a confusing timeline! No mention of Bambi is made at all and the forest is now a preserve with no hunting, yet Perri is mentioned.
At any rate, although there are the roe deer Arilla, Rabot, Genina, her daughters Mena***** and Nerba and sons Loso and Rambano as well as her mate Rombo, the focus is on the red deer Tambo and his love, Debina. Here a king is defined a stag strong enough to keep mates.The story of Tambo alternates with a farm not far from the woods, with the stallion Devil, the red mare Witch, and donkey Manni. This is one of my favorites- it's nice to see things from the red deer's point of view instead of the roe's.
~The City Jungle - The final book I've read. This one focuses on animals in a zoo- the kind with iron bars and cement floors. The animals included are:
-Vasta, a mouse reporter- well, she goes from cage to cage, carrying news.
-Hella, the lioness who dreas the day her sons Barri and Burri will be taken away from her.
-Hella's mate, Mibbel (called 'Jackie'), who is kept sperate from her for reasons he doesn't know.
-Brosso, an old one-eyed circus lion who joins Mibbel.
-Pardinos, the lonely bull elephant whose only friend is the white goat Minka, much to the disgust of the she-giraffes Babina and Zoprina
-The pet wolf Hallo, who is confused by his situation and the wild angry she-wolf Talla.
-Mino, the dog fox who suffers from fits.
-Yppa, the female orangutan with her mate Zato and son Tikki
-Krapus the grizzly, Tripps the young male, the pregnant Papina, and the young female Halpa.
-Opomo the tiger.
-Solb and Fasso the black panthers.
I enjoyed this novel too- it was nice to see such a variety of animals. ^_^
Whew, I've spent hours on this. I know I've rambled a bit; but hey you guys should see if you find any of these. They're out of print, but some of your ibraries might have them.
*My encyclopedia is from 1956; it has a tiny biograhpy of Felix Salten and a picture which I might upload.
**Ever wonder why in the Disney movie Bambi's a white-tailed deer, not a roe deer? At first I thought it was just because it would easier to study white-tails than roes (since white-tails are from the U.S.), but no, it was because, as it said in "Walt Disney's Nine Old Men" (quote from my bad memory)
Salten showed the same error in judgement when he cast the main characters as roe deer. How can the Great Prince be a little animal the size of a coyote? Surely he'd be the greatest and the mightiest in the forest, not the smallest...
***I've also seen the title in brackets used.
****I've seen it spelled Djibi and Jibby.
*****Is this where Mena from Bambi 2 gets her name? I like to think so; that they had read this book and not just added an 'm' in front of Ena's name.
Live long and prosper.
-EbonyPatriot
). Poor Pasha lives in a state of terror. When Renni asks him, "Aren't you allowed to do anything fun?", Pasha replies, "Sometimes I don't think so. I can never figure out what I've done wrong."