Title: The Complete Fables
Author: Aesop
Type: Fiction
Page Count: 262
Rating: 3.54/5
I’m finding it quite difficult to decide whether fables count as fiction or non-fiction, and I guess that’s kind of the point of them. The idea is that you can read them and learn from them, taking the ideas from the story and applying them to your life. Aesop’s pretty good at that, and there’s a reason for it, as I learned during the introduction.
It turns out that he was probably a slave, albeit one who was held in high esteem, and he was known for arguing in the courts and using his fables as ways to direct people’s thinking. Many of the fables have even been categorised in such a way that they can be divided based upon their use cases, such as whether they’re good for showing the virtues of patience or whether they show that those who accuse people are often themselves also at fault.
All in all, it was a pretty good little read that provided some food for thought, and I’m definitely glad that I picked it up. At the same time, I’m also glad that I used it as a bedtime read, because it’s one of those where it’s best if you read it a little bit at a time instead of binging on it. One fable probably isn’t enough, but a half dozen or so each night is a good way to do it. However you read it, it’s definitely worth picking it up sometime.
