Aesop the Fox
Aesop’s fables are brought to life by the timely intervention of Sprite from the future, who prods Aesop into debate about the meaning of stories: are they for fun, or do they have the chance to change the world? This book offers a virtuoso display into how the building blocks of fables can enchant, enrage, enlighten and educate us all.
Very little is known about Aesop who was supposed to have been a slave on the island of Samos in the sixth century BCE. It is his fables (and those attributed to him) that have come down to us through the centuries. In these tales, a fabulist from the future, referred to as Sprite, hoicks herself back to his century. “Why didn’t you save the world?” That’s the Sprite’s cry. Aesop, meanwhile, is trying to save his skin, make up his fables and live his life. Given the pitfalls of human nature, are the fables an Instruction Manual for staying out of trouble? What about morals, what about reform, what about the castigation of social evils? Sprite nags and cajoles and begins to wonder how much power a writer really has.
The book offers a virtuoso display of how the building blocks of a fable can be used in a variety of ways. It’s witty, it’s satirical and the Sprite herself is a comical figure. But at the end, when she has to return to her own time, that is to our own time and to our broken world, her central question suddenly seems less absurd, and far more urgent.
Endorsements
Suniti Namjoshi is an inspired fabulist.
—Marina Warner
2018 | ISBN 9781925581515 | Paperback | 198 x 128 mm | 130 pp
Reviews
Suniti Namjoshi has made an international reputation as a fabulist and poet with a strong feminist bent... Being a fabulist is not a common occupation for present-day writers, even a touch anachronistic, but in Namjoshi’s hands the fable expands to encompass facets of modern life and is used to re-examine fundamental values and concepts. This is all done with the lightest of touches and a sly, whimsical sense of humour. Namjoshi has a voice like no other: playful, gently satirical, backed by a depth of knowledge of European literature, and enriched by myths and fables of many cultures.
Read the full review here.—Susan Varga, Australian Book Review
Aesop the Fox is Suniti Namjoshi’s first novel in six years, and those familiar with her fiction works will be glad to see the return of her typically playful and inventive prose. The first half of the book will appeal to all. Lucid and engaging, it sweeps the reader along in wonderful fits and starts. While the second half loses its momentum, it is chock-a-block full of insight for writers and creators in particular. And the author has conducted sufficient historical research that only the most austere of classicists will fail to appreciate this novel. At its best, it is a light-hearted jaunt into an uncertain past. At its most profound it is a dialogue with that past on the nature of morality and its bleak potential to shape our own uncertain future. Read the full review here.
—Madeleine Reid, Backstory Journal
This short book was extremely well written, I actually cannot get over this or possible rave about it enough. Namjoshi is unique and has a charismatic way with words. Read the review here.
—Blue Fairytales Blog
This is a remarkable book! Suniti Namjoshi has taken the fables of Aesop and stories from the ancient "Life of Aesop" and inserted herself into the cast of characters as a time-traveling, bodiless Sprite who is the book's narrator. The Sprite meets up with Aesop (he's the one who actually yanks her into his world), along with his friend Androcles, then she sees them sold from one master to another, and finally she accompanies Aesop on his fatal/fateful journey to Delphi. Don't worry: you don't need to have read Aesop's fables or the Life of Aesop to enjoy this book, but if you do know something about the ancient Aesop, you get the extra bonus of seeing how Namjoshi is twisting and poking the old stories, often turning them inside-out. The Sprite has a warm sympathy for all her characters, major and minor (Pythagoras even makes an appearance), and she also challenges them as they debate the possible morals of the fables, and the meaning of freedom, of love, and of storytelling itself, and the duties of the storytellers. If you love stories and storytelling, READ THIS BOOK. It is a delight from start to finish!
Laura Gibbs, GoodReads