Fairy Tale Spotlight: Reynard the Fox [Book Review]

"Reynard the Fox" is a book that is based on a lot of very old writings. It is very hard to say who the original author was, and to be fair, it was based on the works of many authors over a very long period of time. The earliest writing of the titular character goes all the way back to 1148. That stuff is naturally unreadable to me. The book I presently have was a translation of Reynard's adventures by James Simpson. It was published in 2015.

The story here is about Reynard the Fox who uses trickery to do some pretty horrible things. He tends to get away with much of it though because he has this amazing ability to talk himself out of nearly every situation. He has to do this because he is small and not very strong. Over the course of the book, he is pitted against nearly every type of animal and always seems to come out on top, but not without being placed in what often feels like insurmountable danger to him and his family.

The world of Reynard actually mostly takes place within the court of King Noble the Lion. Much of this story actually is a court scene with Reynard being on trial and having to defend his horrible actions as he causes the maiming and death of his fellow animals. Always he presents himself as a fellow Christian who keeps ending up in bad situations because of the treachery of others.

The presentation of all the characters is taken deadly seriously. You can almost forget that these characters are animals. They could all easily be thought of as humans, for we all know people that behave like these corresponding animals. The book also has extreme continuity with itself. If an animal is injured somehow, that injury remains and has consequences throughout the story onward to its ending. Everything has consequences whether it be gory or of a sexual nature. All the characters have realistic feelings and can hurt both physically and emotionally. Everything feels real, and that is one of the main reasons I found this book so riveting.

Yes, this book is amazing. It is a shockingly wonderful story, and I was surprised to find myself rooting for the fox himself, despite the fact that he really kind of was the villain. There were many times where I did not think he could get out of a situation or two. I'd even go so far as to say that God would have a particular fancy for this fellow for using his talents so wisely in this story.

Now, I do recommend this book, and I think people should read it. I'd even say that this book should be required reading for people who are exploring the classics. Be warned though: This book is not for children. It is very gory and has some very sexual content in it, including rape. There is probably a child version of Reynard floating out there somewhere, but the James Simpson version is very clearly based on the original. Adults only please.

This blog was written on August 26, 2024.

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