Book Review: Bambi: Kehidupan di Dalam Hutan by Felix Salten
Edition Details:
- Original Title: Bambi. Eine Lebensgeschichte aus dem Walde (1923)
- English Edition Translator: David Wyllie (Project Gutenberg, 2020)
- Indonesian Edition Translator: Tanti Lesmana (Gramedia Pustaka Utama, 2019)
- Audiobook: Storytel, 5 hours (English version narrated by Jacob Daniels, Indonesian version narrated by Jumali Jindra)
- My Rating: 5 of 5 stars★★★★★
The English version was beautifully understandable and clear. I also learned that it was a translation itself, as the author, Felix Salten, was Austrian. Still, I am eager to listen to the Indonesian version to gain an even deeper understanding, although I might need tissues for that 😢
Update after listening to the Indonesian version:
My first encounter with Bambi was through Disney's animated film. Little did I know that the film was based on a classic book written by an Austrian author in German, later translated into English and gaining popularity. I listened to both the English and Indonesian audiobook versions, and both were equally beautiful.
This book shows that fiction is based on factual knowledge that makes it plausible. For instance, Bambi's species is a roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), commonly found across most of Europe. There's also the elk, a distant cousin of the roe deer (Cervus canadensis). I initially mistook Bambi for a red deer (Cervus elaphus) due to its reddish fur, but in roe deer, the red fur darkens with age, the spots fade, and it eventually turns somewhat grey. The Disney film version of Bambi is actually a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Sorry for the confusion! 🦌🦌
The temperate climate forest was vividly depicted with trees like oak (Genus: Quercus, including the Indonesian native species Quercus sundaica), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus, similar to maple but not the sweet-gum maple), dogwood (Cornus florida, known as hanamizuki in Japanese), hazelnut (Corylus avellana, European hazelnut tree), and more. I almost felt I could smell the fresh forest air due to the frequent and detailed descriptions. It was a highly enjoyable imagination.
However, life in the wild isn't always pleasant. The author depicts the life cycle of forest creatures—how they eat, sleep, survive winter, interact with other forest inhabitants, mate, and face terrifying threats like humans. As a human reader, these are natural elements of wildlife, but through Bambi's eyes, this story almost turns into a thriller. Even Disney's Bambi film doesn't delve this deeply. Originally intended for adults, many adaptations have altered its content for children.
Differences between the Bambi film and this book include the inclusion or absence of certain forest creatures. Besides the different deer species, the film features a skunk (Mephitis mephitis) as one of Bambi's friends—a species absent in European lands, highlighting its audience focus. Additionally, Gobo, Faline's brother, and other deer characters aren't present in the film. The book also excludes Thumper, the young hare (Lepus timidus), appearing only as "Friend Hare" (Lepus europaeus) in the text. I personally loved Thumper in the film.
My favorite character was the Elder, the wise and majestic prince of the forest. Initially perceived as intimidating by young Bambi (viewed from a third-person perspective centered on Bambi), he earns Bambi's admiration as he matures.
Moreover, learning the terminology was enriching—fawn for young deer, buck or roebuck for young male deer, doe for female deer. Listening to both the English and Indonesian versions taught me various new terms. For instance, a group of roe deer is called a "herd," while elk are referred to as a "gang," distinct from lions known as a "pride" (thanks to a sudden Lion King flashback).
Furthermore, what I knew as "antlers" in English, the book calls them "crowns," which also translates to "mahkota" in Indonesian. "Crown" refers to the end of a stag's antlers, branching four to five times. It perfectly suits the title of the wise stag who becomes the forest's prince.
In the English version, I mistakenly thought a necklace worn by a captured deer was a GPS tracker. I was surprised because GPS was invented in 1973, while this story was written in 1923, translated in 1928. I then speculated it could be a radio transmitter, considering radio's first discovery in 1890. However, listening to the Indonesian version clarified it was merely a horsehair necklace, not a specific tracking pendant. Hahaha... I misheard that.
Today, wildlife research and monitoring include using GPS-tracked collars. Despite being written years before GPS's invention, the author imagines how other deer might perceive a necklace-wearing deer. It's intriguing how the confused deer explains it, admired by some for bravery, and ridiculed or pitied by others.
Animals also react differently to humans, naturally fearing them. Yet, those that interact closely may lose their wild instincts and become tame. Some deer in this story are puzzled and baffled when witnessing unusual human behavior.
The Netflix series Snowflake Mountain taught me that hunters can ethically target isolated, disease-prone deer to prevent illness spread among herds. Hunting, too, has its ethics. Similarly, deforesting land by felling trees requires caution. Perhaps elderly, sickly deer foresee their fate, separating and possibly ending up in a hunter's hands. Considering the author was a hunter, the book's detailed depiction of wildlife life seems fair from an animal's perspective.
"You have to stay alone. If you're going to preserve your life, if you want to understand existence, if you want to become wise, YOU. HAVE. TO. STAY. ALONE."
That's a message Bambi always remembers. This might reflect the solitary life of mature roe deer males, often seen alone. Roe deer usually gather during mating season, forming herds primarily with does and their offspring or with several young bucks. Moreover, both male and female deer are territorial, with stags typically accepting only their offspring.
The book portrays nature's laws as seemingly fierce, cruel, and poignant, yet also poetically philosophical. The author masterfully explains the wild roe deer's life and behavior with beautiful language. This demonstrates that observations and studies on roe deer behavior began as early as the 1920s and, considering their relevance, continue today.
When his father went bankrupt, Felix left school to work in an insurance agency while submitting poems and book reviews to journals. He joined the Young Vienna movement (Jung Wien), becoming a full-time art and theater critic for Vienna's press by 1901. He founded Vienna's first short-lived literary cabaret in 1900 and published his first short story collection in 1900. Salten authored an average of one book annually, spanning plays, short stories, novels, travelogues, and essays. He wrote for Vienna's major newspapers, crafted film scripts, and opera librettos. In 1927, he became president of the Austrian P.E.N. Club.
His most famous work, Bambi, was published in 1923, translated into English in 1928, and later became a Book-of-the-Month Club hit. In 1933, he sold film rights to Sidney Franklin for $1,000, subsequently transferred to Walt Disney Studios, which released the film in 1942.
As Austria grew perilous for prominent Jews in the 1930s, Hitler banned Salten's books in 1936. Two years after Austria's annexation by Germany in 1938, Salten moved to Zurich, Switzerland, where he lived until his death.
Salten was married to actress Ottilie Metzl, with whom he had two children: Paul and Anna-Katherina. He also wrote another book about Bambi, Bambi's Children: The Story of a Forest Family (1939). His stories "Perri" and "The Hound of Florence" inspired Disney films: Perri and The Shaggy Dog.
Salten is also credited with Josephine Mutzenbacher, an erotic novel depicting the fictional autobiography of a Vienna prostitute, published in 1906.
Tanti Lesmana
- Website: http://tanti-lesmana.blogspot.com
- Genre: Fiction