Jack Zipes

Salten intended this book to be read by adults. Apparently it is a metaphor about oppressed people, such as Jews; the Nazis who banned and burned it thought so. The first English translation was done by Whittaker Chambers (of Alger Hiss fame) and because of copyright problems, no other translation could be done until recently. I found the New Yorker article , "'Bambi' is Even Bleaker Than You Thought" by Kathryn Schulz (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/01/24/bambi-is-even-bleaker-than-you-thought), more informative than Jack Zipes' introduction.

Maybe bleak is the right word for the story; certainly it is not a warm cozy tale of frolicking animals. Humans, referred to as "He" with a capital H, are a dangerous intrusion on natural forest life. One deer, to his deep regret, learns that, although he is welcomed and cared for by Him, He cannot be trusted. I can see this incident as a warning that passing may only work to a certain extent; is Salten saying that He can always recognize the other? After all, a deer can't pretend to be human. There are some lovely, sweet bits and some gloomy, sad ones and some important life lessons and they balance out: this is not a happily-ever-after story, more a realization that life is difficult but survivable. I'm reminded of the end of Candide>---"we must cultivate our garden."… (mehr)