Book Review

BOOK REVIEW

By Stephen Wilson

 

            FAIRY TALES ABOUT THE CAT BONKA  AND

            ABOUT ALL -ALL AND ALL THAT!

 

            By Olga Aprelskaya ,

            Illustrations by Yegor Olyenikov

            Published by Premudry Sverchock, Moscow , 2015,

           

            It is mesmerizing! After reading this book it is impossible to forget the tales.

            They leave an indelible impression on the reader. 'Tales About the Cat Bonka the Cat and All That,' represents a brightly polished gem in the fabulous world of fairy-tales just waiting to be fully discovered. It is never dull!  A Russian artist Svetlana Wilson said: "It is very good. The humor is very subtle and delicate. It is not quite of this World". The English Russian teacher Anna Kogteva told me, "I could not put it down. " The book was the brainchild of the late Olga Aprelskaya who tragically died of cancer last December. But it is not only a well-written gem. It is superbly illustrated by the artist Yegor Olyenikov who won praise at an International Book fair as ranking among one of the best illustrated books in the World. The book arouses a wide range of emotions from the reader. It  in turn strikes readers as amusing, sad, poignant and touching as one of the main heroes, the Cat Bonka, inspires his friends to question and confront the problems they come across in a very subtle and amusing way. The characters are challenged to perceive the world in different ways so that it seems much more enchanted. Miracles can happen here!

 

            The author Franz Kafka once wrote, 'I think we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading does not wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for?' And certainly, Olga's work wounds us! At times this book reminded me of Hans Christian Andersen in the sense the author sees everything is vibrant with life. In Andersen's works pots, pans and snowmen are alive while in Olga's tales it might be an old boot or snowflake. In Andersen's tale: 'What One can Invent' a character is told that if he sharply opens his eyes and attentively listens he will find stories everywhere.

            In Olga's tales you can discover stories in an attic or discover one in every falling snowflake gently falling from the sky.

 

            The tales tell of how Bonka and his friends, a rat, a butterfly Toiyi and 'the Unknown Lu' attempt to help, assist and make sense of a bewildering world. What children may find appealing is how naive and childlike the characters are. Like young children, the characters are constantly asking questions about the universe. While this relentless questioning might torment and perplex many adults, they never upset or annoy Bonka the cat. He is always at the ready to patiently listen to them and let them discover themselves some possible answers. One funny story goes:

            'The Unknown Lu lived in an unknown 'where.' Concerning where he lived, only the postman knew. They brought him many letters, sent to 'nowhere'. The letters always found the address!' It emerges that Lu has no real home like most people have which is made from bricks or wood. But when he looks up at the beautiful sky he understands that this is his roof. And that everywhere under the sky can be his home.

            In another story, cats argue whether they can smile or not. Bonka  argues they can, but only with their whiskers! In another story Bonka suggests to one of his friends that they stand upside down and be silent together. This exercise will help them to better understand each other.  A particularly found poignant the story of how rat enters the forest and finds an old boot. When the rat rudely tells the old boot, "You are just an old boot", the boot retorts, "I'm not an old boot but an elegant shoe....You can look inside me". When the rat looks inside the old boot he finds a beautifully colored tent with a tree holding up the sky. The rat climbs up the tree and flies into the sky. His friend the unknown Lu who has been watching all this says, "But Rats can't fly." The rat replies, "If you look inside me you'll find that in my soul I am a bird".

            There are a lot more charming and delightful stories you can read. There exists a common misconception that fairy tales are only for children and not adults. Too many people presume we ought to 'grow out' of reading fairy tales'. As a result a lot of adults have not even read most of Hans Christian Andersen's tales. They miss out on his tales such as 'The Shadow' which were full of sharp satire and wit.

            This book will appeal to many children as well as adults. It won't just be amusing, but will encourage them to keep asking questions. And it might just inspire brave adults to take the poet T.S. Eliot 's words, "Old men ought to be explorers" truly to heart!

 

            Unfortunately this book has not been formally translated and published in English. Yet it deserves to be and it will only be a matter of time before it is translated. But if you are Russian or know Russian well enough you can order it from the address below:

 

           aprelskaya@mail.com or you can drop me a line or send a letter stephen.wilson@yandex.ru.