Reading Notes: The Giant Crab Part A

 The Giant Crab

I really liked the story of the Giant Crab, I think that if I was to rewrite it I would give the crab a more sinister backstory to make it a little bit longer, or if I needed to shorten it I would fix the ending to land after the crab was crushed by the elephant’s feet. I overall liked the story and thought it was very charming and enjoyed the story telling style. 

The Hypocritical Cat

         I didn’t enjoy this one as much, I thought it was a bit morbid and I was a little bit confused by the ending. I think it was told well and easy to read though, the plot was laid out clearly and narrated nicely.

 

The Crocodile and the Monkey

I liked this one a lot- no one got eaten. I thought it was a sweet story even though the crocodile was going to sink the monkey and eat his heart out- he was going to do so for is wife, and I thought the part where the wife cries to get the monkey heart was funny. I think that the use of imagery was really rich in this story and I really enjoyed it. 

[skip: The Axe, the Drum, the Bowl, and the Diamond]

The Wise Parrot and the Foolish Parrot

         This story was the first one I read today with people in it- I didn’t enjoy it as much but I did enjoy reading it. It would be more interesting to me to see the maid as the protagonist opposed to the man, I didn’t feel much sympathy because she was just eating sugar, and I understand that at different times sugar and wine and biscuits held different value in different contexts, like in this one, but I also think that there are worse offenses than sneaking some sugar and a glass of wine. 

 

The Dishonest Friend

         This one was another one I didn’t enjoy as much- the ones about men having battles of wits are never my favorite of these types of stories, but I do think that the plot was laid out well and foreshadowed so the reader felt like they would be part of the joke on the friend who sold the plough.

 

The Mouse and the Farmer

         I liked this story- I thought the story telling was good, if I chose to retell it I would probably choose to use more imagery. Overall I really liked it and probably wouldn’t change a lot- the plot was easy to read and though the succession of events unfolded quite clearly you couldn’t guess exactly what would happen next. And it had a happy ending. 

 

The Talkative Tortoise

         The poor tortoise couldn’t ignore the comments from others and it directly lead to his literal downfall and being cracked on the ground- the message of this one is quite clear and the story was easy to read and well spaced out. 

 

The Monkeys and the Gardener

         I liked this one, and the lesson was very clear. Overall it was an interesting story to read and easy to get what happened. I thought the monkeys were going to eat all the fruit and flowers and whatnot but they didn’t, so I liked that surprise. 

 

The Goblin and the Sneeze

         This was was kind of bizarre- as some of them have been, and I didn’t see the ending coming. The ending was quite succinct compared to the rest of the story and the build up, feeling a little bit rushed, but the story was interesting and easy to read and understand.

 

Goblin

[skip: The Grateful Beasts and the Ungrateful Prince]

The Goblin in the Pool

                  This one was another with a quick ending, but it fit better than the other one. I though that it was going to be another version of the Giant Crab, but it had a unique ending. I think if I rewrote it I would have the monkeys and the Goblin communicate a little bit with each other or something if I needed to make if longer, that could be good. I thought there was good imagery in this story too. 

 

The Foolish Farmer and the King

         I thought this one was sweet, and had a nice ending. I liked the farmer and he was written well to be a sympathetic character and I was happy for him at the ending.

 

The Pious Wolf

         I thought that this one would be similar to the Pious Cat, and I was kind of right, but it was shorter and little less morbid. I liked it better- I thought it was easy to read and understand and I enjoyed it. 

Authors Notes: Notes over The Giant Crab and other stories