I loved the humor in this book. I would have rated it higher but I wasn't at all impressed with the last chapter. It seemed to be nothing like the rest of the book.
It was a good read, though, and I can see why it's on the 1001 books to read! ( )

This book is truly amazing. A funny, cynical tale with quite a lot of theosophical symbolism. Amazing that it survived the onslaught of Christianity. For a book from the second century A.D., it's a surprisingly modern novel, incorporating lots of great short stories better than the much later Canterbury Tales. ( )

This book is truly amazing. A funny, cynical tale with quite a lot of theosophical symbolism. Amazing that it survived the onslaught of Christianity. For a book from the second century A.D., it's a surprisingly modern novel, incorporating lots of great short stories better than the much later Canterbury Tales. ( )

It was of great benefit to read Books 1-6 of Apuleius in the magnificent translation of J. Arthur Hanson. For a practicing neo-platonist, or a kin to ancient folk by heart and spirit this books conveys many trophies with plots that could easily be turned into stanzas of quotable wisdom-literature. I'm preparing myself to read the second volume alongside with Fletcher's 'Apuleius' Platonism' which is an extremely interesting support-mechanism for fully and duly understanding Master Apuleius' thought. ( )

"The Golden Ass" is the world's oldest novel, written by a Roman named Apuleius in about the year 160 C.E. Apuleius was a philosopher and author, who wrote other stories as well. The novel is about a man named Lucius (the narrator of the story) who is transformed by magic into a donkey!

It is very funny and quite bawdy at times and can be enjoyed at that level. But, it is also a story about animal cruelty and abuse. At the start of the story Lucius mentions in passing that he is related to the Greek philosopher and historian Plutarch, well known (then and now) for his biographies of famous historical figures, but he was also a staunch animal rights activist and vegetarian. This should give a hint to the tone of the book.

Lucius, who maintains his human mind but cannot speak, knows what he needs to do to return to human form (eat roses), but because of various circumstances he does not get the opportunity to do so. As a poor donkey he is captured, sold, overburdened with heavy loads, forced into labor, beaten, tortured, abused, and almost killed by various cruel and sadistic citizens and slaves. The story also shows the extreme cruelty performed on slaves, who at times are chained and forced to to work alongside Lucius the donkey in a grain mill that runs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He does, of course, escape the situation because after all, he did write the tale.
After the story, there are two essays, one by translator Ellen Finkelpearl and one by the editor, Peter Singer. Singer is a well-known animal rights activist and has written several books on the subject. He notes that in that time period most people did not consider it cruel to mistreat animals (or slaves sadly), but also says that in our current times we mistreat and abuse FAR more animals now than in those days, mostly due to the animal factory farms. (Singer writes that when people secretly have videotaped the mistreatment at the farms, Congress did not pass laws to protect animals, they made it a crime with serious consequences to film the mistreatment!). Singer also reminds readers that Apuleius has Lucius turns into an ass, then considered one of the lowest forms of animal life, rather than an animal like a noble eagle, a lovable dog, or a brave lion. But of course, the story would not be about abuse if he did so...
This edition of the book (from Liveright Press in 2022) is an abridgement from the original Latin, which contained several stories within the novel (including the famous "Cupid and Psyche") but are not included in this book and are not part of the story-line about Lucius anyway. This is a nice translation of the novel and is easily readable.
And make sure that you read the two essays also, they help give nice insight into the book.
( )