Book Review – The Black Sheep and Other Fables (What is the message the author is trying to convey through literature?)

Literature is an art form in which authors combine reality and imagination to provide readers with new perspectives and deeper reflections. Through genres such as fables, they convey social messages and positively impact readers’ lives.

 

Literature is an art form. We are moved when we read a good book, watch a movie, attend a concert, or appreciate a work of art. This is because art has the power to move us, but what sets literature apart from other genres of art is its ability to steal hearts and minds. Literature is more approachable and accessible than other art forms because it offers us an artistic experience through everyday language. I think the biggest reason why literature is able to steal the hearts of the public is because no other art form captures the reality of the time in such a detailed and small way, and at the same time, you can imagine it while reading it.
Literature allows the reader to see reality in a different light, and it also stimulates the imagination to experience a new world. By imagining each sentence, the reader falls into the illusion that he or she is the protagonist of the story, and can empathize and understand the protagonist’s feelings and the reality of that time. At this time, the reader is immersed in the world created by the author, finds himself or herself in that world, and deeply receives the message and emotion that the literary work wants to convey, and through that understanding, understands the core of what the author wanted to convey. Another important characteristic of literature is that its meaning expands through interaction with the reader. Different readers can have different interpretations of the same work based on different experiences and emotions, and this diversity of interpretation adds to the richness of literature.
Reading literature is more than just reading words; it is a process of understanding and empathizing with the author’s intentions and the world he or she has created. In this process, the reader creates new meanings for the work through his or her own interpretation, making it an artistic experience that is co-created by the author and the reader. To fully understand the message a work of literature is trying to convey, we must consider the symbols, metaphors, and context of the work. The disadvantage is that you have to read the text to get to the core of what the author was trying to convey, but the advantage is that works that have touched many readers are considered the heritage of humanity, translated into many languages and transmitted across time. And because of this, they can transcend countries and time periods to tell the story the author wanted to tell.
In 1937, at the tender age of 16, the writer Augusto Monterroso founded the Guatemalan Association of Young Artists and Writers. He may have formed such a group because of his personal inclination to write, but the fact that four years later his writings were published in newspapers and magazines, and later he was in charge of a fiction writing class organized by the National Autonomous University of Mexico and the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which produced a number of students, shows that he was not just a hobbyist, but that his personality and the stories he told in his writings were not just a hobby.
He is a man with a lot to say, but he knows how to say it wisely. In The Black Sheep and Other Fables, we also learn how wise the author was to use fables as a way to convey his opinions. These fables are more than just stories, they are satires and lessons that give the reader something to think about.
When you open the book, the first page reads.

Animals are so much like people that sometimes it’s impossible to tell them apart.
– K’NYO MOBUTU –

I’m not sure if this was written by the author as he was putting together his story or if it was an editor’s input, but it’s a clear indication that Augusto Monterosso wanted to tell the story of life in the human world through allegory. Assuming that this text was written with an editor’s input, I wonder if the editor understood the author’s tendency to eliminate unnecessary sentences and extraneous stories, and to use brevity to tell the story he wanted to tell.
Augusto Monterosso is one of the leading figures in the 20th century in the field of ultra-short stories. Although his novels are called ultra-short stories, they are shorter than poems and even shorter than quotes or proverbs. They are so unconventional that they completely abandon the idea of the novel as a genre. While this may be considered refreshing to some, it has been challenged or contested by others, and his novels have been the subject of much literary criticism. At the same time, however, it has had a positive influence on many writers, motivating them to create in different ways, and it is undeniable that his novels, whether controversial or not, have influenced many people and have made a mark on the history of Latin American literature.
Considering that this controversial genre is now recognized as a new genre and has positively influenced many writers, I think that those who break the mold and take on new challenges and practices are the ones who will go down in history. The essence of a literary work is to constantly challenge and innovate. As writing is completed after countless revisions and attempts, it is only by overcoming the trials and tribulations of the process and striving to create something new that a work that touches many people will be born, and I think that if you have the vision and originality to look at the same topic from a new perspective, you can definitely create a good work.
I think the reason why his work was eventually accepted as meaningful despite the many controversies is because it was accompanied by his love for his work, hard work, and unconventional originality. It’s not easy to pack a lot of meaning and essence into a few short words, and it’s even harder to capture a universal story that transcends time and country across generations. However, the author made it possible through the genre of fables, and the more you read the story, the more you wonder why the author wrote it, and the more you realize that he had a motive. The more you read the story, the more you realize that there is a motive. At the same time, it makes us curious and understanding about the circumstances of the time that the author had to go through and the emotions he must have felt while living in such a reality.
The satire and humor in allegory doesn’t actually reveal the meaning and point of the story outright, but through appropriate omission and compression, it provides the reader with food for thought, and that food for thought is what keeps the reader from forgetting the point in the end. Another advantage of fables is that they are accessible and can be read by people of all ages and classes, young and old, male and female, and can be enlightening to each.
The message that the author wants to convey through literature goes beyond the individual’s experiences and emotions and includes a deep reflection on the society and times in which he lives. When reading a fable, the reader goes beyond simply understanding the events of the story and discovers the social and political messages hidden within. This is the result of the author’s deep understanding and consideration of the times and society, and it allows the reader to see the world in a new light.
What’s great about authors is that they can make you think about the meaning behind the text in a way that makes sense to you. At the same time, it immerses the reader in the story and compels them to finish it. And after reading the book, the reader will have a new experience through the realization they have gained, which will have a positive impact on their life. In this way, literary works are more than just entertainment; they play an important role in instilling deep awareness in readers.