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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: An under-rated classic.
Comment: I was glad at least one reviewer recognised that the 'Golden Ass' culminates in the story of Lucius'
initiation into the divine 'Mysteries.' At this point the entire feeling tone changes, shifting into
another key - along with the language. W.Y. Evans-Wentz, famous for his Tibetan Buddhist studies,
regarded the 'Golden Ass' in its entirety as an expression of the Western Mystery tradition. />
Tales of magical metamorphoses are the very stuff of antiquity, and while Apuleius 'Golden
Ass' more or less occupied a category of light-reading - akin to the modern novel (novella), it is
worth bearing in mind that 'magic' was real enough for Apuleius' and his contemporaries. At one
point in his life, Apuleius had to appear in court to defend himself against charges of using magic
to profit his circumstances. Most translators touch on this. Thessaly was renowned for its witches
and witchcraft - and Lucius' fascination with it, in the story, probably typified how many young
people actually felt. The counter-point and climax in the story, Lucius' initiation into the Isiac
religion, regaining human form, transformed in outlook, also reflected a shift in the contemporary
outlook. It is hard for us to understand today, but Apuleius - a Platonist, probably subscribed to
the Isiac religion. In fact, the beatific vision conveyed in the story of Lucius' conversion -
borders on a theosophical vision of totality, Isis - as a formless-form.

Reviewers
inevitably pick up on the bawdy element, bestiality etc., and while this may not be the sort of book
you would want to read to children, the 'raunchy' side of it has been exaggerated. As Robert Graves
remarked, when Lucian takes on assinine form, his rich Pasiphae "is no mere bestialist, but shows
her genuine love for the ass by planting pure, sincere, wholly unmeretricious kisses on his scented
nose " - which puts a rather different perspective on things. Still, there can be little doubt that
- for Lucius, acquiring the form of an ass signifies a kind of fallen state. It has sometimes been
said that the 'religious' element - Lucius' initiation into the Mysteries of Isis, was inserted as a
kind of dupe, something to appease moralists and put them off track. But the juxtaposition of
profane and sacred imagery in the story is one of a piece.

St. Augustine read the
'Golden Ass' and was influenced by it. There are obvious allusions to the Metamorphoses in Boccacio,
and Shakespeare. There are no fixed rules about reading this book, but it is worth looking at Robert
Graves' remarks about the symbolism. Seen in its earlier religious context, the Ass was also a
religious symbol. Marie-Louise von Franz wrote a whole 'Jungian' commentary on this Roman fable.
Other people have taken a less elevated view, seeing the metamorphoses of Lucius as nothing more
than a ripping read, full of bizarre imagery and fantastic scenes. But Roman fables have connected
meaning, which will not become apparent if we take them literally. Unravelling the symbolic
attributes of this tale is a kind of long term project you might take on, if you enjoy the book. I
recommend reading several translations, because Apuleius' Latin is as tricky as it is interesting.
Besides Robert Graves' translation, there is Jack Lindsay's version, the old Loeb edition by Gaselee
(basically a reworked version of Adlington's text (1566) - and, so I hear, a new Loeb edition
(haven't checked that out yet).

Customer Rating:

Summary: An amusing classic
Comment: Graves has given us a very readable rendering of this classic. In brief: Lucius is magically turned
into a donkey, but keeps his human intelligence. His first donkey use of that intelligence is to
realize that he'll be safer playing it dumb. He goes through many changes of owner, but all owners
ahve one thing in common. They don't care what a donkey sees or hears. This puts Lucius privy to all
manner of stories, which are recounted here. There is a bit of tame bawdiness, but other stories
describe a wide variety of exploits, intrigues, romances, and adventures. Lucius, the donkey, is
involved in several close calls. In the end, he is restored to his human form.

There's
no plot here, in any modern sense of the notion. Instead, this is a series of vignettes tied
together by the donkey's bridle. That makes this book easy to pick up and put down.
/>This might be a good way to introduce teen readers to the classics. The topics (all but one, at
least) are safe enough, with enough villainy to make the stories interesting, but with the good guys
winning out in the end. Through it all, there is Lucius' plight, always bordering on but missing
catastrophe. This isn't the most memorable story from the Roman era, but it's an easy one to enjoy,
in comfortably modern language.

//wiredweird

Customer Rating:

Summary: Something to read waiting for the roses to bloom
Comment: This is a highly readable, fun and nonpedantic translation of a novel that deserves to be better
known. Although there is a religious journey underlying the story, the story itself is always front
and center -- this is no sermon. As do many of its successors, this book uses the
story-within-a-story format to shift narrators and to expand the plot possibilities. In addition to
stories of banditry, barratry and bestiality, because the fantasy world of the stories is set in the
real world of Romanized Greece, reading this story will take you to strange places indeed. />

Customer Rating:

Summary: the greater metamorphosis
Comment: i was rather hesitant about writing a review for the Golden Ass, being simply curious about what
other readers might say. but after i read several, i realised that they have missed a distinctive
aspect of the story. ostensibly, the racy story tells the bizarre, hilarious and frequently violent
tale of a young, highborn and intelligent man who gets turned into an ass. but it is really much
more than that: it is an allegory.

the young protagonist who is full of curiosity for
everything but especially magic, goes through a passionate love affair with a girl. perhaps like
many a young man with a daring imagination he expects his love to turn him into a bird, but instead
she turns him into an ass. the antidote is simple; eating a rose will do. but they don't let asses
eat roses. no matter how hard he tries, and how many times, he can never attain the rose on his
own. and although his adventures might be humorous for the reader, they are harsh and humiliating
for the protagonist. at the end he understands that he by his own efforts cannot transform himself.
only through faith in the supreme deity can he once again become a man. through faith his quest
for freedom is fulfilled.

thus, the initial physical transformation only prepares the
way for and signals the more important spiritual metamorphosis. the place at which the tone of the
writing changes confirms this. there is no change in the tone after Lucius turns into an ass.
gradually, the voice becomes sadder. only at the very end of the book when the spiritual
metamorphosis takes place, does the voice of the author change drastically. the racy style ends,
and the voice is sober, humble, pious and grateful. it is as if the author is a different man rather
than a man anew. the Golden Ass might be read as a captivating classic full of humour and
sexuality, but the reader should be sensitive to its deeper message.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Too funny!
Comment: Anyone that thinks humor began with the writings of Dave Barry or Lewis Girzzard needs to (right
after they get their head examined) pick up a copy of this book. I've never read another
translation, but Graves' version kept things interesting, full of adventure, and above all,
funny!

Of course, there is that ancient Roman writer fault of injecting entirely
different stories into an existing story, which means that if they refer to another story or myth
(such as Cupid), BOY, are you gonna hear about Cupid! Still, the entire narrative is lighthearted
enough that this shouldn't discourage most readers.

Oh, yes, and there's lots of sex.
Every 4 pages, sex. Human sex. Donkey sex. It's all over. Yep, the Romans had the basic tenets of a
"Porky's" plot right here--sex, slapstick, and adventure. Fortunately for us, the end result comes
off a bit more concrete and dignified.

Fun stuff. Pick it up.

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