DaveAgain wrote:I only read two pages, two or three poems, a day.
The edition I'm using has bottom of the page notes to explain any vocabulary they think is too obscure, and there are notes at the back that typically suggest what source text Mr Fontaine was using.
I quite like them so far, I may start reading them aloud.
I bought the book years ago with the idea of memorising some of the more popular poems, never did though .
Of course, if you find them pleasant reading that's all that matters. If you're comfortable in French (and I'm assuming you are, I can't tell because there are no languages listed!), then it's less of a reading chore and more like pleasure.
I did once see these in one of those 'French books you should read' lists. Unfortunately in foreign language learning you get a version of the Shakespeare thing, where it's propagated that you're not well-read in the language unless you're familiar with Shakespeare; even though the majority of modern English speakers have barely read him. Same with Homer in Greece. With Molière and La Fontaine in French there's this myth that all French schoolkids still plough through them and can quote them. A tragic version of this in NL is that you hear more talk about Shakespeare than Joost van den Vondel; and that a majority have read neither.