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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
All of my reviews are spoiler free (unless stated otherwise) so you can go ahead and read my review!
I'm not a fan of classics and I usually find the writing confusing and hard to understand at times, but I love the story of Peter Pan so I decided to give this one a go and I'm so glad I did! This book was first published in 1902, well over 100 years ago! I can only imagine what the reaction was when Barrie came out with a crazy children's story like this one!
First things first, the writing was really odd and at times I found myself thinking that if I had never seen the movie, I would actually have had no idea what was going on in the book. The way it was written (especially in the first few chapters) was in a way that made me, as a reader, question whether what I was reading was actually happening or if it was just a metaphor or just something else completely weird altogether. I found that once there was more dialogue and it got further into the story, it became easier to follow and to understand where the story was going plot-wise.
I loved comparing the differences between this and the movie (the one with Jeremy Sumpter), as so much was different in the book! First of all, Peter Pan was portrayed as more of a disturbed, overly cocky and more of a dark character in the book. There were also quite a few minor differences in regards to the actual storyline, but I won't go into detail!
Overall, I did really enjoy giving this book a go and I absolutely ADORED the ending (another thing that differs from the movie). It broke me but it was so, so beautiful. I loved it. I definitely recommend this one if you're already quite familiar with the story and want to read an entertaining classic as it's quite easy to read and is only just over 200 pages. I ended up giving Peter Pan 4 stars!
I'm not a fan of classics and I usually find the writing confusing and hard to understand at times, but I love the story of Peter Pan so I decided to give this one a go and I'm so glad I did! This book was first published in 1902, well over 100 years ago! I can only imagine what the reaction was when Barrie came out with a crazy children's story like this one!
First things first, the writing was really odd and at times I found myself thinking that if I had never seen the movie, I would actually have had no idea what was going on in the book. The way it was written (especially in the first few chapters) was in a way that made me, as a reader, question whether what I was reading was actually happening or if it was just a metaphor or just something else completely weird altogether. I found that once there was more dialogue and it got further into the story, it became easier to follow and to understand where the story was going plot-wise.
I loved comparing the differences between this and the movie (the one with Jeremy Sumpter), as so much was different in the book! First of all, Peter Pan was portrayed as more of a disturbed, overly cocky and more of a dark character in the book. There were also quite a few minor differences in regards to the actual storyline, but I won't go into detail!
Overall, I did really enjoy giving this book a go and I absolutely ADORED the ending (another thing that differs from the movie). It broke me but it was so, so beautiful. I loved it. I definitely recommend this one if you're already quite familiar with the story and want to read an entertaining classic as it's quite easy to read and is only just over 200 pages. I ended up giving Peter Pan 4 stars!
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn’t what I got. On the one hand, there’s a quirky, darker-than-expected story with a unique voice that I quite enjoyed. On the other, there’s the astounding sexism and racism. Wendy is a joyless nag, and her mother is just a blank, beatific smile looming in the background, ready to moon over her awful children at a moments’ notice. Women and girls are stuck being boring, responsible and self-effacing, while Peter Pan can be a self-absorbed little monster and it’s apparently supposed to be cute. Yeah, I’ve been in that relationship, and no thanks.
But all of that really can’t hold a candle to this shit:
THE GREAT WHITE FATHER, YOU GUYS.
It’s really the implication that maybe we ought to meet Peter’s racist superiority with a kind of “boys will be boys” shrug and smile that makes me want to scream. I know someone will want to argue that it was a different time, and that we can’t judge the past by the present’s standards, but frankly I don’t see why the hell not. It was repugnant then, too, even if some people chose not to see that.
This book did give me a greater appreciation for using “Peter Pan” as an insult. There was some nice writing. And to give it credit, I do think it was supposed to be satirical, at times (when Wendy thinks being a mother is all about making people take medicine and go to bed on time, presumably it’s a kind of parody of what her own mother cares about). But it comes off for me like when a man thinks it’s hilarious to tell a woman to get back in the kitchen and make him a sandwich. Even if it’s a joke, it is meant to reduce her.
So...hard to rate, because I do think there were some genuinely inspired parts, but I’m left at the end despising Peter, being disgusted with Wendy, and kind of wishing Captain Hook had teamed up with the crocodile and taken them all out.
But all of that really can’t hold a candle to this shit:
They called Peter the Great White Father, prostrating themselves before him; and he liked this tremendously, so that it was not really good for him.
“The great white father,” he would say to them in a a very lordly manner, as they groveled at his feet, “is glad to see the Piccaninny warriors protecting his wigwam from the pirates.”
“Me Tiger Lily,” that lovely creature would reply. “Peter Pan save me, me his velly nice friend. Me no let pirates hurt him.”
She was far too pretty to cringe in this way, but Peter thought it his due, and he would answer condescendingly, “It is good. Peter Pan has spoken.”
THE GREAT WHITE FATHER, YOU GUYS.
It’s really the implication that maybe we ought to meet Peter’s racist superiority with a kind of “boys will be boys” shrug and smile that makes me want to scream. I know someone will want to argue that it was a different time, and that we can’t judge the past by the present’s standards, but frankly I don’t see why the hell not. It was repugnant then, too, even if some people chose not to see that.
This book did give me a greater appreciation for using “Peter Pan” as an insult. There was some nice writing. And to give it credit, I do think it was supposed to be satirical, at times (when Wendy thinks being a mother is all about making people take medicine and go to bed on time, presumably it’s a kind of parody of what her own mother cares about). But it comes off for me like when a man thinks it’s hilarious to tell a woman to get back in the kitchen and make him a sandwich. Even if it’s a joke, it is meant to reduce her.
So...hard to rate, because I do think there were some genuinely inspired parts, but I’m left at the end despising Peter, being disgusted with Wendy, and kind of wishing Captain Hook had teamed up with the crocodile and taken them all out.
**3.5 STARS***I liked this book. I liked the very simplistic idea of magic. Things just were. There was no questioning it. A story that I never fully knew, only snippets at a time. I found parts of this confusing and odd. There was no compassion or connection to any of the characters. Maybe that was the point. That they could be anyone. Maybe it reveals to the norms of human nature and how we've stopped caring for others. Maybe it was because it didn't matter who they were, their names, only their story. What they did. I liked the end. I liked that it left us with an ongoing discovery. I finished this book on a bus with about 40 3rd graders around me. none of them were reading. that makes me sad sometimes. That our generation has begun to separate itself from books and stories and bounded paper.... idk
I kinda hated Peter Pan- the boy not the book. He was arrogant and annoying and stupid and idek. I liked Peter Pan though-the book. It was short and sweet and magical.
THE END
I kinda hated Peter Pan- the boy not the book. He was arrogant and annoying and stupid and idek. I liked Peter Pan though-the book. It was short and sweet and magical.
THE END
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was such a fun book. I've always loved the story of Peter Pan and I'm happy I finally got around to reading it. :)
12/28/19: As fun as I remembered it! :)
12/28/19: As fun as I remembered it! :)
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Aw man, I dunno. I got it for one of the babysats but decided to read it myself first and ended up deciding not to give it to her after all. When I was a kid I always had a strong dislike of Wendy (based on the movie and the play) which was similar to my dislike of Dorothy. Any kid who gets whisked off to a magical country and spends the whole time whining about wanting to be home again deserves nothing but scorn, and Wendy's attempts to turn glorious Neverland into her own goddamn nursery roused the deepest sort of simmering wrath that my nine-year old self could muster. The fury and jealousy for a girl who got all of the things I desperately wanted and callously tossed them aside (a girl who, of all things, insisted on BEDTIME in NEVERLAND) went so deep that, even in reading the book, at long last, at the age of thirty-one, I wanted to send Wendy to her room for completely and utterly missing the point. I still rage on behalf of my childhood self, who never stopped hoping for a boy at the window and certainly wouldn't have spent her entire time in Neverland darning socks.
And I just couldn't pass that on to the six-year old girl I babysit. I couldn't give her a book in which the only girl is an insufferable prig.
And on top of that, the Indians, who appear only briefly in the movie as far as I remember, are pervasive in the book and really really racist. I know it's a product of the time, and the Indians themselves are supposed to be Indians-as-imagined-in-children's-games rather than Accurate-portrayals-of-Native-Americans, and I'm capable of reading a book and saying "Ok, this is bad, but it's reflective of attitudes at the time, so I can appreciate the good aspects of the book as well" but, again, I don't know that I want to expect a six year old to do the same (or leave her father to edit as he reads it aloud).
And all of this makes me sad because it's a good book, and beautifully written and there are a few bits I really wish I could share, but I just don't feel right giving it to a kid. I got her Knight's Castle by Edward Eager instead.
And I just couldn't pass that on to the six-year old girl I babysit. I couldn't give her a book in which the only girl is an insufferable prig.
And on top of that, the Indians, who appear only briefly in the movie as far as I remember, are pervasive in the book and really really racist. I know it's a product of the time, and the Indians themselves are supposed to be Indians-as-imagined-in-children's-games rather than Accurate-portrayals-of-Native-Americans, and I'm capable of reading a book and saying "Ok, this is bad, but it's reflective of attitudes at the time, so I can appreciate the good aspects of the book as well" but, again, I don't know that I want to expect a six year old to do the same (or leave her father to edit as he reads it aloud).
And all of this makes me sad because it's a good book, and beautifully written and there are a few bits I really wish I could share, but I just don't feel right giving it to a kid. I got her Knight's Castle by Edward Eager instead.
adventurous
medium-paced
(Review of annotated edition ed. Maria Tatar)
A brilliant, approachable scholarly edition. The notes are insightful and include reference to scholars, various rewrites of the original play, and Barrie’s own life. The companion essays are excellent introductions for new readers and life-long fans alike. Of particular note is the printing in full of ‘The Boy Castaways of Black Lake Island’ with the photographs of the Llewelyn-Davies boys enacting the tale. The edition also presents Barrie’s proposed treatment for a silent film which stresses that “[Hook] should be played with absolute seriousness and avoidance of trying to be funny.”
An essential edition for collectors.
A brilliant, approachable scholarly edition. The notes are insightful and include reference to scholars, various rewrites of the original play, and Barrie’s own life. The companion essays are excellent introductions for new readers and life-long fans alike. Of particular note is the printing in full of ‘The Boy Castaways of Black Lake Island’ with the photographs of the Llewelyn-Davies boys enacting the tale. The edition also presents Barrie’s proposed treatment for a silent film which stresses that “[Hook] should be played with absolute seriousness and avoidance of trying to be funny.”
An essential edition for collectors.
A lovely journey into a tale that was one of my favorites as a child! It's a quick read with wonderful descriptive detail. Interesting to read about the very rigid gender roles at the turn of the century when this story was created. And at under 200 pages, it would be a good starter book for children!