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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
funny
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The whiplash character development of Mr toad
adventurous
funny
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
funny
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
lighthearted
medium-paced
There is a brilliant book here - absolutely whimsical childlike adventuring brilliance! Unfortunately a lot of rubbish got mixed up with it somehow. For a vastly improved reading experience read these chapters:
Chapter 1 - The River Bank
Chapter 2 - The Open Road
Chapter 3 - The Wild Wood
Chapter 4 - Mr. Badger
Chapter 5 - Dulce Domum
Chapter 9 - Wayfarers All
Chapter 7 - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
This pretty much cuts out Toad, and ends on the highest of notes. I'm really pretty sore about reading all the crappy adventures of Toad, but I did love the rest. I had better come back in a year, follow my own advice and review again
Chapter 1 - The River Bank
Chapter 2 - The Open Road
Chapter 3 - The Wild Wood
Chapter 4 - Mr. Badger
Chapter 5 - Dulce Domum
Chapter 9 - Wayfarers All
Chapter 7 - The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
This pretty much cuts out Toad, and ends on the highest of notes. I'm really pretty sore about reading all the crappy adventures of Toad, but I did love the rest. I had better come back in a year, follow my own advice and review again
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I switched editions, so I'm pasting this for posterity:
at 43.0%
1. Holy crap, this is homoerotic.
2. [Checks Wikipedia] OK, so it's based on bedtime stories he made up for his young son who had various disabilities.
3. OK, that's fine. Innocent reading & 1908-typical absence of women, sure, whatever.
4. Holy crap, this is homoerotic.
I loved Mole. I liked Ratty. I tolerated Badger. And I hated Toad with all my soul.
Then I realized the reason I despised Toad was that he reminds me SO MUCH of The Former Guy. I can absolutely see wee ꞱᴚnɯԀ imprinting on Mr Toad and never sitting still long enough to hear the end of the book, because obvsly he would never finish an actual novel.
Re Toad, mad hijinks, whatever. It's fun. It's upperclass privilege. It's the fantasy of always getting away with it. But it's fucking inconsiderate to Toad's friends, who deserve better than having to clean up his messes.
OTOH, when, at Badger's command, they go all authoritarian fascist and literally lock Toad up in his room to control his behavior? WTAF was that?! It's a long stretch beyond grounding a disobedient child, as Toad is depicted as a grown-ass adult, and other adults imprisoning their friends "for their own good" completely baffles me as a plot point in a children's book.
Dear 1908 England, what the hell was going on that makes sense of this?
As a side note, I had many flashes of Good Omens while reading this, probably because Aziraphale rocks the antiquated Edwardian chic and frets over things much like Mole. I was charmed.
(If it isn't obvious, I did not read this as a child even though it was on the Classics shelf. Um. Probably because it WAS on the Classics shelf, actually. I kind of jumped straight from Susan Cooper to Stephen King.)
Anyway, I wish there had been a throughline plot instead of mashed together character moments. I wish, obviously, that there had been any positive treatment of women and female Animals. I wish this classic had not been part of instilling classist misogyny into generations of children. And yet weirdly I do love a good anthropomorphic animal tale and I enjoyed these characters in themselves -- I'm just not thrilled with what Grahame did with them. See T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon for how to get it right.
at 43.0%
1. Holy crap, this is homoerotic.
2. [Checks Wikipedia] OK, so it's based on bedtime stories he made up for his young son who had various disabilities.
3. OK, that's fine. Innocent reading & 1908-typical absence of women, sure, whatever.
4. Holy crap, this is homoerotic.
I loved Mole. I liked Ratty. I tolerated Badger. And I hated Toad with all my soul.
Then I realized the reason I despised Toad was that he reminds me SO MUCH of The Former Guy. I can absolutely see wee ꞱᴚnɯԀ imprinting on Mr Toad and never sitting still long enough to hear the end of the book, because obvsly he would never finish an actual novel.
Re Toad, mad hijinks, whatever. It's fun. It's upperclass privilege. It's the fantasy of always getting away with it. But it's fucking inconsiderate to Toad's friends, who deserve better than having to clean up his messes.
OTOH, when, at Badger's command, they go all authoritarian fascist and literally lock Toad up in his room to control his behavior? WTAF was that?! It's a long stretch beyond grounding a disobedient child, as Toad is depicted as a grown-ass adult, and other adults imprisoning their friends "for their own good" completely baffles me as a plot point in a children's book.
Dear 1908 England, what the hell was going on that makes sense of this?
As a side note, I had many flashes of Good Omens while reading this, probably because Aziraphale rocks the antiquated Edwardian chic and frets over things much like Mole. I was charmed.
(If it isn't obvious, I did not read this as a child even though it was on the Classics shelf. Um. Probably because it WAS on the Classics shelf, actually. I kind of jumped straight from Susan Cooper to Stephen King.)
Anyway, I wish there had been a throughline plot instead of mashed together character moments. I wish, obviously, that there had been any positive treatment of women and female Animals. I wish this classic had not been part of instilling classist misogyny into generations of children. And yet weirdly I do love a good anthropomorphic animal tale and I enjoyed these characters in themselves -- I'm just not thrilled with what Grahame did with them. See T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon for how to get it right.