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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Read at long last. A good antidote to modern life. The quiet adventures of Rat, Mole, Toad, and Badger.
I found this book to be whimsical, fun and delightful. At times I was shaking my head in frustration, but at other times I could relate to the emotions of the other characters. The scene where Water Rat is contemplating giving up his home in order to explore the sea, and when Mole has such a strong emotion to return to his home, were both my favourite parts and I'm sure I will always remember them.
A wonderful fantasy world that helped me fall asleep as a child.
Very good fun.
A nice easy, fun read. Short, snappy but full off good language. I'd recommend this book to anyone. Good old mole.
A nice easy, fun read. Short, snappy but full off good language. I'd recommend this book to anyone. Good old mole.
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My favorite part is when the animals take over toad hall and Mr. Badger, Mole, Toad, and Ratty have to go and get it back from the weasels
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
I can't believe I missed this book as a child! So funny and captivating!
It had me laughing out loud more than once.
I can definitely recommend this story to children and adults alike.
The characters are unforgettable and the story of their friendship and adventures truly stands the test of time, after more than 100 years from the original publication.
It had me laughing out loud more than once.
I can definitely recommend this story to children and adults alike.
The characters are unforgettable and the story of their friendship and adventures truly stands the test of time, after more than 100 years from the original publication.
Not only is this book about talking English animals, but it's also narrated by Ralph Cosham, who narrated the version of Watership Down to which I listened. So it was natural to me to compare the two. This was nice, but it was no Watership Down.
First of all, and I know this makes me a no-fun wonderkiller, but I just couldn't get down with the premise. If these were only animals and they did their wearing-clothes-and-talking thing, well then . . . maybe. But not only do they wear clothes, and talk to each other, and call each other Mole (when presumably there are hundreds of moles in the area, and also water rats, and also toads, &c,) but they have things like picnic baskets filled with things like bread and lemonade in a bottle or something, and also they have guns, and Toad gets obsessed with motorcars. And at first I was like, okay, I guess he has very small motorcars. (What sort of animal works in a motorcar factory?) But then later Toad disguises himself as a woman and no one notices. I get the funny that no one realizes a washerwoman is really a toad, but he's not right the size! Or, he shouldn't be! But then he steals a car from actual people! So . . . he's the size of a person? What? Also he rides a horse. Do only enormous mutant animals have the gift of interspecies speech? Are there regular toads out there? How did his family get to be so rich? Why does he live in a house? Why aren't there any female animals around?
I guess this isn't supposed to matter; it's a childrens book, and they (I suppose) don't care about this sort of thing. But I personally need some sort of in-book logic and I found it frustrating and off-putting, and it kept taking me out of the story.
I think that if Grahame had left people out altogether, I could have worked with that. Fine, secret society of animals of which we're not aware, like to go on picnics and boat around, I can dig it. But once you have animals that are too big and people talking to toads like they're people . . . I just can't, man.
(Oh, and Toad escapes from prison, and then GOES HOME. Isn't that the first place they'd look? How on earth was that a feasible plan?)
Anyway.
As to the stories . . . eh. Some of the chapters were just poetic musing, and I admit I got a little bored and didn't pay attention. La la la, living on the river is great. Most of the stories with actual plot involved Toad, but that dude's an ass, so I didn't much like hearing about him. Badger's cool, obvs.
By the way, I didn't like Cosham's narration on this nearly as much as I did on Watership Down. I'm not really sure why that would be.
First of all, and I know this makes me a no-fun wonderkiller, but I just couldn't get down with the premise. If these were only animals and they did their wearing-clothes-and-talking thing, well then . . . maybe. But not only do they wear clothes, and talk to each other, and call each other Mole (when presumably there are hundreds of moles in the area, and also water rats, and also toads, &c,) but they have things like picnic baskets filled with things like bread and lemonade in a bottle or something, and also they have guns, and Toad gets obsessed with motorcars. And at first I was like, okay, I guess he has very small motorcars. (What sort of animal works in a motorcar factory?) But then later Toad disguises himself as a woman and no one notices. I get the funny that no one realizes a washerwoman is really a toad, but he's not right the size! Or, he shouldn't be! But then he steals a car from actual people! So . . . he's the size of a person? What? Also he rides a horse. Do only enormous mutant animals have the gift of interspecies speech? Are there regular toads out there? How did his family get to be so rich? Why does he live in a house? Why aren't there any female animals around?
I guess this isn't supposed to matter; it's a childrens book, and they (I suppose) don't care about this sort of thing. But I personally need some sort of in-book logic and I found it frustrating and off-putting, and it kept taking me out of the story.
I think that if Grahame had left people out altogether, I could have worked with that. Fine, secret society of animals of which we're not aware, like to go on picnics and boat around, I can dig it. But once you have animals that are too big and people talking to toads like they're people . . . I just can't, man.
(Oh, and Toad escapes from prison, and then GOES HOME. Isn't that the first place they'd look? How on earth was that a feasible plan?)
Anyway.
As to the stories . . . eh. Some of the chapters were just poetic musing, and I admit I got a little bored and didn't pay attention. La la la, living on the river is great. Most of the stories with actual plot involved Toad, but that dude's an ass, so I didn't much like hearing about him. Badger's cool, obvs.
By the way, I didn't like Cosham's narration on this nearly as much as I did on Watership Down. I'm not really sure why that would be.
#audiobook
I think I wanted to actually read "Watership Down" and somehow accidentally started this one instead. Listening audio book was actually surprisingly rewarding experience, because I love my walks and listening to a gentle, soothing voice was just brilliant, I must admit that these moments were the highlight of my day. If I was reading, I might skip some pages but since I was listening, I simply followed the reader's voice and my heart almost burst when at some points he started gently singing as it was part of the story.
"The Wind in the Willows" is adorable fable with four friends (Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad) as the main characters - they all live as friendly neighbours and its kind of Hobbit animal world where animals and humans somehow live together and nobody finds it unusual. In fact, some of the best moments come when situation is clearly impossible, as when Toad is driving the horse-drawn caravan or when he is camouflaged as a washerwoman and nobody notices. Because all four of them are so different, the story about their friendship is a pure delight and this might be my biggest literary discovery of the year - there was something soothing about listening to somebody else reading the book to me, not to mention the whole magic of the story itself. There are many hilarious, happy chapters mixed with superb poetic moments as when the Rat and Mole encounter "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" who is clearly God Pan protecting the animals. I think this was the prettiest thing I read in 2023 and might just continue with children's books.
I think I wanted to actually read "Watership Down" and somehow accidentally started this one instead. Listening audio book was actually surprisingly rewarding experience, because I love my walks and listening to a gentle, soothing voice was just brilliant, I must admit that these moments were the highlight of my day. If I was reading, I might skip some pages but since I was listening, I simply followed the reader's voice and my heart almost burst when at some points he started gently singing as it was part of the story.
"The Wind in the Willows" is adorable fable with four friends (Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad) as the main characters - they all live as friendly neighbours and its kind of Hobbit animal world where animals and humans somehow live together and nobody finds it unusual. In fact, some of the best moments come when situation is clearly impossible, as when Toad is driving the horse-drawn caravan or when he is camouflaged as a washerwoman and nobody notices. Because all four of them are so different, the story about their friendship is a pure delight and this might be my biggest literary discovery of the year - there was something soothing about listening to somebody else reading the book to me, not to mention the whole magic of the story itself. There are many hilarious, happy chapters mixed with superb poetic moments as when the Rat and Mole encounter "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" who is clearly God Pan protecting the animals. I think this was the prettiest thing I read in 2023 and might just continue with children's books.