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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
'“Well, well, perhaps I am a bit of a talker. A popular fellow such as I am - my friends get round me - we chaff, we sparkle, we tell witty stories - and somehow my tongue gets wagging. I have the gift of conversation. I’ve been told I ought to have a salon, whatever that may be.”'
Kenneth Grahame's 'Wind in the Willows' doesn't suffer from being over 100 years old. Every time I returned to it, it was like picking up a steaming mug of hot chocolate topped with marshmallow bits on a snow-clipped evening. The tale is focused on Mole, Ratty and Badger who are stalwart friends of the irrepressible Toad and seek to aid him from his mischief.
Has there been many a fictional character who is as flighty and poor a friend as Mr Toad? Bad decision after bad decision - from car crashes to prison - but I couldn't look away! I'm guessing Grahame must have received complaints from nearby washerwomen after publication - as how can Toad get away with looking like one for so long! What an actor though. Grahame also wrote him and all the other three main characters with such distinctive voices that they become like close friends.
An enjoyable children's classic.
Kenneth Grahame's 'Wind in the Willows' doesn't suffer from being over 100 years old. Every time I returned to it, it was like picking up a steaming mug of hot chocolate topped with marshmallow bits on a snow-clipped evening. The tale is focused on Mole, Ratty and Badger who are stalwart friends of the irrepressible Toad and seek to aid him from his mischief.
Has there been many a fictional character who is as flighty and poor a friend as Mr Toad? Bad decision after bad decision - from car crashes to prison - but I couldn't look away! I'm guessing Grahame must have received complaints from nearby washerwomen after publication - as how can Toad get away with looking like one for so long! What an actor though. Grahame also wrote him and all the other three main characters with such distinctive voices that they become like close friends.
An enjoyable children's classic.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
I liked the life situations there are in the book, particularly related to men deceiving other men.
And what were those voices singing in the willows and reeds ?
I wonder why animals ate other animals?
"'I understand,' said the Rat, cutting himself some rashers from a side of bacon, while the Mole dropped some eggs into a saucepan. 'And what's the weather like outside? You needn't “sir” me quite so much?' he added."
"To his horror he recollected that he had left both coat and waistcoat behind him in his cell, and with them his pocket-book, money, keys, watch, matches, pencil-case – all that makes life worth living, all that distinguishes the many-pocketed animal, the lord of creation, from the inferior one-pocketed or no-pocketed productions that hop or trip about permissively, un-equipped for the real contest."
"'And you, you will come too, young brother; for the days pass, and never return, and the South still waits for you. Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!' 'Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of the old life and into the new! Then some day, some day long hence, jog home here if you will, when the cup has been drained and the play has been played, and sit down by your quiet river with a store of goodly memories for company. You can easily overtake me on the road, for you are young, and I am ageing and go softly. I will linger, and look back; and at last I will surely see you coming, eager and light-hearted, with all the South in your face!'"
And what were those voices singing in the willows and reeds ?
I wonder why animals ate other animals?
"'I understand,' said the Rat, cutting himself some rashers from a side of bacon, while the Mole dropped some eggs into a saucepan. 'And what's the weather like outside? You needn't “sir” me quite so much?' he added."
"To his horror he recollected that he had left both coat and waistcoat behind him in his cell, and with them his pocket-book, money, keys, watch, matches, pencil-case – all that makes life worth living, all that distinguishes the many-pocketed animal, the lord of creation, from the inferior one-pocketed or no-pocketed productions that hop or trip about permissively, un-equipped for the real contest."
"'And you, you will come too, young brother; for the days pass, and never return, and the South still waits for you. Take the Adventure, heed the call, now ere the irrevocable moment passes!' 'Tis but a banging of the door behind you, a blithesome step forward, and you are out of the old life and into the new! Then some day, some day long hence, jog home here if you will, when the cup has been drained and the play has been played, and sit down by your quiet river with a store of goodly memories for company. You can easily overtake me on the road, for you are young, and I am ageing and go softly. I will linger, and look back; and at last I will surely see you coming, eager and light-hearted, with all the South in your face!'"
It was a chore to re-read this book. The characters are certainly loveable in their own way, but it was just too slow paced in parts.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
adventurous
inspiring
relaxing
slow-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
This is a re-read for me as it was one of the few books I owned as a young girl. I'm reading from the most beautiful book I currently own -- the Folio Society Edition. I'm very excited.
And a very satisfying read indeed. Such a pleasure to be reacquainted with the River Rat, the Mole, the Badger — and, of course — Toad of Toad Hall. The illustrations were the originals by Charles van Sandwyk, and the stories themselves written by Kenneth Grahame combined to, now and then, bring me back to the little girl I was some 60 years ago, reading my pocket-sized edition, on a blanket set on the lawn in my old back yard. LOVED IT.
The Read-What-I-Own Challenge update: Book #2 of 20.
And a very satisfying read indeed. Such a pleasure to be reacquainted with the River Rat, the Mole, the Badger — and, of course — Toad of Toad Hall. The illustrations were the originals by Charles van Sandwyk, and the stories themselves written by Kenneth Grahame combined to, now and then, bring me back to the little girl I was some 60 years ago, reading my pocket-sized edition, on a blanket set on the lawn in my old back yard. LOVED IT.
The Read-What-I-Own Challenge update: Book #2 of 20.
Lovely nostalgic read but I have no memory of the chapter about the sea rat! Everything else is familiar but not that part… very odd! Still a lovely reread after reviewing Kenneth Grahame’s biography.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-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