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mary_soon_lee's review
5.0
Excellent, interesting, moving book by the son after whom A. A. Milne named Christopher Robin. The happiness of his early childhood is clear, but strange to a modern reader as the person he loved devotedly was his nanny and his father (at that point) was a very secondary character in his life. After his nanny left, when he was 9 or 10, Christopher became strongly attached to his father, but also much less happy, partly because he was sent to boarding school, partly because being the model for Christopher Robin became burdensome, partly because he was very shy. The insight into A.A. Milne is fascinating. The sections about their country house, the gardens and woods, moved me because it was clear how much Christopher loved them. In a short epilogue, Christopher summarized his adult life, including a period of considerable unhappiness, dogged by the fame of Pooh and Christopher Robin, but ending with contentment owning a bookshop with his wife. It was striking to me that Christopher felt no sentimental attachment to his Pooh bear toy after he grew up, though he remembered his childhood love for it; that short section was particularly moving.
horthhill's review
5.0
"The Enchanted Places" by Christopher Milne was a wonderful memoir. I almost wrote "by Christopher Robin Milne." And, his name is indeed Christopher Robin, the same as the character in Winnie-the-Pooh because Milne was the model for the fictional boy. This had an effect on the life of Milne for good and bad, and in his memoir he follows the twist and turns of his relationship with his parents and that boy who was the friend of Pooh.
dajenny's review
4.0
Interesting biography from the "real Christopher Robin". While it was rambling at times, and didn't necessarily address his thoughts on his fame as much as I had hoped, I enjoyed his style (similar to his father's, in many ways), the glimpses into his childhood, and insight into some of the background for the stories.
It's a worthwhile book to read and/or think about, too, for anyone who writes about their children today - be it on blogs or FB or as a freelance writer. Though Christopher doesn't go into great detail about how the books changed him, he does remind us that our children are people and will one day be adults coming to terms with the things shared about them online.
It's a worthwhile book to read and/or think about, too, for anyone who writes about their children today - be it on blogs or FB or as a freelance writer. Though Christopher doesn't go into great detail about how the books changed him, he does remind us that our children are people and will one day be adults coming to terms with the things shared about them online.
tevs83's review
3.0
Hoe ga je er mee om als je, naast een echt mens, ook nog eens een van de beroemdste personages uit de jeugdliteratuur bent?
Christopher Milne is een van de weinige mensen die zich bij het beantwoorden van deze vraag kan baseren op zijn eigen ervaringen. Behalve een echt jongetje van zes was hij ook Christopher Robin (in het Nederlands: Janneman Robinson), een personage uit de Winnie the Pooh verhalen.
'The Enchanted Places' is het eerste deel van een drieluik welke Christopher schreef over zijn leven. Hij vertelt over zijn jonge jaren, hoe hij opgroeide in Londen en Cotchford Farm, hoe hij werd opgevoed door zijn Nanny en hoe weinig hij zijn eigen ouders zag. Eerlijk schrijft hij dat hij niet weet of hij van zijn ouders hield omdat 'in those early days, I just didn't know them well enough'.
In eerste instantie klinkt er veel verbittering in het boek door. De schrijver maakt duidelijk dat hij er niet voor heeft gekozen om beroemd te zijn en hij vraagt zich hard op af of zijn vader hem dit wel aan had mogen doen. Hij zet zich af tegen het karakter en geeft aan dat hij slechts een deel van het personage is. Daarnaast is 'Christopher Robin' een combinatie van zijn vader en de fantasie. Toch valt het niet te ontkennen dat met het omslaan van de bladzijdes de warmte in het boek toeneemt.
Christopher Milne is een van de weinige mensen die zich bij het beantwoorden van deze vraag kan baseren op zijn eigen ervaringen. Behalve een echt jongetje van zes was hij ook Christopher Robin (in het Nederlands: Janneman Robinson), een personage uit de Winnie the Pooh verhalen.
'The Enchanted Places' is het eerste deel van een drieluik welke Christopher schreef over zijn leven. Hij vertelt over zijn jonge jaren, hoe hij opgroeide in Londen en Cotchford Farm, hoe hij werd opgevoed door zijn Nanny en hoe weinig hij zijn eigen ouders zag. Eerlijk schrijft hij dat hij niet weet of hij van zijn ouders hield omdat 'in those early days, I just didn't know them well enough'.
In eerste instantie klinkt er veel verbittering in het boek door. De schrijver maakt duidelijk dat hij er niet voor heeft gekozen om beroemd te zijn en hij vraagt zich hard op af of zijn vader hem dit wel aan had mogen doen. Hij zet zich af tegen het karakter en geeft aan dat hij slechts een deel van het personage is. Daarnaast is 'Christopher Robin' een combinatie van zijn vader en de fantasie. Toch valt het niet te ontkennen dat met het omslaan van de bladzijdes de warmte in het boek toeneemt.
melindamoor's review
3.0
Well, this is "basically" the memoirs of Christopher Robin as a grown-up in a collection of short and really pleasant little essays.
He is remembering and reconstructing his life as a child; trying to stay as objective as possible and trying to present himself / his parents / his dad objectively and independently of the Winnie-the-Pooh books while at the same time also presenting the effects they had on their lives.
It feels rather a bittersweet experience for him. While you can feel the love/respect of the child for his parents and that the reminiscence about his childhood brings undoubted pleasure and yearning; you can also feel the pain and a certain amount of bitterness the adult feels, who so unsuccessfully tried to break out of the trap that being his father's child and the "hero" of his books meant for him all his life.
He is remembering and reconstructing his life as a child; trying to stay as objective as possible and trying to present himself / his parents / his dad objectively and independently of the Winnie-the-Pooh books while at the same time also presenting the effects they had on their lives.
It feels rather a bittersweet experience for him. While you can feel the love/respect of the child for his parents and that the reminiscence about his childhood brings undoubted pleasure and yearning; you can also feel the pain and a certain amount of bitterness the adult feels, who so unsuccessfully tried to break out of the trap that being his father's child and the "hero" of his books meant for him all his life.
northernatlas's review against another edition
4.0
Inspired by the film, 'Goodbye, Christopher Robin', my last research paper for my first semester of postgrad classes has been an analysis of the ways in which real children are utilized for the promotion of cultural products. Christopher Milne was perhaps the poster child for such an analysis, and thankfully had been a writer in his later years. He wrote lyrically, stories of his own memories and childhood, from his own perspective. Though not as vehement as some interviews and journalists have made it sound, and not nearly as nostalgic as we may expect, C. R. Milne was able to guide readers delicately through those publicized memories, poems, and moments that are familiar to many Winnie-the-Pooh fans. Recommended reading for anyone who enjoys memoirs, English history, and those who won't find themselves completely disillusioned by the younger Milne's disenchantment with the stories that made him so famous.