A review by chalkletters
Peter Pan and Wendy by J.M. Barrie

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have no very strong memories of my reaction to Disney’s Peter Pan; I must have watched it, and I liked fairies so I was probably a Tinkerbell fan, but beyond that I honestly couldn't tell you. I was, however, completely enchanted by the 2003 adaptation, starring Jeremy Sumpter, which came out when I was 16, and is startlingly accurate to the book. If I'd have been able to get my hands on the text of J M Barrie's original play, I would've written one of my university on essays on the adaptation of 'clap if you believe' into the 'I do believe in fairies' scene. 

Many of the lovable things about Peter Pan and Wendy are so well known as to be hardly worth mentioning: mermaids, pirates, daring sword fights and fairies whose dust grants the ability to fly. J M Barrie wraps up so many trappings of childhood play into a single novel that surely any reader will find something to take them back to their own nursery days.

Equally reminiscent of childhood is the importance placed on stories and story-telling. The whole book is written in the voice of a narrator who, like the narrator in The Magician's Nephew and the grandfather in The Princess Bride, interrupts and explains and talks about the way the story is crafted as he is telling it. In the title, Peter Pan and Wendy are given near-equal importance, and Wendy only gets taken to Neverland so she can finish telling the story of Cinderella. While there's not a book in sight, this focus on stories is rewarding to any avid reader of fiction.

Of course, coming at Peter Pan and Wendy from 2023, there's one massive sour note to contrast against all this loveliness. The depiction of the 'redskins' is awful, and very uncomfortable to read. As racist as some of the adaptations still are, at least they manage to make Tiger Lily into an actual character. In the original text, she's just an object for Peter to rescue and another woman to want him to be a man. So little agency does she have in Peter Pan and Wendythat she barely even speaks English. 

As charming as the good parts of Peter Pan and Wendy are, I think the magic for me is in the adaptations, the way this story keeps being told and updated through the generations. It's nice to return to the original text once in a while, but it's by no means perfect.
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