A review by hmselden
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

 This book is often beautifully written. You can tell the author adores nature and he’s a gifted writer in the way in which he allows many of the characters to experience it. With that being said, for being such a slight book it felt like a bit of a slog. It wasn’t a compelling read for me at all.

And the novel spends far too much time with the insufferable Toad character. I get that it’s supposed to be whimsical, and the four friends are meant to be archetypes of people in the world, but the character is such an arrogant blowhard it’s hard to believe that Bader, Mole, and Water Rat would continue not only to be his friend, but to constantly bail him out of his many scrapes. There’s loyalty and accepting your friends, faults and all, but then there’s Toad. And he brings almost nothing to the friendship.

This was good. I was hoping for better.