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archergal 's review for:
The Wind in the Willows
by Kenneth Grahame
The Wind in the Willows is one of those books I managed not to read until I was in my 60s. Part of it is that I don't really care for talking animal tales/beast fables. I'm not sure why they annoy me so, but for the most part, they do.
I've had this Audible version for a while now. I think it may have been a freebie, because it's a "soundtrack" version. What that means in this context is that there are little noises in the background that underline what's happening in the text (e.g., He mounted the horse ::sound of horse neigh::). That part's ok, but the other part of the "soundtrack" is what sounds like public domain classical recording excerpts. And whoever picked the musical backing picked a LOT of music that didn't match what was happening in the story, and/or made the background music SO LOUD that it really distracted from the narration.
But the narration. Oh my. Michael Hordern is just so wonderful. He really brings the story to life. So I tolerated the silly music so I could listen to him.
And the story? Well, let's stipulate at the beginning that Mr. Toad is a huge flaming asshole. I remind myself that this story was written to entertain a boy, so I guess that's what's going on. I would have happily listened to more about Rat and Mole and Badger and Otter, and less about Toad. But in the toad-less parts, there were some real moments of beauty and wonder in the writing. A couple of places brought tears to my eyes.
I'm glad I finally got this one read. Now I can go read Kij Johnson's sequel. That will be interesting!
I've had this Audible version for a while now. I think it may have been a freebie, because it's a "soundtrack" version. What that means in this context is that there are little noises in the background that underline what's happening in the text (e.g., He mounted the horse ::sound of horse neigh::). That part's ok, but the other part of the "soundtrack" is what sounds like public domain classical recording excerpts. And whoever picked the musical backing picked a LOT of music that didn't match what was happening in the story, and/or made the background music SO LOUD that it really distracted from the narration.
But the narration. Oh my. Michael Hordern is just so wonderful. He really brings the story to life. So I tolerated the silly music so I could listen to him.
And the story? Well, let's stipulate at the beginning that Mr. Toad is a huge flaming asshole. I remind myself that this story was written to entertain a boy, so I guess that's what's going on. I would have happily listened to more about Rat and Mole and Badger and Otter, and less about Toad. But in the toad-less parts, there were some real moments of beauty and wonder in the writing. A couple of places brought tears to my eyes.
I'm glad I finally got this one read. Now I can go read Kij Johnson's sequel. That will be interesting!