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A review by jain
Toad of Toad Hall (Wind In the Willows) by Kenneth Grahame
3.0
I'm only now getting around to reading the book, though the 1987 animated film was one of my childhood favorites. Things I didn't notice about the story when I was eight:
1) The world of The Wind in the Willows is unbelievably early-20th century British, and moreover written from a very conservative viewpoint, which shows most obviously in its classism.
2) Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger also inhabit an extraordinarily masculine world. Only three women appear in the book, all of them humans.
3) Toad's obsession with motorcars is a not-at-all subtle metaphor for alcoholism.
4) Despite his friends' claiming that he's an excellent person with just a few glaring foibles, Toad's actually an enormous jerk.
The plot was reasonably involving and the book had its charming elements, but it wasn't great by any means.
1) The world of The Wind in the Willows is unbelievably early-20th century British, and moreover written from a very conservative viewpoint, which shows most obviously in its classism.
2) Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger also inhabit an extraordinarily masculine world. Only three women appear in the book, all of them humans.
3) Toad's obsession with motorcars is a not-at-all subtle metaphor for alcoholism.
4) Despite his friends' claiming that he's an excellent person with just a few glaring foibles, Toad's actually an enormous jerk.
The plot was reasonably involving and the book had its charming elements, but it wasn't great by any means.