The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

I was so pleased to find this edition available, as it was this edition my mom gave me when I was little, and the illustration is nostalgic to me. I fear that copy mom gave, already well loved by the time it reached me, has gone the way of all favorite books, but then, the joy in gaining another copy! I can not wait to reacquaint myself with Mr Mole, Ratty, Mr Badger, and of course, the troublesome Mr Toad!

I love this book. Its a book a child would enjoy and profit from, but its certainly a book for adults, too. Ive often thought that it would be a great book for a sick person to read. Theres something comforting in it. The main characters, Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad are endearing, and Toad with his over-the-top pomposity gets in more amusing scrapes, after which he is properly humbled––but only until the next occasion for some wild scheme arises. Mole and Rat become almost brothers in their adventures together. The chapter "Dulce Domum" is one of my favorites as the Rat realizes how much the Mole loves his little home, simple though it is, and makes up for his heretofore lack of compassion with effusive praise for it. The chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" seems like a break in the narrative as all the animals (there are many in the book besides the four main characters) look for the lost baby otter. In their search for him, Rat and Mole have an encounter with the god of the animals, Pan, which C. S. Lewis describes as an example of awe, or the numinous. In short, there is everything in this book: Tenderness and affection; adventure; hilarity; pomposity; generosity; helping friends in their time of need; the gamut. Its a must-read.

After watching the Disney adaptation of this classic, I decided to read it for myself, and Im glad I did. Here are my reflections:

When you watch the Disney animated film, the title seems to be a misnomer. Not so for the book. The book repeatedly references how the wind has a voice of its own, particularly in the fantastic, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn," chapter. The book seems to be a compilation of short stories, so you can skip some chapters entirely and not be left out of the plot. You can read the skipped chapters later if you so desire. Theyre wonderfully written, but to be honest, not much happens in them.

In the movie, Toad never steals a motorcar. In the book he darn sure does. He goes to prison justly, but for some reason after his friends help him recapture Toad Hall, he is no longer pursued by the police, even though he is no less guilty of his crime and is even moreso guilty because of his defiant escape. In this way, the book has a loose end that the movie by Disney corrects. Unfortunately Toads character is slightly altered in the Disney movie because of the way it ties up this loose end.

The pace of the book seems to be very slow for a childrens book and its on quite a high reading level I would say. To me, this is surefire proof that literate kids 100 years ago were far more literate than literate kids of today. Harry Potter doesnt have near as high of a vocabulary level requirement as this book does. Most of the vocabulary is used to describe nature. Due to the slow pace of the book in which the narrator describes how beautiful the outdoors is, you really have to like nature to fully appreciate the authors intent. I dont know how many people in modern times really appreciate the outdoors. I sure dont. I hate mosquitos.

The use of metaphors in this book is extraordinarily beautiful. The moon is anthropomorphized and described as deliberately and intently struggling to shine through the clouds to help Rat and Mole in their search for Otters baby. Also, making a trek to the South is compared to checking out of a hotel, and strong smelling sausage is described as singing of garlic. This Grahame guy was far more of an adult author than a childrens author if you ask me.

I didnt really care for any of the characters other than Toad. I was saddened to see that he was left entirely out of many chapters. Toad was perfect comic relief. Sleeping way later than everyone else, not sharing his load of the work, claiming to do things he couldnt do, talking about how great he was, etc. The whole bit of Toad dressing as a washerwoman was great, and fortunately ate up a large chunk of the book.

The high points of the book are its great and masterful use of the English language including its beautiful metaphors, and the presence of the fun and amusing Toad. The only thing it has that may not be so appreciated is its slow pace. The animals sit down to a meal about 200 times during the book, and the preparations for the meals seem overwhelmingly detailed, making you question whether "adventure" is a proper word to use in describing whats going on.

This magnificent work seems targeted to upper class individuals who are bigger on manners and properness than action and suspense, although it does have a good amount of comedy. Great stuff, but not for Spongebob Squarepants fans.

KENNETH GRAHAME, wrote this magical book, at the turn of the century, for his son Alistair. It is CRAMMED FULL of enchantment, charm, EXCITEMENT, sculduggery, and wisdom. This book possesses an appeal which reaches from the 5 year old child, to the 85 YEAR OLD GRANDMAMA !!!

I now paraphrase the original Forward, written by A.A. Milne

This book is not judged BY you, rather, you are judged BY THE BOOK The lover presents a copy to his beloved, and depending upon her response, he buys, or does NOT buy, the ENGAGEMENT RING. The doting Uncle, gives a copy to his favourite nephew and depending upon the nephews reaction, ALTERS HIS WILL, ACCORDINGLY’

It is no wonder that this book is beloved of so many people... it was written so long ago., but, like The Wizard of Oz, ’time has not altered its kindly philosophy. And, once read, it is NEVER FORGOTTEN. You will find yourself quoting lines from it, for the rest of your life !!

NOW, are you sitting comfortably ?? Then, make yourself a lovely cup of Cocoa, prop yourself up in bed with plenty of pillows, and "enter the enchanted world of the folk in, THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS.

SUBMITTED WITH PLEASURE
BY
MICHELLE WILLIAMS

The Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, was originally a series of bedtime stories for Grahames son. It is still commonly considered to be a childrens book, but it is too difficult for young children to read themselves, and many older children will no longer appreciate the simple themes it covers. I imagine that its chief appeal is to adults, although children might enjoy having some parts of the book read to them.

The characters - Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad - are wonderful creations. Mole, Rat, and Badger are conspicuously brave and loyal creatures. They love the comforts of home and hearth, yet they constantly set off on one rescue mission or another without a thought to their own safety. Toad, on the other hand, is a boastful nitwit, and it is amusing to the reader to see him brought down to size again and again.

In reading this book, you get the idea that Grahame had thought for a long time about what it is like to be an animal. He understands how their energy ebbs and wanes with the seasons, and he writes that it is a great breach of animal courtesy to ask a favor during the winter, when everyone wants to stay inside and doze during most of the day. In summer, though, the animals are often abroad throughout the night, and they may see the sky grow bright again before they return home. Grahame also has wonderful intuition about animal senses:

"We others, who have long lost the more subtle of the physical senses, have not proper terms to express an animals intercommunications with his surroundings, living or otherwise, and have only the word `smell, for instance, to include the whole range of delicate thrills which murmur in the nose of the animal night and day, summoning, warning, inciting, repelling. It was one of these mysterious fairy calls from out the void that suddenly reached Mole in the darkness, making him tingle through and through with its very familiar appeal, even while as yet he could not clearly remember what it was."

What calls out to Mole in the darkness is his home, and a great deal of this book is an enumeration of the pleasures of home: the snugness and familiarity, the comfort of a well-used chair in front of the fire, and the simple pleasures of the table. Highly recommended.

I liked the way the author worded situations and made them humorous. I did not like how descriptive he was about wooded paths and sea faring this or that. The dialogue and situations that the animals got into was my favorite part. I would recommend this book to anyone who appreciates English Literature. I chose this rating because all in all this was a very entertaining book.

Yes, I somehow got all the way to this point in my life without having read "The Wind in the Willows," which is widely hailed as a classic. I remember seeing the Disney version years ago as a child, as well as a stop-motion-animated version on television at some point, but never got around to reading the actual book until very recently. And having read whats widely hailed as a classic of childrens literature... I have to conclude that this book would have charmed me immensely as a child, but as an adult I find myself questioning the logic of the story too much.

"The Wind in the Willows" is a story about a group of animal friends living along the banks of a river in England -- the soft-spoken and naive Mole, the strong-willed and determined Water Rat, the grouchy hermit Badger, and the egocentric and spoiled Toad. When Mole ventures out of his burrow and befriends the other animals, he finds himself being swept up in a series of adventures, from a dangerous trek through the weasel-infested Wild Wood to trying to keep Toads sudden obsession with motor-cars from wrecking his life. And when Toads reckless ways end up costing him his own home, the four animals find themselves banding together to come to his aid.

As a child I would have found this book charming and cute, but as an adult I find myself sitting back and questioning the logic of the world too much. Part of this lies in the fact that the book cant seem to decide just how anthropomorphic its animal characters are -- they still exhibit plenty of animal traits, and some still live in burrows, but they seem to wear clothes, drive cars, own horses and pet birds, and some even live in ordinary houses. Toad is even mentioned to have a full head of hair at one point! And while having said animals have human-like traits would have been just fine in a book where the world remained consistent, Kenneth Grahame complicates it further by throwing in human characters. Just where is the line drawn between sentient creatures and animals in this universe... And perhaps these werent pressing questions in the era when this book was written, but in my case it drove me nuts.

The writing in this book is pretty flowery and ornate, which is to be expected from its time period. It can get a little wordy at times, but that does add to its charm, and it had plenty of wryly humorous moments as well. Its characters were delightful, and each had their own character flaws and their own strengths that played nicely off each other. Even Toad, whos by far one of the most obnoxious characters in the book, isnt wholly a terrible character and does show remorse for his actions.

Ive since learned after reading this book that several editions are published without two of its chapters -- "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and "Wayfarers All." I can understand this, as both these chapters read more like short stories set in the same world than part of the novel proper, and actually break the flow of the story ("Wayfarers All" is smack-dab in the middle of Toads prison escape, for example). Perhaps these would have worked better had they been included as extras at the end...

I dont think this novel has aged very well, especially with some of the flaws in the logic of the worldbuilding and some of the uncomfortable classism present at certain points. Its definitely a product of its time, and can be a little off-putting to modern audiences. But it does retain a certain amount of charm, and I am glad to have read it.

Im writing about the BBC childrens audiobook on CD that is currently one of the formats on this listing -- easily one of my favorites and Im so happy to have finally bought it. I listened to it fairly often in my early teens, and got a nostalgic hankering for it recently that I couldnt fill, because the only copy in my library system was on cassette tape.

This is hands-down one of the greatest full-cast audio dramatizations of a childrens classic, possibly being surpassed only by "The Minds Eye" production of The Hobbit. Do not expect a word-for-word reading -- instead it is a condensed buffet for the senses that beautifully captures the *spirit* of the book. I laugh in delight every time at the ludicrous, pompous voice of Toad, the no-nonsense dry words of Badger, and of course Mole as he goes from nervous eagerness to a more self-assured animal. There is a very different voice for each part, nowhere do you have to wonder whos talking. And equally memorable are the little songs, the between-scenes music, and the many sound effects (who could forget the "poop poop" of the motorcar horns).

I always wish it were longer, but I used to listen to it on repeat while I was sewing, and it never lost its charm even after many listenings. Im not British, but can perfectly imagine the brooks, the hedgerows, the country houses and woods...it makes me homesick for comforting places Ive never been. Perfect road-trip-with-kids audiobook, especially for reluctant young listeners/readers who prefer movies, because this is very much like listening to a program with the screen off.

“They recalled the languorous siesta of hot mid-day, deep in the undergrowth, the sun striking through in tiny golden shafts and spots; …and the long, cool evening at last, when so many threads were gathered up, so many friendships rounded, and so many adventures planned for the morrow.”

It’s easy to see why Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows has become a revered children’s classic. The introduction to this edition sheds some light into Grahame’s motivation to draft this novel. Grahame experienced personal tragedy early in life when he lost his mother to a severe illness (the same illness that he ended up recovering from at an early age). Later in life, Grahame would read to his son (who had been born prematurely and was nearly blind) stories about animals. This was a sort of catharsis and therapy for Grahame, and, in this way, The Wind in the Willows was created as an inspiration of love.

This novel is a fun and whimsical ride that celebrates nature, adventure and friendships formed. The quartet of memorable characters—Mole, Rat, Badger, and Toad—explore the world around them, the secrets and dangers, through various episodes, and this sometimes leads them into trouble. Probably the one most guilty of this is Toad, whose personality often leads his friends having to try to save him from trouble—and himself.

Grahame writes in such a manner to give the novel a magical feeling and atmosphere. And through the animals exploits and living life to its fullest in nature, we see the important themes of camaraderie, love, loyalty, and friendship explored.

I happened to find a nice audiobook recording that I used in conjunction with the reading of this paperback, and it really enhanced the experience. I’m glad to finally have gotten to this wonderful classic.

Excellent copy.