The Wind in the Willows (Signet Classics) by Kenneth Grahame
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Book Reviews of The Wind in the Willows (Signet Classics)
Book Review: Complex
Summary: 4 Stars
This was a very interesting book. As I read it I felt like Toad was a `Prodigal Son', who came back only far enough to receive acceptance, then returned to his bad habits till he was in trouble again.
It reminded me much of myself, playing at being Christian before really giving Christ all areas of my life. Like Toad I would repent, but then not really change.
Rat was wise and resourceful, Mole was tender and caring and awe-full like a child yet also very wise. Badger is like a wise mature old mentor or guide, sent to give direction, and lead one to find one's own purpose in life.
Yet the mix of Animal and Human society just did not make sense to me. It felt like a badly planned Narnia novel. It did not explain how the animal and human worlds came to interact and share a language or culture.
But over all it was a fun read even if dry in some spots.
(First written as Journal Reading Notes in 1999.)
Book Review: Signet Classics version is very small
Summary: 4 Stars
Before you order, note that the Signet Classics paperback version is quite small (about 4" x 6.5") with small font and small drawings. Nice for traveling light, I suppose, but I wish that, instead, I'd purchased a more attractive and easier to read-aloud version to share with my kids.Book Review: THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS by Kenneth Grahame
Summary: 3 Stars
The Wind in the Willows is a children's novel by Kenneth Grahame, and was originally published in 1908. It concerns the doings of four anthropomorphized creatures: Mole, Rat, Badger and Toad. Most of the book involves their day-to-day activities, and there is very little plot to speak of.
The book is quite often tediously slow. No character other than Toad does anything remotely interesting or anything approximating an "adventure". Most of the book involves Mole and Rat puttering around their happy but excruciatingly mundane lives. Those chapters which involve Toad are slightly more interesting. The last chapter of the book has the makings of a full-blown action scene, but Grahame breezes through it in astonishingly short order. The characters are moderately interesting, but three out of the four protagonists are irritatingly melodramatic in their behavior.
Something Grahame has done well is vividly depict the charms of nature and the English countryside. But sometimes he does this too vividly, particularly at the beginnings of chapters, where the reader is often faced with page after page of nothing but description.
The Wind in the Willows is not without its charms, but it isn't particularly interesting.
Book Review: A strange mix but entertaining
Summary: 3 Stars
A children's classic that escaped my childhood readings, I read this as research for a short story I did.
A rich vocabulary with a strange mix of sometimes natural and sometimes human characteristics for the animals, the short sections were enjoyable and fast paced.
I think I prefer either the simpler Pooh stories or the more complex Watership Down, however.
Book Review: Dull
Summary: 2 Stars
I was so excited to finally read this classic, and I feel terrible that I found it so dull. I read lots of book to my son I homeschool. We read all levels, but he didn't like it either. I didn't read the whole book. I got about half way until I just couldnt' read it any longer. But, so many people love this book, so if you have never read it go check it out at the library before buying it. I think people either love it or hate it.