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Kenneth Grahame - The Wind In The Willows Book Review

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Kenneth Grahame The Wind in the Willows

Forget the cosy image. This book has probably the first instance of joyriding ever written! First published in 1908, the motor car was new on the scene, and the anti-hero of the book, TOAD, takes great delight in stealing the nearest available machine to go tearing through the countryside.

Like most of the classic children stories this book also appeals to adults. There's fun-filled adventures, fights, and a touch of philosophizing, and RATTY, MOLE and BADGER seem like wise old men compared to TOAD, although his disguising himself as a washerwoman to escape from prison shows a cunning mind.

TOAD is the most conceited of all the characters in children's literature. Unashamedly so. But lovable all the same. BADGER is wise, RATTY sensible, and MOLE the thoughtful one.

Take a trip down to the WILD WOOD.

- Paul Rance.

This Paul Rance article originally appeared in issue 5 of EASTERN RAINBOW, in 1996. For more news of this publication, and other PEACE & FREEDOM PRESS publications, click on the banner at the bottom of this page.

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Toad from The Wind in the Willows
Toad illustration by Paul Rance

Toad merchandise available here

You can search Amazon.co.uk for various Wind in the Willows book editions, or other children's books. Just type in the title or author's name in the keywords box, then hit search.

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The Wind in the Willows

The first two paragraphs of Chapter 1

THE RIVER BANK

   The Mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home. First with brooms, then with dusters; then on ladders and steps and chairs, with a brush and a pail of whitewash; till he had dust in his throat and eyes, and splashes of whitewash all over his black fur, and an aching back and weary arms. Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing. It was small wonder, then, that he suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said 'Bother!' and 'O blow!' and also 'Hang spring-cleaning!' and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. Something up above was calling him imperiously, and he made for the steep little tunnel which answered in his case to the gravelled carriage-drive owned by animals whose residences are nearer to the sun and air. So he scraped and scratched and scrabbled and scrooged and then he scrooged again and scrabbled and scratched and scraped, working busily with his little paws and muttering to himself, 'Up we go! Up we go!' till at last, pop! his snout came out into the sunlight, and he found himself rolling in the warm grass of a great meadow.

   'This is fine!' he said to himself. 'This is better than whitewashing!' The sunshine struck hot on his fur, soft breezes caressed his heated brow, and after the seclusion of the cellarage he had lived in so long the carol of happy birds fell on his dulled hearing almost like a shout. Jumping off all his four legs at once, in the joy of living and the delight of spring without its cleaning, he pursued his way across the meadow till he reached the hedge on the further side.

 




Some interesting, and/or fun sites

The entire Wind in the Willows - Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library

The Wind in the Willows

The Wind in the Willows attraction, Derbyshire, UK

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame: A searchable online version at The Literature Network

 


WIND IN THE WILLOWS DVDs available from Amazon.co.uk


Wind In The Willows (2002)
The Wind In The Willows [1983]
The Wind In The Willows [1996]
The Wind In The Willows Collection


Kenneth Grahame - The Wind in the Willows - Gift Book (Amazon.co.uk)



THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS Amazon.com related items

Books


The Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame; Hardcover


The Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame; Paperback


The Wind in the Willows
Kenneth Grahame; Hardcover

Video


Wind in the Willows, Vol. 2


Wind in the Willows Box Set


Wind in the Willows, Vol. 1

DVD


The Wind in the Willows/The Willows in Winter

Amazon.com
In the first of these two animated adaptations, both gently narrated by Vanessa Redgrave, Moley, Mr. Toad, and the rest of the right, proper riverbank battalion are portrayed tastefully, wittily, and with charm by the bucketsful. True to the tale, Mole abandons his modest home in favor of an apprenticeship on the ways of the river alongside knowledgeable Rat; Toad's enthusiasm for motorcars earns him a 20-year sentence; and young Portly the otter goes missing, giving everyone a scare. The lushness of Kenneth Grahame's writing is preserved throughout--those enchanted by the classic kids' story needn't be wary of memory muddling. Next up is the sequel, usually a letdown, but here a thrilling (though less literary) ride. If The Wind in the Willows tugs viewers through the river reeds with its graceful, enchanting words, The Willows in Winter hurtles them along with its bumpy adventures, all linked to the restless, irascible Toad. This time, the wily bugger takes to the skies in a search for Moley, who's lost in a river-swelling winter storm. Along the way he loops-the-loop one time too many, sending passenger Ratty tumbling. Then there's the small matter that he swiped the plane he's piloting, an offense punishable by a lengthy prison sentence. Well-connected, formidable Badger bails him out, but a lesson on humility awaits the shifty amphibian back at Toad Hall. In The Wind in the Willows, Grahame writes, "When I was young, we always had mornings like this." Viewers of all ages who tune in to this two-parter will come away wishing they did, too. --Tammy La Gorce


Wind in the Willows (Not Disney Version)
DVD

 


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