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Dec 05, 2011

Wendy Darling rated it:

Of course in the end, Wendy let them fly away together. Our last glimpse of her shows her at the window, watching them receding into the sky until they were as small as stars.

Reread in preparation for Neverland this coming weekend!

6 comments like (14 people liked it)

May 20, 2011

K.D. rated it:

A story of a dead child and a mother who is missing him.

Sir James Matthew Barrie (1860-1937), a Scottish, wrote this book in 1902 for an older brother, David (his mother's favorite) who died in an ice-skating accident the day before he turned 14. Thus, in his mother's mind, David always stayed as a young boy who would not grow up. J. M. Barrie, a middle-child and then only 6 years old, tried to assume David's place in his mother's heart by wearing the latter's clothes and speaking an More...

18 comments like (21 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2008

Janene rated it:

This was such a treat! Three things: 1. It made me realize what a perfect Pan-type Peter I married, so many similarities, some that made me laugh out loud. 2. It made me want to look into my 4-yr-old's imaginitive eyes a little longer. 3. I also occasionally picked up my 20-month-old while sleeping just to rock and enjoy him for extra minutes.

This book just so fully captures childhood and the problem of growing up, in a witty way. If you've never read it, really you must! More...

1 comment like (12 people liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Simona rated it:

Nel momento in cui dubiti di poter volare, perdi per sempre la facoltà di farlo.

Delicato, allegro, spiritoso, bizzarro. Un libro per tutti i bambini e per gli adulti che sono rimasti bambini. E ancora per gli adulti che vorrebbero tornare bambini, ma non ricordano la strada per l'Isolachenoncè.
L'intervista immaginaria delle prime pagine, che funge d'introduzione, è a dir poco esilarante. "Chi è Peter Pan? Bé, suppongo colui che ha scoperto la sindrome. Un po' come Alzheimer, o More...

4 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2009

Nikki rated it:

I can't believe I've never actually read Peter Pan until now. I'd seen the Disney version, but this is both more charming and more sinister than that. There are lots of sweet little details, like mothers tidying up their children's thoughts, and the kiss on the corner of Mrs Darling's mouth.

But Peter is a monstrous sort of figure when you get past the romance of Neverland. He's a wild boy, selfish and cocky. Instead of being a kind of example of innocent childhood, he almost brings More...

8 comments like (18 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2009

Andrew rated it:

I was surprised by this book in many good ways. I was expecting something that glorified the Child and its imagination, and perhaps cursed the unstoppable destruction of our Childinity. I was surprised to see this was not truly so. Barrie loves the Child, but he does not hide its foolishness, its selfishness, its ignorance. The Child in this is almost pre-moral. They have some understanding of villainy, but do not grasp the virtue of a hero. Barrie deems a key attribute to being a child as More...

0 comments like (8 people liked it)

Sep 06, 2008

Brad rated it:

I am not sure I can see why Peter Pan is such a beloved "classic." J.M. Barrie's story of the boy who wouldn't grow up just didn't reach me. And I read it aloud to 4 year old boy-girl twins.

Oh, they enjoyed it, and I may have bred a love for the story in them that will last (which could be exactly why the story has endured -- parental readings), but no matter how much they liked Peter Pan I could not see the appeal.

Wendy drove me crazy; Peter grew increasingly a More...

8 comments like (16 people liked it)

Dec 22, 2008

Noelani rated it:

This is my favorite book of all time. When you grow up with the "overly-nice" Disney version of the story, picking up this book for the first time can be quite a shock. The book will also shatter the image that most girls have of Tinkerbell but personally-I prefer the original. Johnny Corkscrew, Peter's idea of a kiss, sewing on a shadow, sifting through the thoughts of your children as they sleep... So many things about this book are missed by those who never bother to pick it up More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

Jenn rated it:

I am specifically reviewing the illustrated, unabridged Unicorn edition of Peter Pan, published in 1987, ISBN 0881010693.

In 1990, my grandparents sent me Unicorn editions of Robin Hood, Pinocchio, and a Christmas Carol. All three books are clothbound, with embossed gold lettering on the covers and spine that, almost 20 years later, are only beginning to fade. The books are large, unabridged, and heavy: each book in the Unicorn series is over a foot long, almost too tall to shelve co More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Sep 26, 2011

Jonah rated it:

Peter Pan
Pages 1-178 of 392
I Am Number Four
1-104 of 809

Peter Pan is about a boy,Peter Pan, who literaly never grows up. Peter befriends three siblings, Wendy, John, and Michael, who leave with Peter to go to Never Land. At Never Land they meet The Lost Boys, Peter's friends, and they all soon become great friends.

I am Number Four is about a high school boy who is really from another planet, but lives in Ohio and goes by the name of John Smith. One day, in the midd

More...

4 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 13, 2011

Jorge rated it:

This book is lovely. Regardless of the complaints about the violence, or the nature of Peter himself, or even Wendy. I feel, that the conceit that Peter has does represent every little boy (and girl) in the earliest stages of their youth when they are amazed at all they can do, and refuse to believe there is anything they cannot accomplished. The violence, well what little kid has not played a game where they "kill" some one, at that age we used to play them aplenty in Venezuela, some More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 22, 2010

Lynai rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

13 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 01, 2010

Karen rated it:

I'll start with the cons so we can end on a happy note.

Cons:
This book is weird and sexist. It's been ages since I saw the Disney version, so I don't remember all those sketchy parts of the story.

Pros:
This is such a sweet, sad fairy tale about the pains of growing up, and at the same time it's a bittersweet love story.

I love how flight is used as a symbol for youth:

It is sad to have to say that the power to fly gradually left them. At first N

More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Ghirardelli rated it:

“All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, ‘Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!’ This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always kn More...

4 comments like (6 people liked it)

Oct 12, 2011

Jason rated it:

Considering how little I think of the Disney movie, I was surprised to find myself enjoying this book immensely. It's not the story itself that does it for me, but the writing style. I love throwing out that "richly comic" phrase, and this book gives me an excuse to do it again. The story is melodramatic and ridiculous, but it falls into the realm of AWESOMELY ridiculous and melodramatic. The story is filled with WTF moments galore, and a lot of things make no sense. The losing of More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 26, 2011

Callista rated it:

Librarians: please do not change my edition of this book! It's not the same as some of the others.

I realized not long ago that I was remiss in never having read Peter Pan. I’ve always been aware of it, of course, from early exposure to the Disney version to jars of peanut butter named after him to hearing people say men who behave immaturely have a “Peter Pan Complex”.
I seem to be one of the few people who actually enjoyed Spielberg’s Hook , in which Peter Pan grew up, married More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 24, 2008

Nola rated it:

Michael and I have been reading Peter Pan as part of our nightly bedtime routine. In all honesty, I didn't have high hopes for it as a kids book, despite it being a classic, just because it is so long. But it has quickly become one of my children's favorite. The language is so lighthearted and humorous that it is funny to read, and as usual I am amazed by what my children understand. We were happy to meet our old pal, Captain Flint, of "Treasure Island" fame, even in passing, and it wa More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 24, 2008

Melissa rated it:

My children wanted to do our read aloud outside this evening. So we went on the patio and I began reading "Peter Pan." I read about how the mermaids would play with the bubbles, but when the children would come they would all disappear, but they would secretly watch. Pretty soon I hear over the fence our 11 year old neighbor boy say, "Is that Peter Pan?" "Yes," I say, "Would you like to come listen?" "I've been listening from here," he says. So I More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Mar 25, 2009

Heidi rated it:

Picked this for my "Read a classic" in my 2009 Book Challenge. About time I actually read the book instead of going off of movie/play adaptations and spin-offs.

I think I like the 2005(?) movie version better. It brought magic/romance/depth to the story where I thought it should be. Not that the book is awful. I guess I'm just familiar enough with the storyline that some of the telling dragged on. Some of the writing style was actually annoying (e.g. giving all these hints o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 19, 2008

Zigforas rated it:

A favorite exchange:

“I can’t come,” she said apologetically. “I have forgotten how to fly.”
“I’ll soon teach you again.”
“O Peter, don’t waste the fairy dust on me.”
She had risen, and now at last a fear assailed him. “What is it?” he cried, shrinking.
“I will turn up the light,” she said, “and then you can see for yourself.”
For almost the only time in his life that I know of, Peter was afraid. "Don't turn up the light," he cried.
She let her More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Dec 14, 2007

Kelly rated it:

The last three books I finished were all trauma-related nonfiction. So one morning before work, I scanned my shelves hoping to find something I hadn't read four times already, to occupy my morning commute - something light and untraumatic. Classic fiction for children seemed like a good idea, so I pulled down this copy of Peter Pan that I've had since about fifth grade.

I soon remembered why my fifth grade self couldn't stomach finishing even Chapter Three. By that point, Peter has More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

May 17, 2009

Kassi rated it:

I picked up what I thought would be a playful fairy tale and got just that; for I had forgotten about the cannibalistic witch in Hansel and Gretel, about the Sea Witch in The Little Mermaid, and about the Wolf in the original telling of Little Red Riding Hood. This is a haunting and horrific tale of abuse and neglect masked with the innocent ideals of childhood. It came to a chilling conclusion and will stay with me for quite a while.

I am quite impressed that the themes in this book More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2012

Jasmine rated it:

I am quite grown up and quite sleepy so I cannot currently well judge a book, but since most of the books I have recently read haven't made it here I must say something. This book is mostly the male version of alice and wonderland, if you were to extend the metaphor. While Alice is passive, Peter is active. The main difference I suppose being the fact that Peter has a "love interest" or more so someone elses have a love interest in peter. The novelized version at points still reads lik More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 10, 2009

Alethea rated it:

I just bought the Tim Curry version (bargain CD) but I can't resist a Jim Dale audio. Though now I am imagining a diminutive cast of Pushing Daisies as the characters of the book: Lee Pace as Peter Pan, Anna Friel as Wendy, Kristin Chenoweth as Tinkerbell (as if that's a stretch!), although that might make Chi McBride into Captain Hook. Oh! I can do one better. Swoosie Kurtz can be hook, her PD character already has an eye patch and a piratical mien.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Jan 21, 2012

Suvi rated it:

BBC Radio 7
When I was listening to this, my fascination towards this story came back. I don't remember when I first heard of Peter Pan but it was a magical moment. Now when someone mentions that someone should grow up and stop acting like Peter Pan, it's kind of offensive. I mean, it is bad when someone hurts other people and doesn't recognize their responsibilities, but at the same time I remember Peter Pan and adults who forget how to fly. Does being an adult mean that you have to for More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 22, 2008

Jeffrey rated it:

A wonderful book. As deserving of being remembered as it has been. For those with kids, I would suggest reading it before embarking on reading it out loud as standards for what is child appropriate has shifted from when it was written (largely to the child's detriment :) ). The book was written after the play, and you can still see some features of a live audience in the book. Having given my previous warning, I would suggest taking the opportunity to read outloud when appropriate, as the la More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2009

Jessi rated it:

I read this book to my daughter to put her down for naps and bed. It wasn't this particular edition, but this is the only one they have on the goodreads database.

This book is so messed up. I knew it would be right from the beginning when Wendy's mother somehow went inside her children's brains and organized their thoughts for them. I'm ashamed to say, but I was expecting this to be more like the Disney version. It wasn't at all. I was shocked at all the killing and gore going on. For More...

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Feb 01, 2012

Maeve rated it:

This book is very much an exciting read, especially if you grew up with the movie but never read the original book. This book is about a young boy, Peter, who adventures into a London bedroom of three young children, Wendy, John, and Michael. He uses his adventurous attitude and magical style to convince them to fly away to a land where they will never grow old. Neverland he calls it. Through the mermaids, fairies, and pirates, the children realize that they love adventure, but they also need th More...

0 comments like

Jan 08, 2012

08maryy rated it:

The Book I read this term was Peter Pan. The author is J.M. Barrie. This book was about a boy who never grows up. He lives on a small island called Neverland and is the leader and father of "The Lost boys". He comes in contact with Mermaids, Indians, Pirates and sometimes even the outside world. In the outside world he meets Wendy and her two brothers John and Michael. He brings Wendy and her brothers to Neverland. Wendy becomes the mother of the lost boys, until she finally decides it More...

0 comments like

Oct 11, 2011

Brit rated it:

Peter Pan is about the little boy who wouldn’t grow up. The story takes place in Kensington, London where Peter listens in on Mrs. Darling’s bedtime stories to her children through the open window, but the real story begins when Peter comes back one night after losing his shadow. Upon becoming frustrated that his shadow “won’t stick”, he wakes Wendy, who helps him attach his shadow. Peter then learns that Wendy knows bedtime stories as well, and invites her to come live with him in Neverland whe More...

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