If you ever feel like falling into a beautiful comic-book story--in the same way one falls back into a warm field of grass--reach for Michel Plessi...
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Aug 11, 2011
Laurie
rated it: 
"The real way to travel... The only way to travel! O bliss! O poop-poop!... What carts I shall fling into the ditch! Horrid carts-- common carts-- canary-coloured carts!.... Me complain of that beautiful, heavenly vision! That swan, that sunbeam, that thunderbolt!"
--Frog on automobiles
--Frog on automobiles
Dec 16, 2009
This is one of those books I want to love; I REALLY, really want to love this book. I've read so many essays by book lovers who have fond, childhood memories of being read this by their father, or who ushered in spring each year by taking this book to a grassy field and reading this in the first warm breezes of May. I want to find the tea and boating and wooded English countryside to be slow yet sonoriously comforting, like a Bach cello suite or a warm cup of cider on a cool April night.
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10 comments
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(18 people liked it)
Jun 04, 2009
Anthony D
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This bood was written in 1908, when the world was being shaken by the newly self-confident masses. Women were propagandising for the vote; the Irish were demanding Home Rule; the Trade Unions were showing their strength. Socialism theatened. A spectre was haunting Europe, and particularly England.
Wind in the Willows is an elegant parable about class struggle, about the dangers of decadant country-house-living in the face of powerful revolutionary forces.
There are may More...
Wind in the Willows is an elegant parable about class struggle, about the dangers of decadant country-house-living in the face of powerful revolutionary forces.
There are may More...
0 comments
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(13 people liked it)
Nov 12, 2011
Sue
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I found myself smiling as I finished this reading of The Wind in the Willows. Yes I enjoyed the tale of Rat and Mole and Badger and Toad and all the other assorted animals and their people who populate that corner of England.
What struck me most during this reading, which is my second as far as I recall, is that this just doesn't feel like a children's book in so many ways. The language is so rich. The descriptions, whether of characters or places, are so full. I find this better in More...
What struck me most during this reading, which is my second as far as I recall, is that this just doesn't feel like a children's book in so many ways. The language is so rich. The descriptions, whether of characters or places, are so full. I find this better in More...
33 comments
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(7 people liked it)
May 07, 2008
Nathan
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I found Wind in the Willows to be one of those rare books that contains true joy. Several times since I have moved in with the Kenyons, I have gotten in a disagreement with another opinionated member of the household over the value of "dark" literature versus "light" literature. "It is so easy to write about dark things," she might say. "Why don't we focus on happiness?" I think when most people read a "happy" story, they find it shallow, unr
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3 comments
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(10 people liked it)
Jan 22, 2012
Jericho "Jack" Aleksandr
rated it:
Trying to review The Wind in the Willows is a strange undertaking. In the introduction to my copy, A. A. Milne wrote:
"One can argue over the merits of most books... one does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and if she does not like it, he asks her to return his letters. The old man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. ... When you sit down to [read] it, don't be so ridiculous as to suppose y More...
"One can argue over the merits of most books... one does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and if she does not like it, he asks her to return his letters. The old man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. ... When you sit down to [read] it, don't be so ridiculous as to suppose y More...
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(4 people liked it)
May 21, 2008
Kimmie
rated it:
I forgot how much I loved this book. Previous reviewers I have read seem to find it wordy or cumbersome. Personally, I find it beautifully descriptive. I am currently reading it to my 3 and 4 year old boys at bed time, a half a chapter at a time, and they seem to be enjoying it, as well. No, its not a quick, easy read, but it is worth it for all the lost vocabulary that we see so seldom in modern author's works.
Feb 10, 2011
winda
rated it: 
Kisah tentang binatang memang menarik untuk dibaca :)
Apalagi dibelakang cover ini disebutkan bahwa buku ini terjual lebih dari 100 juta kopi dan telah dicetak lebih dari 250 edisi dalam berbagai versi dan merupakan buku fabel terbaik sepanjang masa -terbit tahun 1908-Wow...jadi penasaran buat baca.
Buku ini mengisahkan persahabatan antara Tikus Tanah (Molly) dan Tikus Air (Ratty). Sejak mengenal Ratty, Molly mengalami petualangan seru dan mengenal Katak yang kaya, periang dan More...
Apalagi dibelakang cover ini disebutkan bahwa buku ini terjual lebih dari 100 juta kopi dan telah dicetak lebih dari 250 edisi dalam berbagai versi dan merupakan buku fabel terbaik sepanjang masa -terbit tahun 1908-Wow...jadi penasaran buat baca.
Buku ini mengisahkan persahabatan antara Tikus Tanah (Molly) dan Tikus Air (Ratty). Sejak mengenal Ratty, Molly mengalami petualangan seru dan mengenal Katak yang kaya, periang dan More...
Mar 07, 2009
Wayne
rated it:
LATER:
Hard to let go of a book like this especially when the illustrations so mirror the text.
Such lovable characters in humble Mole, caring and indulgent Ratty, and the daunting but fatherly Badger, except it is difficult to warm to the deceitful and conceited Toad whose transformation is scarely credible, but he supplies so much fun and absurd adventures that one wants to believe!!
The rest of the book is about friendship and shared moments, home and hearth, the urge to trav More...
Hard to let go of a book like this especially when the illustrations so mirror the text.
Such lovable characters in humble Mole, caring and indulgent Ratty, and the daunting but fatherly Badger, except it is difficult to warm to the deceitful and conceited Toad whose transformation is scarely credible, but he supplies so much fun and absurd adventures that one wants to believe!!
The rest of the book is about friendship and shared moments, home and hearth, the urge to trav More...
6 comments
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(4 people liked it)
Dec 16, 2009
Carrie
rated it:
This is my favourite book of all time.
Perhaps it is the very Timelessness of the Tale that makes it so appealing.
I love the ambience; reminiscent of gentler times, unencumbered by the material frippery, with which we surround ourselves in this rapid and relentless 21st Century.
I never tire of reading the exquisite dialogue; check out the one about the door mat! Just thinking about Ratty and his love affair with the peaceful riverbank, makes me calm and flow!
Toad is infu More...
Perhaps it is the very Timelessness of the Tale that makes it so appealing.
I love the ambience; reminiscent of gentler times, unencumbered by the material frippery, with which we surround ourselves in this rapid and relentless 21st Century.
I never tire of reading the exquisite dialogue; check out the one about the door mat! Just thinking about Ratty and his love affair with the peaceful riverbank, makes me calm and flow!
Toad is infu More...
4 comments
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(3 people liked it)
Mar 17, 2008
Rhiannon
rated it:
I picked this book up at a library sale for about $2. I'm reading it aloud to the kids as "bedtime stories." We're also intermittenly watching a few of the million movie versions.
At first the kids stared blankly off into space as I read, as the words are bigger and more complex even than the ones I use with them (and more than a few people have taken notice of how "big" I speak to my kids). Even I had to read pages a second time to understand what exactly we were More...
At first the kids stared blankly off into space as I read, as the words are bigger and more complex even than the ones I use with them (and more than a few people have taken notice of how "big" I speak to my kids). Even I had to read pages a second time to understand what exactly we were More...
Nov 07, 2008
Ron
rated it:
They don't write books like The Wind in the Willows anymore.
Today's books for children are sly rhymes, action and social engineering. Wind belongs to an older, more innocent time when even accomplished men such as Kenneth Grahmane, A. A. Milne and J. R. r. Tolkien invented stories for their children.
Stories which over the years became classics of literature.
Wind isn't a fairy tale so much as it's life told for those who will inherit it. Told by those who love the More...
Today's books for children are sly rhymes, action and social engineering. Wind belongs to an older, more innocent time when even accomplished men such as Kenneth Grahmane, A. A. Milne and J. R. r. Tolkien invented stories for their children.
Stories which over the years became classics of literature.
Wind isn't a fairy tale so much as it's life told for those who will inherit it. Told by those who love the More...
Jun 03, 2007
Lisbeth
rated it:
A gift from my parents when I was old enough to enjoy it on my own, though I remember finding the abduction of the otter child strange ("The Piper at the Gates of Dawn") and wasn't crazy about some of Toad's adventures, which seemed to me at the time to be an interruption of the main story: apparently I preferred the furry characters.
Beautiful line drawings and colorplates.
Lucie and I read some/most/all? of this together, which pleased our cat, Finnie. Drawn by More...
Beautiful line drawings and colorplates.
Lucie and I read some/most/all? of this together, which pleased our cat, Finnie. Drawn by More...
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(1 person liked it)
Aug 12, 2011
A classic children’s book, this one, celebrating the free life of a country bachelor who doesn't need to work to make a living; the kind of life that always attracted the author Kenneth Grahame, himself working as a clerk in the City, and in an unhappy marriage which only produced a sickly son.
Mole, Rat, Otter, Badger and Toad enjoy the Good Life, free from adult worries and constraints, enjoying large meals at all hours, and spend their days along the river or writing poetry, or simply potterin More...
Mole, Rat, Otter, Badger and Toad enjoy the Good Life, free from adult worries and constraints, enjoying large meals at all hours, and spend their days along the river or writing poetry, or simply potterin More...
Mar 18, 2009
Peter
rated it:
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jan 13, 2009
Edipalma
rated it:
This is a book I reread frequently. Technically it's a children's book, but
has been a touchstone for me, and many other grown-ups!
The characters are all animals - Mole, Toad, Ratty, Badger & others —
who retain their intrinsic animal characteristics while being anthropomorphised: they row boats, make tea, wear clothes, drive cars etc.
There is humor, danger, combat and friendship. Tea is drunk, battles are fought, the friends come to each others aid in times o More...
has been a touchstone for me, and many other grown-ups!
The characters are all animals - Mole, Toad, Ratty, Badger & others —
who retain their intrinsic animal characteristics while being anthropomorphised: they row boats, make tea, wear clothes, drive cars etc.
There is humor, danger, combat and friendship. Tea is drunk, battles are fought, the friends come to each others aid in times o More...
Dec 16, 2008
Joy
rated it:
A beautiful review at:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008...
>>>
Dec. 16, 2008 | There are certain books that become a permanent part of your life, like an old tree that stands at the bend of a favorite path. You may not notice them, but if they were taken away, the world would be less mysterious, less friendly, less itself.
"The Wind in the Willows," published 100 years ago this year, is one of those books. I first read Kenneth Grahame's c More...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/kamiya/2008...
>>>
Dec. 16, 2008 | There are certain books that become a permanent part of your life, like an old tree that stands at the bend of a favorite path. You may not notice them, but if they were taken away, the world would be less mysterious, less friendly, less itself.
"The Wind in the Willows," published 100 years ago this year, is one of those books. I first read Kenneth Grahame's c More...
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Jan 26, 2008
Dottie
rated it:
All the dear little characters -- and Ratty's rowboat -- I had read stories from this but read the real thing while in Belgie. We made twice a year visits to a local kasteel for their garden tours and I have a picture of a green boat its oars shipped and loosely moored to a dock -- I keep the photo on the bookcase where it catches my eye often -- ah, Ratty, wish I could hang about the pond there again. Being as that isn't likely to happen -- I'll revisit Wind in the Willows again one day.
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Dec 18, 2011
Truly
rated it:
gara2 iseng ngintip rak orang baru jd sadar belum klik ini di GRI *toyor jidat sendiri*
Buku unik ini berkisah mengenai persahabatan empat ekor hewan. Molly tikus tanah yang agak pemalu, Ratty tikus air,Katak yang periang dan kaya, serta Luak si bijaksana dan pendiam. Ceritanya sebenarnya sederhana saja, seputar persahabatan keempat hewan tersebut. Persahabatan mereka dimulai pada awal sebuah musim semi yang menyenangkan, lalu bergulir menjadi musim panas.
Tapi justru d More...
Buku unik ini berkisah mengenai persahabatan empat ekor hewan. Molly tikus tanah yang agak pemalu, Ratty tikus air,Katak yang periang dan kaya, serta Luak si bijaksana dan pendiam. Ceritanya sebenarnya sederhana saja, seputar persahabatan keempat hewan tersebut. Persahabatan mereka dimulai pada awal sebuah musim semi yang menyenangkan, lalu bergulir menjadi musim panas.
Tapi justru d More...
Oct 07, 2011
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Sep 04, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
Alberto Manguel's excellent article on The Wind in the Willows encouraged me to finally read a classic that had somehow eluded me in childhood; despite being one of my sister's favourites. This is odd because of the overall influence my sister had on my early reading. I always looked up to her and picked up any number of books based on her preferences and recommendations. How I avoided The Wind in the Willows until into my forties is something of a mystery to me. If my sister read the book every
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Aug 22, 2011
Wolf
rated it:
It was a pretty good book that I read for my summer reading, and I can say I enjoyed it, but I only gave it four stars as I myself prefer books with a bit of a faster pace. However, it described characters and settings and so on it such great detail that sometimes I would be reading the book, and suddenly go into a sort of trance, and then find myseflf several pages ahead, but not really have read the words, instead sort of, "absorbed" them. I was a bit peeved by the fact that there w
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Jul 22, 2011
Evelyn
rated it:
I've had my copy for as long as I can remember, and I've never read it until now. Having just read it, though, I honestly don't know why I put it off for so long. It is the sweetest, cutest book I've read in a long while and actually so much more mature and insightful of the human character than I would have imagined it.
I think I put it off because the main characters are anthropomorphized animals, and even as a child I never really went for that sort of thing. On top of More...
Jul 04, 2011
Carol
rated it:
Oh Joy! Oh Rapture! I thought I was "re-reading" this book, but the more I read it, the more it seemed brand new. Before we were all cast in psychological terms, narcissistic, passive, manic depressive, paranoiac and all the other neuroses that plague us all to death these days, there was a world of friends who simply took each other as they were and saw them through their tendencies. This is a book of changing seasons, from the starkness of the snow storm, to the luxuriant, verda
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Jun 17, 2011
Micha
rated it:
Holy homosociality! So, this book is pretty disparaging towards women in general which is it's biggest point against, because otherwise I would've enjoyed it a bit more freely. I thought the Pan/Father Nature thing in that wonderfully titled chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" was just a fantastic take on associating nature and masculinity, though I wish it could've been down in a way that was bending an affirmative femininity, but that's not what Grahame was going for. Because th
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Feb 13, 2011
Matt
rated it:
This was truly a pleasure to read again, especially because it's been so long since I first read it or had it read to me. For a book ostensibly for the children, the language is incredibly rich and the themes very adult. Both the mole and water rat (Ratty) are have wanderlust, but while the mole leaves home to join the world of Ratty, Ratty stays put despite the temptations of world traveling rats that beckon him. Another consistent theme is the importance of friendship, especially when your fri
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Feb 09, 2011
Raven
rated it:
Buku ini enaknya dibaca dengan suara keras, sambil mendongeng, begitu. Sayang sekali di sekitar sini nggak ada anak kecil untuk didongengin, jadi saya seperti ngomong sendirian XD
Berkisah tentang arti persahabatan dan pentingnya pulang ke Rumah. Bukan karena itu tempat lahir kita, bukan karena bangunannya, tapi karena kita dikelilingi barang-barang dan orang yang kita kenal sehingga kita bisa merasa nyaman. Mungkin yang ingin disampaikan dengan petualangan gila Katak, dorongan hati T More...
Berkisah tentang arti persahabatan dan pentingnya pulang ke Rumah. Bukan karena itu tempat lahir kita, bukan karena bangunannya, tapi karena kita dikelilingi barang-barang dan orang yang kita kenal sehingga kita bisa merasa nyaman. Mungkin yang ingin disampaikan dengan petualangan gila Katak, dorongan hati T More...
Sep 23, 2010
Patricia
rated it:
This was my first time reading Wind in the Willows, although I was aware of the stories having seen different cartoon adaptations. I wish I had read this book first as a child, but the fact that this was my first reading did not make it any less enjoyable. I love all the characters, their distinct personalities and their strong friendships. The stories are varied and the lessons timeless. The characters spend quiet time in conversation, sharing meals, and taking tranquil walks along the river, t
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Jul 29, 2010
Ted
rated it:
The Wind in the Willows has an element of what we now call the Kafkaesque. In making this identification I am in no way trying to argue for any sort of influence between Grahame and Kafka but am simply identifying a similar style in portraying similar concerns, mainly the awkwardness, alienation and frustration of modern life. This Kafkaesque element first occurred to me, strangely, as an imperfect recollection of the opening passage in which Mole gets frustrated with spring cleaning and digs a
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