The Wind in the Willows

by Kenneth Grahame

book data

6,365 ratings, 3.95 average rating, 519 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		33%
4		36%
3		24%
2		4%
1		1%

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published

July 26th 2005 (first published 1908) by Penguin Classics

binding

Hardcover, 240 pages

setting

The United Kingdom

isbn

0143039091 (isbn13: 9780143039099)

description

When Kenneth Grahame first entertained his son with letters about a petulant character named Toad, he had no way of knowing that his creation—together...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 8,267)

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04/21/07

Chris added it

bookshelves: abandoned

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.
...more

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2 comments

06/02/09

Anthony D. rated it:

(review of isbn 0416645704)

bookshelves: literature, politics

Read in January, 1954

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

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05/07/08

Nathan rated it:

Read in April, 2008

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...more 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, unrealistic, and boorish since, as any random perusal of the news will reveal, a lot of bad stuff happens in the world! Could we accept Hamlet and his uncle making up, "hugging it out," if you will, instead of destroying each other? This ending would not be consistent with human nature, and although "realism" does not have to be included on the list of requirements for a good book, a great literary work must be true to human nature. By the same token, I think we often make the mistake of calling "dark" art good simply because it is dark. "Ooh, did you see that new band? They wear black lipstick and sing about rat rabies. Hope you're mature enough to handle it." I think something that's dark just for the heck of it is just as shallow as something that's full of bunnies and rainbows and princess ponies.
Anyway, there is a profound difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is merely an emotion while joy is a state of being that is rarely felt. It is a rendezvous with the metaphysical delights that God has created to pleasure our souls: friendship, loyalty, love, forgiveness, etc. Sure, these can be found in any sugary, sappy Christmas special or "Full House" episode, but these are just shadows of the real things. Because of its precious nature, Joy will necessarily be rare compared to the darkness but in the end is infinitely more valuable.
Now, I'll step away from my ramblings and actually talk about the book. Although I don't think Kenneth Graham was an inkling, Wind in the Willows seems to fall in quite nicely with the works of Lewis and Tolkien. It not only has British charm, but it also has a healthy dose of that deep male comradarie that figures so prominently in Lord of the Rings. A bunch of bachelors who have settled comfortably into their ways, the animals in WIW remind me of retired Oxford dons who feel they need nothing more than peace, a good pipe, and the morning paper. When Mole and Rat are together, they don't have to talk about any particular thing to emotionally satisfy the other. It is enough for them to be together and in this atmosphere of acceptance, they will inevitably share their dreams with each other. The whole book just feels cozy.
I also respect any book that doesn't have to resort to the whole "good vs. evil" thing for plot or theme. These are simple characters with common experiences that become profound through their commonness. Being lost, coming home, sharing a meal, fearing the wide world, conquering a foe, learning to row. Although WIW is a children's book, these themes make it feel much more real than the melodramas put out by Hollywood. Mole and Rat even get a taste of the profound when they encounter Pan, whom I believe represents the spiritual side of life which modern folks so foolishly ignore and deny.
Anyway, I liked the book. You should read it. Blah, blah, blah!(less)

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

2 comments

05/01/08

Kimmie rated it:

(review of isbn 1855014092)

Read in May, 2008

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.

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1 comment

11/24/08

Wayne rated it:

(review of isbn 0416195687)

bookshelves: children-s-books, re-reads

Read in January, 1961

recommended to Wayne by: compulsory reading in second year of High School
recommends it for: the child in us all

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

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

4 comments

12/22/07

Carrie rated it:

Read in September, 2007

recommends it for: Everyone

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, unemcumbered 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

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4 comments

10/31/07

Rhiannon rated it:

(review of isbn 0529001195)

bookshelves: children-s-literature

Read in March, 2008

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

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1 comment

01/16/09

Laurie is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

"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

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09/11/08

Ron rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, general-fiction, young

Read in November, 2008

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

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06/03/07

Lisbeth rated it:

(review of isbn 0451530144)

bookshelves: fauna, twice-read-and-more

Read in January, 1968

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

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03/18/09

Peter rated it:

(review of isbn 1593082657)

bookshelves: children, classic, fantasy, favorite, humor, library, read-to-my-son

Read in March, 2009

recommends it for: anyone

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

This is one of the most lovely, funny, and beautiful books that I have ever read. I've been reading and re-reading it since I was quite young, and it always leaves me wanting more. Mole, Rat, Badger, and especially the ingenious and inimitable Mr. Toad are a perfect fusion of temperaments, quirks, strengths, and weaknesses. An odd shifting of tone from one chapter to the next nonetheless works perfectly, a rare alchemy that would have (and often has) turned leaden in the hands of a lesser author...more

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1 comment

01/13/09

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...more

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12/16/08

Crowgirl rated it:

bookshelves: old-reads

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

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01/26/08

Dottie rated it:

(review of isbn 0751370290)

bookshelves: 1967-1997, own

Read in January, 2003

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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05/22/09

April rated it:

(review of isbn 0553213687)

Read in May, 2009

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 that, the an...more 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 that, the animals aren't the sort that I would have considered cute as a kid -- a mole, a rat, a toad, and a badger? A cat or a dog would have been more my type. Even as I enjoyed the book, I found myself laughing at the idea of Mole and Rat having chicken or fried ham and later boating down the river while dressed in their finery. When I remarked to my fiancé about the absurdities of such things, he'd say, "Of course! What do you expect? They're English!"

But what really endeared me to this book were the relationships between the characters. The animals are so much more human than humans themselves, and when one of them makes a mistake or acts impetuous, the others are generous and forgiving in nature. For instance, when Mole decides to ignore Rat's advice or warning and gets himself and Rat into a mess, Rat is so gentle with Mole and so careful of his already remorseful feelings that you can feel the love and friendship between them. It made me love them both.

And really, these creatures are so much more forgiving of faults than I ever would be. Toad, the worst of them all when it comes to human faults, is the most exasperating and most incorrigible character, and yet time and time again, his friends stick by him and try to help get him out of the messes he gets himself into. These animals are like angels in that respect.

On top of the character relationships is the beautiful, lyrical writing -- visually descriptive and evocative of nature poetry and landscape paintings. Before reading this, I had sort of written this off as a typical children's book, but the language doesn't in any way talk down to the reader; rather, it elevates with a rich vocabulary and complex, yet still easy to read, sentences.

I just adored it.

Best of all, I have a 1982 edition, and the illustrations were done by Les Morrill, all of which are beautiful and richly done, sweet and cute, a perfect match to the words.

Again, I don't know why I put off reading this book. It's just too sweet to be skipped. If I ever have kids, I'll be sure to read them this.

Finished reading May 22, 2009.(less)

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04/06/09

Joseph added it (review of isbn 0689831404)

bookshelves: post-college-reading

Read in April, 2009

It reads like a structural map of the basic attitudes of forest creatures and their adventures to the later English writer's, Brian Jacques's, Redwall series.

I also took note of the basic inconsistencies in the animal/human realities. Toad being mistaken for a washerwoman and having hair, and driving a car, and chasing a horse, and so on. This inconsistency was imaginative of course, and most often delightful. However at times the Arcadia in which the animals lived seemed cheape...more

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04/15/08

Travis rated it:

bookshelves: classics

Just a quiet, charming, beautiful little book about the magic of the woods, the river, the simple pleasures of life, friendship, a little bit of adventure and four of the most wonderful and charming talking animals ever to show up in a book.

One of those books that creates a world that feels so real and so great, you feel a little sad that you can't take your next vacation there.

Like this review? yes (1 person liked it)

3 comments

06/25/07

Mike rated it:

Read in July, 2007

This is clearly a classic. And I guess I liked it for the most part. I think I would have liked it more if I'd read most of the book in one setting rather than over an entire week.

At several times I laughed out loud at the humor of the characters. I think it's quite amazing how funny the story is for being 100 years old. I wish I would have read this when I was a bit younger.

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03/26/09

Susan rated it:

(review of isbn 1598189468)

bookshelves: genre-childrens, genre-classics

Read in March, 2009

I'd never read it before. It's charming and lovely in places, though it could use some better worldbuilding. As time goes on, animals seem to be more and more like humans. Everyone seems to be animal-sized until they actually interact with humans, and then they seem to be human-sized. And yet at least one human keeps pets as a hobby, and we won't ask how that works. Mr. Toad combs leaves out of his hair. Anyone can be mistaken for a woman just by dressing up as one and taunting people.
...more

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02/16/09

Heather rated it:

bookshelves: read-alouds

Read in February, 2009

I read this before reading it to the kids, and I probably won't read it to the kids. Well, I might read an abridged version (shocking I know).

I enjoyed the book for the most part but it wasn't fantastic. At times it felt slow and wordy and sort of like Anne of Green Gables where you just want the author to hurry up with the story. It was funny and I liked the characters although they do use the word 'a@*' entirely too much. They are also a bit rude to Toad at times and I'm not su...more

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