Peter Pan in Classics Without All the Class

Mar 16, 2014 Gaijinmama rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kids, classics, fantasy

This was, to be honest, just OK. I enjoyed it as a cultural artifact, but as a story...not so much. It certainly isn't something I'd read to a young child. It is sexist (if not downright misogynist), racist, and some of the language is incomprehensible to a 21st century reader. It's also a lot darker than any of the film versions I've seen. The Lost Boys are carrying actual weapons, people actually get killed, and Peter is pretty much a sociopath.
Consider it a weird little piece of history, and ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2013 Jess rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tower-teams-team-c, books-to-movies-challenge, read-in-2013, new-2-u-author-challenge

This one took me a ridiculously long time to read, but I’m pretty sure that’s because I hate reading on my phone (as I have now found out). It was an all right story, but I couldn’t get too into it. I didn’t like Peter and Wendy was quite plain as a character. All she wanted to do was be a mother to the boys, and the book doesn’t really reveal any other defining traits about her but this one.

I just thought Peter was dangerous to be around, even for his friends. Like, nutcase dangerous. At the be ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 02, 2013 Ebster Davis rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I think this is the best version of the story I've been exposed to.

In most of the versions I've seen, the story focuses on Peter and he is depicted as a kind of neutered man (or...even more annoyingly...a really immature woman...but maybe that's just a casting choice). It's nice to have it clear that Peter is not rejecting his gender, he's rejecting maturity.

In this version, Peter is very much a jerk-boy, almost to the point of being misogynistic. He's also confused about who he is and who he sh ...more

Like · see review

Nov 22, 2010 Ben rated it liked it

Shelves: owned-calibre

Summary: Short punchy adventure story for kids and adults who want to remember what it was like to be a kid.

Things I liked:

* Perspective: I really loved the way he was able to really nail the way some kids look at the world (or at least it reminded me of how I used to see the world when I was a kid).

* The narrators voice. The charming English professor style reminded me of books like Narnia and The Once and Future King.

* The dark undertones: I definitely felt the author trying to share a few ...more

Like · see review