Reviews

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

karks's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

woolsson's review against another edition

3.0

The beginning of this book felt like a big warm hug - it described everything that is wonderful about summer.

The rest was okay. I like the characters all except Toad, though that's the point. As such, I didn't care too much for the chapters about Toad's escapades. I enjoyed Mole and his domestic life, living his happiness quite content. The bit with Pan was weird but I kinda liked how odd it was.

Overall, I feel like I might read the first few pages over and over forever but not sure I'll bother with the rest of the book.

arielmobes's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

ed_moore's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

“For the last long stretch, for the home stretch, the stretch that we know is blind to end sometime in the rattle of the door latch, in the sudden firelight and the sight of familiar things greeting us as long absent travellers from far overseas” 

Grahame’s classic children’s tale ‘The Wind in the Willows’ is the story of four unlikely friends, a rat, mole, badger and toad, who live in a world alongside humans and interact with such. The dynamic of this is a little confusing as it seems some animals are human in quality, and others are just animals and treated that way by the protagonists, even to the extent that they will still happily eat chicken for example. 

The primary story of ‘The Wind in the Willows’ follows Toad in his careless passion for motor cars and the trouble this obsession alongside his huge ego leads him to. From the readers perspective, he is ver much redeemed by the quirk that he is a toad who likes driving cars otherwise he is a character of extremely dislikable qualities, though I am not sure wether he is supposed to come across this way. He is selfish, arrogant and whiny and the greatest negative of this is how much it takes away from the characters around him, for the other three lose much of their charm as they are solely used as support anchors for toad, repeatedly forgiving him and sacrificing all they have and their narrative roles for Mr Toad. 

That being said, this is a children’s book about the misadventures of four animals and hence I don’t think I should be too heavily diving in to the development or lack there of of each of their personalities. I didn’t actively dislike the book, but as oppose to other children’s classics I have recently read it just didn’t really stand out nor have any sort of charm to it. 

kitsbah's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

riverunbounded's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

lisa_reads_a_lot's review against another edition

5.0

I am so thrilled to have revisited my childhood with Toad, Mole, Rat and Badger. It is actually quite different from what I remember!

Troublesome and conceited Toad manages to work himself into mischief over and over again. Never heeding his dear friends' warnings of his need to change his lifestyle, Toad leads us all on a fast-paced adventure.

I love the characters, the vocabulary and the story. Extremely glad I reread this as an adult and can appreciate it once again!

jeedmonds's review against another edition

funny lighthearted medium-paced

4.5

andrea_ashima's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

sixett's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25