Peter Pan

Review of Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: Scottish writer J M Barrie wrote both a play and a novel about the boy Peter Pan, who wouldn't grow up. This is the novel. Peter Pan lives with all the other Lost Boys in Neverland, where they never have to grow up. He visits Wendy Darling by flying through her bedroom window, and brings she and her brothers into Neverland where they encounter the fairy Tinkerbell, the princess Tiger Lily and the pirate Captain Cook.

My Review:

What could anyone possibly say about this classic that hasn't been said before? I am not sure but I am going to give it a go. Maybe nothing.

I will say that on this latest read of one of my favorite classics what struck me the most was how much the Walt Disney version retains from Mr. Barrie's original about the boy who refused to grow up. I grew up on all the Disney classics, including this one and read most of the books in later years. Most, if not all of them, had many details and nearly the entire stories changed in the film versions.

Peter Pan on the other hand  kept many characteristics. In reading it this time I remembered a lot of things from my reading that had also been in the movie. Namely the crocodile with the ticking clock inside his stomach. Don't ask me why I especially remembered that but I did.

The second thing that struck me was how Mr. Barrie often inserts himself in this story as it is told from an omniscient point of view. Maybe it is because I had recently read a book on the subject of writing that discussed this characteristic of Victorian literature and why it should probably be avoided in books for modern readers. But it was something that nearly hit me in the face this time around and I understood why my writing book suggests that it be avoid. Nevertheless, for me, this was just part of the book's charm.

So I am recommending this book particularly for children and those of us who used to be children. I think it is good reminder of what it is like to have fun, use your imagination, and never grow up, or at least don't take yourself too seriously.

The Secret Garden

Review of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Overview from www.barnesandnoble.com: A treasured classic from Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden is the story of young Mary Lennox. The newly orphaned girl is sent to live with her uncle and soon discovers many secrets at the estate-among them a neglected garden hidden behind a locked gate she will work to revive with her cousin as well a local boy with a green thumb changing not only the garden, but the lives of everyone as well.

My Review:

This week’s selection is one that I have read before at least twice though I can’t be sure that I have not read it more often. It tells the tale of three young children, beginning with Miss Mary Lennox, who has just recently moved to a large house in Yorkshire after a sudden unexpected illness, has just killed both of her parents.

Mary arrives at the home of her uncle in a foul mood for she has already made up her mind to dislike everyone that she meets. She is described as “yellow” and “sour” by all who meet her but despite herself; her attitude slowly begins to change.

It begins when she encounters her new maid, Martha. She is unlike any other maid that Mary has had before. She tells Mary exactly what she thinks about everything, including herself. Mary had never before considered what other people thought of her. She mostly spent her time considering how much she disliked others but now that the truth was brought to her attention she found it fascinating.

Later things begin to improve for her even more when she meets Dickon, Martha’s younger brother, and finds the key to a secret garden that her uncle and guardian, Mr. Craven has locked up. When she later finds that the source of the crying she hears in the night belongs to a cousin that she didn’t know existed, she looks forward to the day when she can share her secret garden with him as well as Dickon. She believes that the garden will help him recover from his illness.

As you may already know, this book is considered a classic by many people today. There were even a couple of movie versions made. I remember seeing one of them in the 80’s I think when I was growing up. I also found another version on Netflix recently. I hope to watch it sometime in the future.

I remember liking the one from the 80’s. I am not sure if I will like the other one but maybe I post a review of that one as well.

As to the book itself, it is a very interesting book, even for adults. In fact, I’d have a hard time imagining children of today reading since the vocabulary is more advanced than I think many children of today are capable of understanding.

It is also an interesting study in the power of positive thinking. I noticed that much more this time around than I had before. And in the vain, I will close with a quote that illustrates that.

“Two things cannot be in one place

“’Where you tend a rose, my lad,

“’A thistle cannot grow.’” P.198