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Bezig met laden... My Dearest Mouse: The Wind in the Willows Lettersdoor Kenneth Grahame
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Kenneth Grahame's classic book began as a series of letters written in 1907 to his seven year-old son Alastair, who was known as 'Mouse'. The original letters are reproduced in their entirety. Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.8Literature English English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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The introduction, by playwright David Gooderson, serves as a welcome counterpoint to the idealized portrayal of father and son painted by Elspeth Grahame in First Whisper of ‘The Wind in the Willows. The marriage, apparently, was a strain on two very different personalities, the only child spoiled and given to violence, a trait ultimately turned inward when he threw himself under a train as an undergraduate. It seems that young Alistair had more than a little of Toad of Toad Hall in him, and the tales his father spun may have been meant in part as admonitory.
Perhaps not for the son alone; one of the sparing but enlightening annotations to the letters suggests the story of Toad’s adventures, leading to enforced restraint imposed by his friends, can also be read as “the cry of a repressed hedonist, who in his fantasy allows his instincts to run wild, only to demonstrate, as much to himself as to others, how vital it is that reckless self-expression be reined in.”
These revelations and speculations do not diminish my appreciation of Wind in the Willows at all. On the contrary, it’s a reminder that all good literature, whether aimed at adults or children, helps us grapple with the contradictory drives we find within ourselves and imagine outcomes that following one path or another might bring.
I also enjoyed learning that Grahame was a meticulous prose stylist who spoke of “the pleasurable agony of attempting stately sentences” and who believed in writing for the ear. Good advice, whether your intended audience is a child or an adult. This care finds its visual correlate in the careful penmanship of the letters (although, to my eye, the script is too careful and lacking in personality). ( )