Spring is in the Air. It is Time to Read, Reread, The Wind in the Willows

I was motivated to write this post following a recent interaction with my wife’s nephew, who, last fall, moved to nearby New Haven from Noida, India. He is a college freshman and an avid reader.

During a post-lunch walk, we discussed cricket, movies, and books. I love Hindi movies; I listed my favorites, but he had not seen any of them. That was not surprising given our four-decade age gap. I was, however,  surprised that he had not even heard of one of my favorite movies, Anand.

When we discussed books, I was disappointed that he had not read Steinbeck, one of my favorite authors. It is probably a generation thing, I thought.

I inquired whether he had read The Wind in the Willows. He had not heard of it. That touched a bibliophilic nerve. I exclaimed, “What, you have not heard of The Wind in the Willows?”!

I have experienced many instances, such as the one I shared above, of meeting an avid reader unaware of The Wind in the Willows. It is a pity that this book does not have the name recognition, for example, of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

I must right this wrong. I must do my bit to spread the word about Kenneth Grahame’s, The Wind in the Willows (WIW, hereafter). The least I can do is blog about it. And here I am.

WIW, first published in 1908, started as bedtime stories that Grahame told his son. Remarkably, Grahame developed these stories into a book that has charmed young and adult readers alike and has appeared in many “great novels/books” compilations.

Many a parent can relate to the ingenuity of bedtime stories. I do.

When my son was a kid, he did not like books read to him at bedtime, as much as he enjoyed hearing my tales while we snuggled together in bed. I had created a character called “Big Boy,” whose adventures fascinated my son’s young mind.

I first read WIW as a 12-year-old; at that age, it left an indelible imprint on my mind. As you may have gathered, I have a protective instinct toward it. Many years later, I reread it when I recommended it to my son. Last week, I read it once more for writing this post.

I will not write a detailed book review as you can find hundreds of reviews of WIW on the internet. Instead, let me give you a quick overview:

What is it about: adventures of four animals (Badger, Mole, Rat, and Toad)
Main themes: nature and friendship
Writing style: descriptive and leisurely
Plot: simple
Audience: adults and kids
Use of creative license: significant
One-word review: delightful

The thought of WIW conjures spring because the tale starts at the onset of spring and celebrates nature. Here is the first sentence of the book: “The mole had been working very hard all the morning, spring-cleaning his little home.”

To enjoy WIW thoroughly, you must read a high-quality edition with color illustrations. I read Sterling’s 2007 hardcover edition, beautifully illustrated by Robert Ingpen. I highly recommend this edition. A bonus for me was that this edition is dedicated to the illustrator’s grandson, Nikhil. Nikhil is my son’s name as well.

The book has 12 chapters. Three chapters (Dulce Domum, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, and Wayfarers) are slow-paced and tangential to the plot but rich in emotion and subtext. Incidentally, the rock band Pink Floyd titled their debut album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. The three chapters do not appear in abridged editions. Make sure to read an unabridged edition.

When you read WIW, overlook any inconsistencies in how the anthropomorphized animals co-exist with humans in a human-centric world. You must transport yourself into the author’s world and make it your own. It is easy to do that with this book.

I have a couple of thoughts that I did not find mentioned in the many reviews of WIW that I browsed before writing this post. Ponder them when you read the book. Here they are:

• You might believe in love at first sight. But what do you think of friendship at first sight?
• The animals in WIW are very human-like. Is it possible to write a book as captivating with a similar plot but with human characters?

I have created a 2×2 matrix regarding the potential response of adult readers, such as yourself, to WIW. I am assuming that the readers of this post are adults, and those of you who have read WIW in childhood enjoyed it at the time.

In the matrix below, the left-hand side top quadrant represents those who have read WIW when they were young (Yes) and enjoyed it (Enjoyed) when they read it as an adult. You get the drift for what the other three quadrants represent.

I will dwell a little on the comment in the right-hand side bottom quadrant of the matrix. Our expectations affect our relationships, career satisfaction, consumer experiences, and so much more. Accordingly, we must manage our expectations effectively. In recommending WIW, I do not want to inflate your expectations. After all, it is just a book. It is best to read WIW, in fact, any book, with minimal expectations.

If you are a parent or grandparent, encourage your young children or grandchildren to read The Wind in the Willows. Gift it to the kid next door, your nephew or niece, or their children. Children and young adults cherish friendship more than anyone else. They will love The Wind in the Willows. And so will you.

Notes

I don’t fancy lists; nonetheless, here are five examples of The Wind in the Willows in book lists. It is:

16 on BBC’s 100 Big Read poll
https://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtml

38 on Guardian’s 100 best novels written in English: the full list
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/the-100-best-novels-written-in-english-the-full-list

69 on Penguin’s 100 must-read classic books, as chosen by our readers
https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2018/100-must-read-classic-books.html

Newsweek’s Top 100 Books: The Meta-List
https://www.librarything.com/bookaward/Newsweek’s+Top+100+Books:+The+Meta-List

150 on a list of 2,688 books by thegreatestbooks.org. This list is created from 130 book lists. https://thegreatestbooks.org/items/111

Teddy Roosevelt, the US president at the time WIW was first published, wrote to Grahame, “I have read it and reread it, and have come to accept the characters as old friends.”  (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/mar/24/wind-in-the-willows-bonhams)

WIW is out of copyright; it is in the public domain. I believe you can download a free PDF version online. The Kindle version is free for Amazon Prime members. However, as I wrote, get a good-quality hard copy.

If you enjoyed reading WIW, please do recommend it to others.