Kenneth Grahame

The most priceless possession of the human race is the wonder of the world. Yet, latterly, the utmost endeavors of mankind have been directed toward the dissipation of that wonder... Science analyses everything to its component parts, and neglects to put them together again... Nobody, any longer, may hope to entertain an angel unawares, or to meet Sir Lancelot in shining armour on a moonlit  road. But what is the use of living in a world devoid of wonderment?  ~~ Kenneth Grahame

Given the Olympics Opening Ceremonies having just aired, it seems fitting to do a post on Kenneth Grahame. In between reading some of my more serious, academic books I decided to revisit a couple of old childhood classics of his -- his famous The Wind In The Willows and maybe lesser known The Reluctant Dragon, a story originally featured in his 1898 book, Dream Days.

Grahame was born in Scotland in 1859, but sadly orphaned at an early age. Still a young child, he was moved to England to live in the care of relatives. He grew up to have a mix of jobs aside from writing, including being a social worker at night and the Secretary of The Bank Of England by day. He was also part of the London-Scottish Regiment. The shy-natured Grahame married Elspeth Thomson in 1889 who later gave Grahame a son, Alastair (who went by the nickname "Mouse").

author Kenneth Grahame

"I write not only for children,

 but for adults who remember what it is like to be children."

Grahame's son, Alastair, as a young boy

How cute was he!

Wind In The Willows

This classic came about when Grahame brought home a mole as a pet for his son and the housemaid accidentally killed it. The stories started as a way to comfort Alastair and let him know that the mole would live on in the stories. Alastair enjoyed the stories so much, he begged his father to continue them in letters even when the young boy was sent on trips with his mother to visit family. The stories continued to grow through these letters between father and son. Grahame's wife, Elspeth (who had always encouraged her husband's writing) found the stories so adorable, she recommended that Grahame have them published as a book. The end result was The Wind In The Willows, published after Grahame retired from the Bank of England. Sadly, Alastair, who was sickly and blind in one eye (perhaps the reason for the side profile in the pic above?) battled depression, committing suicide at the age of 19 (the link under Alastair's pic will take you to an article discussing the sad story).  The pain of his son's death stayed with Grahame until his death in 1932 at the age of 73.  I've read elsewhere that excitable Frog who was always curious about "the next big thing" was based on Alastair's energetic and inquiring nature. 

1966 illustration of Toad by beloved children's illustrator

Tasha Tudor (my favorite of all the illustrators I've seen

tackle TWITW)

Re-reading this book as an adult, I am struck by how relatable the characters are, even now. Everyone knows someone like all of these characters. Have a friend always into the latest gadgets, fashions, trends? That's Toad. Rat is the one you might call very "granola", he loves the outdoors and simple living. Mole loves experiencing new things and meeting new people even if he has some trepidation in being outside of his comfort zone. He's ever curious about what's going on just over the next hill. See what I mean? Even the landscape, especially The Wild Woods... at least the way Rat describes it... sounds like that sketchy part of town you know to avoid as much as possible.  Perhaps that's part of the eternal appeal of this book, it just never gets old. 

BTW... There's a 1996 Terry Jones live action screen adaptation that's a nice mix of eerie and sweet and there was a really cute BBC / PBS Masterpiece Theatre aired version made in 2006. You can watch the whole thing (but in sections of course) on YouTube.

1996 Terry Jones adaptation:

2006 adaptation with Bob Hoskins & Matt Lucas

I also heard that yet another version was set to be released this year with Ricky Gervais doing the voice of Mole... does anyone know, did that project get shelved or is it still in the works? Just curious. 

The Reluctant Dragon

Perhaps not quite as famous as The Wind In The Willows, I think I first read The Reluctant Dragon when I was about nine years old. I recently found my old copy in a box of books in my mom's storage. I remember really liking the book but not much else so I figured it was time for a refresher. I think it took me maybe 45 mins to read (and I'm a slower reader), it's that short but so adorable! The dialogue is very fun and witty, making the story move very quickly. And I loved that the dragon spoke like "a perfect English gent"! This is the story of a dragon who makes his home on a hill above a quiet English village but instead of wanting to attack the villagers, he wants to be friends with them, recite poetry, eat delicious foods, and just bask in good friendship. How do you convince a bunch of medieval villagers of that though? There's one little boy (just known as The Boy) who lives in town who climbs up the hill every day, not showing a moment of fear around this dragon but instead is the first of the humans to offer up his friendship while explaining that the rest of the town won't be won over so easily. 

The Reluctant Dragon illustration by Ernest H. Shepard
"Do for goodness' sake try and remember that your a pestilential scourge or
you'll find yourself in a most awful fix." The Boy to The Reluctant Dragon

The dragon has a pretty funny hashing out with St. George, the knight you may have read about in legends who was reputed to be quite the dragon-slayer. They calmly and sensibly discuss the terms of a faux battle to appease the riled up locals --  where George is allowed to strike the dragon, how much noise will be made, etc... all as if it were some business deal between friends!

Written in 1898, I wondered if this book was maybe the idea behind Disney's Pete's Dragon but it turns out Disney did a 1941 cartoon adaptation of this book, sticking with the book's title for the cartoon. Though I thought I had seen just about every old Disney movie out there, I can't seem to remember this one. 

The Reluctant Dragon short on DVD

The dragon has the characteristic high, squeaky voice of so 

many characters in early Disney movies. Not quite how I pictured 

the dragon in the book but still a cute clip:

and this was a little before my time, but I found this ABC-TV clip of a show where Grahame's characters The Reluctant Dragon and Mr Toad were given a show together... anyone see this when it was on?

"Banquets are always pleasant things, consisting mostly, as they do, of eating and drinking, but the especially nice thing about a banquet is that it comes when something is over, and there's nothing more to worry about, and tomorrow seems a long way off."  ~~ Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon

Grahame uses a unique humor to teach kids the importance of really getting to know people before you judge them. People (or dragons) may seem scary or anti-social on the outside but maybe they really long for people to take an honest, non-judgemental interest in them. :-)

Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society

I've been a bit delayed in getting this post published, as I work through some family matters that require the majority of my attention. Also, I realize this book has been reviewed and hashed over on endless book blogs but it hasn't been on mine yet ;-) Enjoy!



The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society, written by Mary Ann Schafer and her niece, Anne Barrows, may be dismissed by my male readers as average chick lit... but whoa nelly, you boys might find a nice read here yourself! This one is another quick read, probably just a day or two at most, but it's also one of those books that packs a helluva lotta story in such a short read.

Annie Barrows (left) with aunt Mary Ann Schaffer --

authors of Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society

In the years immediately following the end of World War II, Juliet Ashton, an English writer / journalist living in the land of "bluestockings and shrews", is quite enjoying her life in bustling London, has a number of friends and a pompous American publisher boyfriend, Markham V. Reynolds (even his name makes the reader want to immediately throw suspicion his way). Juliet finds at least something mildly charming in Mark's pitifully unromantic attempts at wooing -- part of his problem being his "aren't you lucky to have me" put out there all the time -- but still has a voice in the back of her mind hinting that something is missing. Is Mark really the guy for her? Should she just delve in to that book she always wanted to write? Her days are filled with work and moments of reminiscing, recalling the golden days of pre-war England in her cute little flat she once had -- bombed during the war. 

The description of Markham, though I wasn't a fan of the character, was interesting to me in that it reminded me instantly of Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black:

Then Markham V. Reynolds stepped forward, and the bubble popped. He's dazzling. Honestly, Sophie, I've never seen anything like him. Not even the furnace-man can compare. Tan, with blazing blue eyes Ravishing leather shoes, elegant wool suit, blinding white handkerchief in breast pocket. Of course, being American, he's tall, and he has one of those alarming American smiles, all gleaming teeth and good humor, but he's not a genial American. He's quite impressive, and he's used to ordering about -- though he does it so easily, they don't notice. He's got that way of believing his opinion is the truth, but he's not disagreeable about it. He's too sure he's right to bother being disagreeable. ~~ Julie in letter to her friend Sophie

Brad Pitt in Meet Joe Black  (1998)

She receives a letter out of the blue from Dawsey Adams, a sort of jack-of-all-trades  working as a pig farmer / dock worker among other titles, living on Guernsey, part of the Channel Islands just off the coast of England. He writes to tell her that he has a copy of a collection of works by writer Charles Lamb that had her address in it (this book has become his favorite). Dawsey, being so enthralled with the works of Lamb that he's read so far, writes to ask Juliet if she knows where he might be able to obtain more books by Lamb, since contact to the island is limited. Juliet answers his letter, he answers her response letter, and so on and so on til a beautiful friendship has developed through their sharing of events (mainland vs. island). Dawsey shares little anecdotes of all the people living in his community on Guernsey and before long, Juliet finds herself desperately wanting to meet them all. This leads to the idea of her traveling to the island to live there for a bit, gathering all the island stories together to be published. 

vintage Guernsey Island

A handy guideline for readers: Google Earth map / interactive tutorial laying out all the places mentioned in this wee book: Guernsey Island book-related map

 The story starts in post - World War 2 era, but flashes back to war times, even prior to the war's outbreak as each character tells their own personal story of how the war affected them and their families. All the colorful characters living on Guernsey Island, offering up their stories, is a large part of what made this book so much fun to read. That and the palpable attraction and friendship building between Juliet and Dawsey even through letters! So what is the Literary & Potato Peel Society? It's basically a book club the residents of Guernsey Island put together as a cover to meet up past curfew hours, while not being punished for it by German soldiers. While the group starts as a cover, the members actually do become interested in the books they discuss. It's fun to see the bookworm tastes of each character develop. In fact, I desperately wanted to sit in on the meetings described! The story of the origins of the club was particularly fun for me when it's mentioned that one character blurts out a story to a German soldier about how the group was detained past curfew reading Elizabeth And Her German Garden, an antique book I have in my collection, actually one of the first I ever acquired! 

the book that started the Society...

This is the story of a late 18th century wife and mother who 

convinces her husband to let her leave her city life and set up 

house at their country home. She finds peace and sanity 

from life's stresses through the beauty in cultivating a lush 

garden. Very sweet, touching read. Also a pretty quick

 read. Free copy to download here. 

That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive -- all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment. ~~~ Juliet in one of her first letters to Dawsey. 

1940s woman

I don't want to be married just to be married. I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or even worse, someone I can't be silent with.  ~~Juliet Ashton

I don't know about you but my lessons on the Channel Islands during World War 2 were minimal at best. I had never even heard of Guernsey Island before reading this book, but now I really feel for this island of proud people (in the best sense of the word), thinking of the terror and grief that must have been an everyday hell after the Germans decided to occupy the island during the war. Curfews were set, people were made to live on war rations and coupons and fear. One of the most heartbreaking parts of this story involves a woman who is forced into an internment camp after defending someone she saw being blatantly mistreated by the German soldiers. That's as far as I'll divulge, but I warn you, be ready to have your heart break with the cruelty / unfairness of  life.

So this one will hold a permanent place in my library :-D. The love story feels real, the stories of the POWs are heartbreaking, and the voice of Juliet in her letters is adorable and funny. Not to mention this book has a built in history lesson on a little known area of England (ie.. who knew Victor Hugo once breezed through the area??) A sample of Juliet's humor (in another letter to bf Sophie):

Now, about Markham V. Reynolds (Junior). Your questions regarding that gentleman are very delicate, very subtle, very much like being smacked in the head with a mallet. Am I in love with him? What kind of question is that? It's a tuba among the flutes, and I expect better of you. The first rule of snooping is to come at it sideways --- when you began writing me dizzy letters about Alexander, I didn't ask if you were in love with him, I asked what his favorite animal was. And your answer told me everything I needed to know about him -- how many men would admit that they loved ducks? (This brings up an important point: I don't know what Mark Twain's favorite animal is. I don't think it's a duck.)

For those interested, I close with an actual recipe for Potato Peel Pie. There isn't one given in the novel, but I was curious so I looked it up and found this (variation on Potato Peel Pie but I chose this one because it just sounded tastier than some of the other, more traditional recipes I found):

Potato Peel Pie ***courtesy of CookEatShare.com Potato Peel Pie***

2 cups raw, grated potato skins (I added some of the white part to keep the texture somewhat tender), use mashed potatoes for filling

1/3 cup grated onion

1 egg, beaten

3 Tbs flour

beetroot

sour cream (optional)

chives (optional)

butter (optional)

garlic (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a small pie plate. Mix grated potato peels with egg, onion and flour. Press the mixture into the pie plate and up the sides to form a crust. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes. While the crust is baking, cook potatoes, drain and mash. You can add your favorite mashed potato flavorings here i.e. garlic, onion, milk, butter, salt, etc. Fill crust with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with beetroot. Bake in oven at lower temperature of 375 for 10 minutes or until browned.

Let me know how it turns out!! :-D

Quick Meade Read - April 2012

"Fire Fancies" by Arthur Hacker (1858-1919)

It will be Poverty Castle, my loves, and we'll have to stint and scrape and contrive; but at any rate we'll be merry when we can be merry, and we'll forget our troubles in doing good to others. ~~ Aunt Susy in A Modern Tomboy

Just a quick suggestion on a cutesy L.T. Meade novel to check out if you like. This one is unique in that it had a slightly darker tone than most of her works, but in a humorous way. It's sweet, but not so much so that it's sickening. It feels more real in a way, I guess because in this one, the world is shown as still potentially beautiful despite being less than rosy-colored. There is something apropos about it, given these modern days of recession, in that a professor and his wife, finding hard financial times, decide to open their home as a boarding school for girls simply to make ends meet, calling it "Sunnyside" (funny, when you consider the inspiration for opening the school in the first place). 

One student, Rosamund Cunliffe, turns out to be the rebel in the crowd. She struggles with rules and conformity in general. She doesn't see the purpose and resents the attempts made on her to stifle her passion for being free and living. Rosamund feels that school is just a place where you're told what living is like, rather than being given the chance to experience yourself... least not til one is older. I certainly knew that infuriating feeling of being imprisoned myself as a child!

It is a curious fact that there are some weak but loving people who are not loved in return. If they are sincere and honest they always inspire respect. If they are at the same time unselfish, that noble quality must also tell in the long run. But to look at them is not to love them, and consequently, they go through life with a terrible heart-longing unknown to their fellow men, only known to the God above, who will doubtless reward these simple and earnest and remarkably beautiful souls in His own good time in another world. Such a person was Emily Frost. She was very patient, very brave, very unselfish; but no one particularly cared for her. She knew this quite well; she had a passionate hunger for love, but it was not bestowed upon her. She was well educated and could teach splendidly, but she could never arouse enthusiasm in her pupils. A far less highly educated woman could do twice the amount poor Miss Frost could ever achieve, simply because she possessed the gift denied to the latter.

Gibson Girl Gone Golfing

Fate, luck, circumstances, whatever you want to call it, puts Rosamund in the path of the ridiculously wealthy widow, Lady Ashleigh and her even more ridiculously spoiled daughter, Irene. Irene is a few years younger than preteen Rosamund. For reasons unknown, the wild, bohemian Irene responds to Rosamund's more calm nature. For the first time in her life, Irene tones down her bossy nature and starts to act like something resembling a young lady! But it's not all smooth sailing. Irene, much like an addict trying to reform themselves, falls off the goody-goody wagon a number of times, continuing to play malicious pranks on her mother's estate staff, one of the worst being an incident where Irene, acting unusually sweet to her nanny Emily Frost (nicknamed "Frosty" by Irene, perhaps partly as a joke for her prim, serious behavior), attends to the woman one day when said nanny doesn't feel quite herself. Pretending to get Frosty's digestive pills, Irene actually trades them out for white woodlice (you may  be more familiar with their other name, "roly-poly" bugs)

Yeah... little brat made Frosty eat these!!

Not that it matters, after all, how we get our diseases; the thing is to cure them when we have acquired them.  ~~ The professor in a moment of naivety in A Modern Tomboy

>>> an interesting link between a couple of Meade's stories for those that follow her works -- in this book,

dyptheria outbreaks are mentioned, as is "the new treatment of antitoxin". In another of Meade's works, Sweet Girl Graduate, the outbreak used is that of typhoid. <<<<<<<<

"The Blue Rowboat" by Claude Monet

There was a line in this book - about Irene wearing "a garish red dress",

sailing on the lake in "a blue sailboat tipped in white" -

such a simple line but it created such an image in my mind!

Girls' Edwardian Costume

(how I kinda pictured Irene's "garish red dress")

Parts of this book reminded me of a Tim Burton movie - what with Irene's red dress, the blue boat tipped in white, and Irene insisting on calling her mother "Mumsy-Pums". The vivid colors and patterns described, the quirky characters, dream-like estates the lower classes aspire to ... such a cool era!

Not sure if this book was one written in a rush or what, but I found a few continuity issues within the story. 

** Aunt Susy, the aunt of Lucy (Lucy's mother owns and runs Sunnyside School) tells the story of the unexpected death of her twin sister. The story explains Susy as Lucy's maternal aunt -- that kind of story would've never come up before? Her own mother wouldn't have mentioned losing a sister??

***Lucy's father, the professor, is described as having black hair at the beginning of the story, but in less than a year's time his hair is described as white, with no explanation given. 

There are multiple themes running throughout this story -- the pain and damage one experiences as a result of being bullied, the power of a reformed spirit, beauty in friendship, in fighting through life's barriers. Everything to leave you uplifted. :-)