Combined reviews of Kenneth Grahame's (1908) "The Wind in the Willows," and Jacqueline Kelly's  (2012) "return to the Willows"

 

For a number of reasons it is best to read/re-read Grahame's 1908 "The Wind in the Willows," before reading Kelly's (one hundred years later 2012, to be exact). You will not be disappointed with either one, since there is an uncanny thread of character analysis, superb use of language (even though there is a distinct difference in the discourse), and a delight that the bestiary genre still is alive and well without the nastiness of the earlier examples, and the sugary-sweet Disney interpretations.

 

The "Wind" plot line centers around the ego-centric Toad who  gets not only himself, but his animal friends embroiled in larcenous "adventures", their resolutions, and finally a vindication as "the good guys prevail over the baddies." 

 

Reading it as an adult, and after a long hiatus of not reading it, what one is struck by, is the rich, luxurious use of language that creates an atmosphere of intense involvement, no matter the plot event. Just this one quote of Mole's first introduction to the river sets the language tone that never lets the reader down. "Never in his life had he seen a river before-this sleek, sinuous, bull-bodied animal, chasing and chuckling, gripping things with a gurgle and leaving them with a laugh, to fling itself on fresh playmates that shook themselves free, and were held again. All was a-shake and a-shiver-glints and gleams and sparkles, rustle and whirl, chatter and bubble." 

 

Michael Hague's 1980 artistic versions reflect the above words for whatever plot event he is illustrating. A winning combination.

 

Jacqueline Kelly's  2012 "respectful sequel", "Return to the Willows," is a must-read for anyone regardless ot age. Kelly keeps ;the character cast the same, with some added, but each is true to the concept set out previously. And in her continuity there is no boredom, nor slavish copying, but she so smoothly and adroitly puts each character into a current historical setting that the difference is seamless.

 

The most obvious difference is Kelly's language usage that is just as vivid, comprehensive, and delightful as the predecessor, though more spare as the following quote illustrates. Again Mole can be an example as he is aloft in Toad's balloon (from motor cars to balloons now): '"The overwhelming panorama of the wide world: meadows of barley neatly divided by the darker lines of hedges and roads, an undulcheckerboard of emerald green and lime green and pale gold. . . . charming hamlets, including their onw familiar village of Toadsworth, punctuated by the steeples of picturesque chuches." 

 

The biggest difference is the continual lacing of Kelly's humor in footnotes to explain certain words, and the plot descriptions of Toad's egocentrism in his persona.

 

Of particular note is Kelly's introduction of scientific and mathematical language and examples. (Back note is that Kelly is a physician.)  Your young listener (and maybe the adult reader) will be introduced  to the Pythagorian Triangle Theory, Euclid's Theory of Prime Numbers (the smallest primes are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, in case you have forgotten), Archimedes theory that the weight of displaced water equals the weight of a floating object, Fermat's Last Theorem (that still is not sorted out), and the questionable Pangolin Quadratical Equations. 

 

The plot events take on a similar cast, but they are just as fresh as the originals. Note: a love interest comes to Rat, an emotion Graham steered away from. The strength of that love will save the animals in one more battle at Toad Hall.

 

And like artist Michael Hague, Clint Young's imagination and abilityenable the pages to throb with color and emotion. Another winning combination. 

 

A Gulfport Library patron