Classic Starts®: Peter Pan

I have always been curious to read the adventures of Peter Pan without the 'bloated' media versions (Disney, Dreamworks, Kids Story Books, Shrek) that have floated around forever... much like Peter Pan... floating around forever (accidental analogy) Not until my curiosity was peaked by reading about the book 'Child Thief' by Brom did I finally do it. The interest was spurned by Brom's recollections of the Pan story that caused him to actually be inspired to write his own version. I very likely would have given this book a 4 1/2 stars, but some of the language and terminology was lost on me (some was 'translated' but I am sure I am missing some chunks of understanding due to my lack of vocabulary) You may want to keep in mind that I am reading this .. in order to understand the adaptation that Brom created - in that light I knew what Brom got out of tiny parts of the Peter Pan story... that likely affected my minds-eye in reading it, but honestly ... hopefully ... not too much. Initially as you enter the story, the undertone of 'horridness' begins, because there is SO much talked about how 'that night' and the regrets that the parents have over what they did, or did not do - that caused the children to be able to travel to Neverland. Peter is much of a failure of a hero - but I think that not because he fails (many 'heroes' do this) - but because he does not seem to learn - honestly that is the truth of who he is. A boy that just wants to have fun - if he were to learn and become a respectable hero ... he would have to learn and mature, instead he gets by on his luck, and just more blind luck - calling it cleverness does not necessarily make it yours - though when done properly, you certainly can look the wise hero. When you can completely forget that you were leading a group of children to your home, then you cannot be that great of a 'role model'. I would hate to think there were other children he found to recruit as lost boys ... to only forget them and lose them while flying over the ocean. The fact that Peter actually 'made up' or 'said whatever was in head' coming up with the directions that 'EVERYONE' knows in order to get yourself to Neverland. It seems to me that leave five minutes before morning would make for a shorter trip based on those directions. Now - I do not mean to try to rip this classic apart, just bring to light some things that may have been 'glossed' over for so long that we have no idea what the story really contained. I very much enjoyed the story - and gave the stars to prove it, I just never realized how dark the story behind what I saw all my life really was! I had my suspicions - watching the tinkerbell movies - tink is kind and lovable, basically one of the better fairies - yet in the original story (and this was in the movies) she had a foul mouth - and tried to cause a murder. Micheal (the youngest Darling - btw SPOILER ALERT after this ........) killed a pirate near the end of the 'adventure' ... how is that for a young child's upbringing! Peter forgets about Tink a year after the adventure (the narration mentions that she probably died) .... what a wonderful companion? (also the part in Shrek where you see Peter trying to sell Tink... I think is entirely possible as he could have forgotten who she was... ) As well to not completely 'trash' Peter - he has his kinds streaks (with the Never Bird's eggs - and a few other times) ...SPOILER END... All in all - the story is great as it is. Not the happy go lucky clean and cut adventure that we may have all seen and 'loved', but a story with a grand lesson. Peter does not wish to grow up... so in Neverland he forgets everything - memory is what causes us to grow. When we learn something - when we begin to understand something ... we need to make changes, because we REMEMBER! When we make the decision to NOT REMEMBER - to NOT GROW - we become like Peter. Lost. And Alone. So afraid to move forward in life that he must 'steal' children and create adventures. Well onto the adaptation by Brom... which is promised to be even darker - more honestly - I can see it only lifting the veal a tiny bit more.

As one reads Peter Pan, one doesn't have to do much thinking to figure out why its story has achieved such worldwide acclaim. I had ridiculously high expectations of Mr. Barrie's imagination before purchasing this title, and he has fulfilled them completely. Many parts of the story are nothing but nonsense, which I enjoy above all else. Mr. Darling, the head of the Darling family, commands his children to take their medicine after he hides the medicine he's supposed to take. He brags about how noble he is for drinking a medicine that tastes so much worse that theirs. Unfortunately for him, during his bragging his medicine is found, and the whole family agrees to take their respective medicines on the count of three. Sure enough, when three is reached, everyone except Mr. Darling takes their medicine, and Mr. Darling once again tries to hide his. This kind of scenario is what I'd call Mark Twain nonsense. You can imagine it being true, even though it's quite high up on the ridiculous scale. Then there's what I would classify as over-the-top nonsense - AKA bull - which there is plenty of in Barrie's original story of Peter Pan. Going back to Mr. Darling, if we take a look at how he's doing near the end of the book, we find him going to and from work in a dog kennel. Ah, yes...grown men in pet taxis. What could be more fun than the "he-didn't-even-try-to-make-this-belivable" silliness of such a scene? To be honest, I don't know if I'd even read books if they all left out fun stuff like this. Other silly parts of the book involve Wendy growing up a day quicker than most girls; the narrator claiming he hates Mrs. Darling only to call her his favorite character a few sentences later; the lost boys asking Wendy to change the characters her story just two sentences into it; the narrator using the phrase "woke into life" because Peter likes the word "woke" more than "wakened;" and my favorite, Captain Hook using a stale cake as a missle and then falling over it in the dark. I believe the novel version of Peter Pan was written after the author had already established Peter Pan as a successful play. That may explain a lot about the colorful narration, which takes many, many literary liberties. We see everything from blatant narrator interference with the characters in the story to the shameless attempt at informing the audience that the narrator only chooses to make the events in the story happen a certain way so certain characters in the book won't be disappointed. Perhaps without these wacky (and maybe even insane) traits in the narration, there'd be no reason to read the book, since it would be no different from the play. After reading the Peter Pan novel though, I'd have to say it almost seems criminal to watch an adaptation of Peter Pan without any wacky narration. Contrary to most adaptations of Peter Pan, the individual lost boys (of where there are six I believe) are actually more developed as characters than John or Michael Darling. Heck, at the end of the book they actually end up moving out of the Neverland to live with the Darlings and grow up to busy themselves in interesting professions. I may not like the actual land of Neverland as much as I like the land of Oz, but Barrie's narration is unbeatable in my opinion. He could probably make a Jeopardy contestant's Friday night schedule sound exciting. I believe Barrie has written another Peter Pan book as well, a prequel of sorts entitled "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens." It should be interesting, particuarly if it addresses what is contained in the dark dreams that haunt Peter throughout this book. Freud would have a field day with such dreams and the whole mother issue. The only thing I expected to see in this book that I didn't see was "happy thoughts." That must have been a creation of Disney.

First off, I rate this a 4 star only because I did not buy it for myself, but as a gift. So my hands on with the book are limited other than checking it out before I wrapped it. But what I saw of the book was fantastic and would give it a 5 star no problem. I was specifically looking for a nice Peter Pan book for a gift for my 14 year old niece and there are tons out there, but most are not that nice. This is a bigger book, not a small one to read and throw in a bag. This one is not too large, but bigger than average, worthy of putting on a shelf for display or even a coffee table type deal. The artwork is beautiful. Seriously nice looking. The text looked like a nice size, easily readable but not giant like a kids book. There were no negatives about it as I saw, such as loose binding or smell (sometimes these new processes for mass printing leave a smell or a goo on the book.) It even came with a ribbon for a book mark. Also, I believe the pages were gold leaf. Don't quote me on that because I am having trouble remembering, but the book was so nice something like this as an added touch is easily understandable. Can you find a better Peter Pan book out there? Probably. But not for $13. This was the perfect edition of the book in my mind. Nice enough that you want to take care of it and keep it forever, but not too nice that you never want to crack the binding and not read it.

Es un libro muy bello y la edición está muy bien cuidada además de que es bellísima. Vale la pena comprarlo.

I am french and I wanted to read the original Peter Pan to discover the exact story. The fact that people were reading this story to their children made me think it would be easy to read for me, and it is. The vocabulary is easy to understand and the story is really well written. I recommend it even if english is not your mother tongue.

日本語訳もいいけれど、やはり原本を読んだ方がより味わい深い。 英単語に含まれている意味や、ブラックジョークなどは 原本でなければ分からないかもしれない。 一緒に訳本も買って、読み比べると面白いです。

This just arrived in the post today with the Barnes & Noble leather bound edition of King Arthur & I honestly couldn't be more delighted. It is a stunning book. The cover is mint green in colour with a gorgeous illustration of Peter, Wendy, John and Michael flying, in black and silver set against the green. The leather binding and spine are wonderful as are the silver lined pages which really top the look off. It looks fantastic when placed on the bookshelf. As for the story itself, it is captivating. I've read a little of Peter Pan before and adore every movie version I've seen as well as the stage production I saw two years ago. A story of a boy never growing up and living in the wonderful Neverland never gets old and takes me right back to my childhood. Overall an excellent purchase. I can't wait to buy more of the Barnes & Noble leather bound editions - really fantastic design :)

¡Preciosa edición estadounidense americana en inglés hecha e impresa en Los Estados Unidos de América (Nueva York) de Peter Pan con una presentación preciosa de lujo (portada, contraportada, lomo,etc...) y muy suave y cómoda de llevar de bolsillo!. Lo único negativo es que no tiene ninguna ilustración o dibujo pero aún así, ¡compra muy recomendable! . ¡Ha llegado al día siguiente de haberla comprado!. ¡Muy recomendable!. ¡Un 10!.