The Wind in the Willows
1908
The most poetic book of prose I’ve ever encountered, The Wind in the Willows is designed to make you happy, which, to me, as far as novels go, generally works to make them better. Accept precariousness and enjoy the day, it says, but without failing your needs and responsibilities, without falling prey to a preaching of letting go of all. It’s about the peace one can find in living life rather than living one’s life, though the book champions firmly and fiercely the right to individuality.
Four very different animals will be our companions, and page after page you realise how human_ yet not just so_ they actually are. Mole is the animal most “like” everybody, which is why we start off with him. Ratty is my personal favourite, so poetic and generous, so earnest and easy. Toad is readers’ most popular character, I think, and he would like that. Old Badger and his charming cozy house is clearly the inspiration behind the Hobbits of Hobbiton, Bywater, and Bag End. Everything about Badger and his home sounds like an older animal version of the advice given by the ale-drinker in The Green Dragon, with the certainty of the ignorant: “Keep your nose out of trouble, and no trouble'll come to you."
Trouble always comes. The book suffuses peace, yes, but does not deny troubles. Without giving you one easy solution to the acknowledged downsides of life, The Wind gives you hope. It infuses you with courage. And when one trouble is solved, the book shrugs its shoulders and seems to wave to Trouble a knowing “Till we meet again…”
If The Wind invites you to snuggle up within its warmth, it never preaches settling; for it’s about change, and, as inevitable as the mouvement of the seasons, change comes through the adventures of the four friends whose themes will range from well-being, the unknown, addiction, life in society, power, wealth, status, propriety, shame, horror, fears, administrative leeching, to the Divine…
Finally, it’s about caring about and for others; about the sheer beauty of nature; the sweetness of life, of the “wild”; all of which you are narrated with just the right touch of humour, wisdom and restraint. In his rich writing, Grahame finds a thousand ways of saying the simplest things, particularly when addressing the river in an invite of words to lushly and leisurely slide on it with him. You do not read The Wind in the Willows; you live it, going from one ambiance to the next in this quite fairy-like, otherworldly, animal life. The telling of the tale is what you might feel if only you opened your eyes to the world around, so very near, opened your eyes to what you see every day but never really look at… What if home was this less-than-perfect thing claiming our return after a long and necessary voyage? What if home was actually nature and people? What if home was to be found at last in what we had antagonised?
A very inspirational piece, it’s actually the most therapeutic work I’ve ever read. With this deeply intelligent tale, Kenneth Grahame gives you the most adult of all children’s books. It feels as home should.
Tags: a toad, a badger, a water rat and a mole, Toad's role-playing, more of Toad's role-playing, the river bank, late 19th-early 20th-century mood, pastoral England, accepting that everybody has flaws, that everybody brings in something new, on hooves and mysticism, moody winter nature, British wit, nostalgia for the adventure of life, nostalgia for the peace of home, adventures and misadventures or how to look for the perfect thing, life without governance, nature's society vs. urban society, life, death and everything else found on a river bank, Toad of Toad Hall or a portrayal of bourgeoisie
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