Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie - review
To begin, I have now read the book that J.M. Barrie based off of his famous play of the same name. You know the one. A forever boy, Peter, flies into the Darling children's window, looking for his lost shadow, finds it, tries to put it back on, wakes up Wendy, who then takes up John and Michael, and they all fly off (with Tinkerbell) to Neverland where they have adventures, begin to forget about their families, Wendy plays mother, and they defeat Captain James Hook-n-crew before Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost Boys all decide they want a real mother and convince Peter to take them back to the Darling's home. (Taking a big breath here.) It's an adventure book for children - or so I've been led to believe throughout my life.
What I liked about the book was that there was a book about Peter Pan. For some reason there seems to be a Peter Pan revival going on. The reason for the revival might be that the rights to Peter Pan, held by the Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children, are about to expire, or have recently expired, launching Peter Pan into the public domain. There have also been a series of movies, "Finding Neverland" and "Peter Pan" which have gone back to the source material for the creation of this play for children and re-imagined how J.M. Barrie might've created such a wonderful world.
Regardless of the play or other adaptations (Disney) what caught my attention in the book, spread about randomly, were little phrases here and there that really caught my eye and made me wonder about J.M. Barrie. For example, at one point, once the children have reached Neverland, Peter orders the Lost Boys (and John and Michael) to build their new mother (Wendy) a home. After the home is completed, complete with a chimney (that had been John's hat), Peter guards the house, with Wendy inside, from any animal, Indian, or pirate that might decide to attack. Eventually, as boys are wont to do, he fell asleep and then along come some fairies who were returning from an orgy. Don't know about you, but I would've been scrambling for a dictionary were I young enough to be reading this without knowing what an orgy is; and then I might've started pleading for an orgy of my own - you know, just for the experience.
The other scene that really jumped out at me was much later in the book. Peter has become depressed with the game of "Mother and Father" he and Wendy have been playing with the Lost Boys and asks Wendy if the boys think he really is their father. She says, "No," and that game ends. However, during the interchange she begins to ask Peter if he feels alright. The author has her place her hand below his chest and then implies that it is not his belly she is touching, but lower.
As I read through the book and started to think about the subject, Peter Pan, it occurred to me that the Pan character is out of mythology. Was half man, half goat (the upper half was man) and carried around a set of reed pipes - as does Peter. This creature was also well known for his sexual exploits.
Regardless of what J.M. Barrie added to the story, the plot, of Peter Pan that underscores what Peter is supposed to be, and the relationship he had with Wendy, the book was good. The story isn't great and in the reading group guide for the book it describes Peter Pan as that generations "Alice in Wonderland." Neither work is great, but both works have withstood the test of time and reader scrutiny. Like Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland has been receiving a revival of sorts. It seems that ten years can't go by without someone trying to adapt Alice in Wonderland to the big screen in a way that is fluid and doesn't detract from the original story. Hollywood is trying their hand at it again with a release sometime this year or early next year. Both authors loved little children and based their principle characters off of the children they adopted as their own when they couldn't, or wouldn't, have children of their own. In J.M. Barrie's case, he adopted six boys after their parents died (and his wife asked for a divorce).
In all, I would say that Peter Pan is worth reading, it's about 156 pages long, isn't hard to read, and throws out a word: embonpoint, which had to be looked up and reminded me, just a little, why it is I write.