The most recent book I've read was Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie. I found this book quite amusing, and a paradise-like escape in terms of the reading world. It's the classic story of Peter Pan, which has been bred into us since early childhood. One could say that the book was slightly darker than the Disney movie led on, although it wasn't quite as bad as some people say. Peter Pan is not a murderous madman and the fairies are not a troupe of jealous harlots. (I read several blogs and articles on the book before reading it that had such opinions). On the contrary it was actually a decent children's story.
It starts by telling the story of Mr. and Mrs. Darling and their three lovely children: Wendy, John, and Michael. One day the children began telling Mrs. Darling stories of Peter Pan and at first she simply wrote it off as the imagination of a child, until some strange things start happening in the Darling household.
One night Mr. and Mrs. Darling went to a party, and in their absence, Peter Pan came into the children's nursery. He told the children marvelous stories about flying, fairies, pirates, mermaids, and other enticing adventures. Mesmerized by these tales and thirsting for adventure, the children went along with Peter to a place called Neverland. The children stayed there for a long time with Peter, the Lost Boys, and Tinkerbell, and went on many adventures. Wendy became a mother figure to Peter and the boys. After weeks of fun, it was time for the three Darling children to return home. Peter reluctantly returned them to their parents after an epic encounter with Captain Hook and his pirates.
Many people think that Peter was some sort of murderous madman because he would kidnap little boys and bring them to the island and when they began to grow up or seem older than Peter, he would kill them. This is where the moral of the story comes in. Wendy taught him that all children must grow up sometime. Peter had to learn that the process of life is to mature from a child to an adult. While Peter himself chose not to grow up, he let the Lost Boys go home with the Darling children so they could grow up as well. After his adventures with Wendy he only took children to Neverland for visits. He didn't keep them and kill them. In my opinion, he wasn't evil, he was just very immature and didn't understand the cost of his actions (because essentially he was eternally a child and children don't think that their actions have consequences). After spending time with Wendy there was much character development.
Secondly, many people think that the fairies were a bunch of jealous harlots because of their actions. This is incorrect and an assumption based on one fragment of the story. The fairies were only able to experience ONE emotion at a time. After meeting Wendy, Tinkerbell became extremely jealous wanted to kill her. She was only able to process one emotion at a time so she didn't understand (or care) what the results of her actions could be. She experienced other emotions like fear, anger, and happiness as well in the course of the book. It's much like when we, as adults, are angry or stressed, we can only process so much information and are incapable of seeing the "big picture".
At one point in the book it refers to the fairies having an "orgy". Because the word is often used in modern times as a sexual slang term, many people assume that the fairies were a bunch of harlots. In 1911, when the book was written, the word orgy meant "party". If you find the usage of the word offense, just replace it with "the fairies had a large party".
I enjoyed reading this book. It was 200 pages long and took me two days to read. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a lighthearted adventure story.
If you enjoyed this story I would recommend the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer.
It starts by telling the story of Mr. and Mrs. Darling and their three lovely children: Wendy, John, and Michael. One day the children began telling Mrs. Darling stories of Peter Pan and at first she simply wrote it off as the imagination of a child, until some strange things start happening in the Darling household.
One night Mr. and Mrs. Darling went to a party, and in their absence, Peter Pan came into the children's nursery. He told the children marvelous stories about flying, fairies, pirates, mermaids, and other enticing adventures. Mesmerized by these tales and thirsting for adventure, the children went along with Peter to a place called Neverland. The children stayed there for a long time with Peter, the Lost Boys, and Tinkerbell, and went on many adventures. Wendy became a mother figure to Peter and the boys. After weeks of fun, it was time for the three Darling children to return home. Peter reluctantly returned them to their parents after an epic encounter with Captain Hook and his pirates.
Many people think that Peter was some sort of murderous madman because he would kidnap little boys and bring them to the island and when they began to grow up or seem older than Peter, he would kill them. This is where the moral of the story comes in. Wendy taught him that all children must grow up sometime. Peter had to learn that the process of life is to mature from a child to an adult. While Peter himself chose not to grow up, he let the Lost Boys go home with the Darling children so they could grow up as well. After his adventures with Wendy he only took children to Neverland for visits. He didn't keep them and kill them. In my opinion, he wasn't evil, he was just very immature and didn't understand the cost of his actions (because essentially he was eternally a child and children don't think that their actions have consequences). After spending time with Wendy there was much character development.
Secondly, many people think that the fairies were a bunch of jealous harlots because of their actions. This is incorrect and an assumption based on one fragment of the story. The fairies were only able to experience ONE emotion at a time. After meeting Wendy, Tinkerbell became extremely jealous wanted to kill her. She was only able to process one emotion at a time so she didn't understand (or care) what the results of her actions could be. She experienced other emotions like fear, anger, and happiness as well in the course of the book. It's much like when we, as adults, are angry or stressed, we can only process so much information and are incapable of seeing the "big picture".
At one point in the book it refers to the fairies having an "orgy". Because the word is often used in modern times as a sexual slang term, many people assume that the fairies were a bunch of harlots. In 1911, when the book was written, the word orgy meant "party". If you find the usage of the word offense, just replace it with "the fairies had a large party".
I enjoyed reading this book. It was 200 pages long and took me two days to read. I would recommend it to anyone who wants a lighthearted adventure story.
If you enjoyed this story I would recommend the Bloody Jack series by L.A. Meyer.