Can it be 20 years since I read The Wind in the Willows? Picking it up on the advice of a boyfriend who adored the book, I was surprised. I normally love children's classics, but Toad was so repulsive that I found myself rooting for the ferrets.
Today, reading Fallen Sparrow's thoughts as he revisits Kenneth Grahame's novel is almost enough to make me wonder if, given the understanding of grace that I have now, I too should give the book another chance.
Fallen Sparrow writes:
As I read the book again, it occurs to me that, even as a youngster, I had a certain amount of identification with the character of Toad, perhaps because I saw some of his personality traits in myself even then. I'm happy that his friends love him as much as they do, and want to see him get better, just as I have come to see how fortunate I am to have family and friends who have loved me despite my capriciousness all these years.Perhaps my real problem with the book was that I refused to see how much I had in common with Toad. We were both trying to fool ourselves into thinking we were making our lifestyle choices in a vacuum. The truth is that, however deeply embedded one is in one's own personal bog, everything one does makes ripples.
UPDATE: Fallen Sparrow offers more thoughts upon completing the book.
