Why Mr Toad Represents The Tragedy of England

Comments · 451

• MB

  @MBC1955 · 2 months ago

  The Wind in the Willows is the oldest book in my possession, a gift from my parents when I was about 6, and still held, in very good condition, now I am 70. It long ago ceased to be a mere book, it is a physical piece of magic, both to me personally and in itself, the story.

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• CH

  @chrisrpm8728 · 2 months ago

  There must be something in the collective unconscious of us Brits about returning to natural surroundings; there’s some echo of what was stripped from us by the Industrial Revolution. That sense of being returned to the land we lost always hits us powerfully.

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• SH

  @shavanerad9038 · 2 months ago

  I was listening to the ebook last night as my bedtime story.  And I'm 67.

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• AM

  @Amy-fx5co · 2 months ago

  I watched a documentary about Kenneth Grahame and I never realised he had such a sad life and then his poor son had an even worse very short life.

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• FA

  @faeembrugh · 2 months ago

  I used to walk past Grahame's birth house in Edinburgh almost every weekday. It said 'Birthplace of Kenneth Grahame. Author of 'The Golden Age'. Then one day the plaque was changed to 'Author of 'The Wind in the Willows' because nobody has ever heard of 'The Golden Age' today!

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• AD

  @adventussaxonum448 · 2 months ago

  I was 4 years old when my mother read it to me. I didn&apos;t understand all the vocabulary but I remember telling her that &quot;I like the sound of the words.&quot;<br>I&apos;ve loved it ever since...over 60 years.

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• KE

  @kevinrussell-jp6om · 2 months ago

  I never had this read to me as a child, nor do I think we read this to my son (we were Beatrice Potter adherents), but I am going to order it.<br>Allow me to also say that I completely loved this one.<br>Dare I also say that my regard for you two and your channel/show grows and grows? &nbsp;I don&apos;t always agree with your judgements, but the time I spend with you is never wasted.<br>Thank you.

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• AN

  @andrewmcdonald6059 · 2 months ago

  A shout out to Syd Barrett and the 1967 Pink Floyd album, &quot;The Piper at the Gates of Dawn&quot;, inspired by the Pan figure in Chapter 7

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• FR

  @freddiespreckley6324 · 2 months ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo8TWjB64BE&amp;t=537">8:57</a> &quot;That&apos;ll learn &apos;em&quot; said the Badger<br>&quot;I think you mean teach them&quot; said the Mole<br>&quot;But I don&apos;t want to teach &apos;em&quot; said the Badger, &quot;I want to learn &apos;em!&quot;

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• MA

  @marycurtin2746 · 23 hours ago

  This book is written in the most beautiful prose ever written. It’s a fable really because all human personalities are there and it is so philosophical. Kenneth Grahame describes Mole’s heartbreak when he passes his old home and rat can’t hear him calling is stunningly expressed. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn is magical. Wanderers All chapter when Autumn is in the air is again so beautifully written it catches you and reminds you of the transience of everything and the beauty of Nature and living. I’ve loved this book all my life. It cheers my heart. Love your podcasts but especially this one.❤️

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• DA

  @daisymouse6990 · 2 months ago

  One of things I love most about the book is that all the contradictions are just written into the story as if they are perfectly normal. It is a perfect example of what a book can do that a visual medium can not. I have never questioned toad combing his hair or ratty arming himself with clubs and guns, or toad being tried in a court of law by a human judge. The characters are just who they are. And yet every now and again, there is a little shift where their animal nature is in play. This is what makes the whole story stand out to me.

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• TY

  @tymime · 2 months ago

  The Cosgrove-Hall adaptation is by far the most faithful I&apos;ve seen. It&apos;s very strange to me that you think it&apos;s creepy.

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