Inferior Book Group #6:

Throughout the (terrifyingly) short month of February, I've been reading the children's favourite Peter Pan which - it turns out - may not be as family friendly as I initially thought.  Although I knew the basic story, I had never read or been read Peter Pan.  I bought the book in the first year of my undergrad and (in true Alex style) only got around to reading it five years later.

For anyone who might not know, Peter Pan is the story of a boy who never wants to grow up, living on a mystical island called Neverland along with natives, pirates and his own gang of 'lost boys'.  Peter Pan was written by Scottish author J.M. Barrie, first as a play (in 1904) and then later in novel form in 1911.  Its most famous screen adaptation was the 1953 Disney cartoon, but there have been many others, and it is also a popular pantomime during the festive period.

Source: here

As I already mentioned, Peter Pan is a much more sinister novel than I had been lead to believe.  Though mischievous on stage and screen, the fairy Tinkerbell is nothing short of a witch in Barrie's story, and Peter himself isn't much better.  I have a feeling a few of the darker jokes have been included for the benefit of parents reading the story to their children, who would be none the wiser.  The novel's narrator often chips in with his own feelings about certain characters, and takes a particular dislike to Mrs Darling, for reasons that are never fully explained.

Out of curiosity, I decided to revisit the Disney Peter Pan once I had finished reading the book and compare the two.  I learned that a) I had actually never seen the movie before and b) it misses a lot of the story out.  In the film, Wendy and her little brothers only spend a single day in Neverland, meaning that their parents never know they are gone.  In Barrie's book, the children seem to be away for months, and Mr and Mrs Darling are deeply affected by their absence.  It was interesting to see how Disney sugar coated what was already a story thought to be suitable for children!

Source: here

During March, I'll finally be getting round to the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, The Great Gatsby.  Somehow I avoided this one in high school and uni, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it differs from the recent Baz Luhrmann film.