5 x 5: BOOKS - THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

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5 facts about 5 books.

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For the next 5 days I am posting single instalments of 5 x 5 regarding some of my favourite books. Plus an extract or quote from each book.

Books have, for younger people at least, given way, to e-books, social media and videos. They no longer know the joy and satisfaction that comes from being absorbed in a good book, of wanting to continue reading despite the early hours and having to go to work.

If you agree with my 5 x 5, disagree, wish to comment, drop me a line by email.

If you haven’t read the subject books, I recommend doing so.

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Book 1:

THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS

The cover art for the first edition release of The Wind in the Willows

A classic children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932) first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and gets into trouble. It also details short stories about them that are disconnected from the main narrative.

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Facts:

1.

In 1899, at age 40, Kenneth Grahame married Elspeth Thomson and the next year they had their only child, a boy named Alastair (nicknamed "Mouse"). He was born premature, blind in one eye, and plagued by health problems until his death at age 20. When Alastair was about four years old, Grahame would tell him bedtime stories, some of which were about a toad, and on his frequent boating holidays without his family he would write further tales of Toad, Mole, Ratty, and Badger in letters to Alastair. The stories were further developed in letters Graham wrote while he was alone on boating vacations.

2.

In 1908, Grahame took early retirement from his position as secretary of the Bank of England. He moved with his wife and son to an old farmhouse in Blewbury, Berkshire. There, he used the bedtime stories he had told Alastair as a basis for the manuscript of The Wind in the Willows.

Kenneth Graham

Alistair Graham

3.

While he was in office, U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt wrote to Grahame to tell him that he saw the novel’s principal characters—Mole, Ratty, Toad, and Badger—as “old friends.”

4.

Kenneth Grahame died in 1932, a broken-hearted man of 73, who hadn’t written anything of note since The Wind In The Willows was published in 1908. His broken heart was from the death of Alistair, the two being buried in the same cemetery in Oxford.

5.

Mouse committed suicide 12 years before his father’s death, aged 20, prompted by his health problems, a fragile and nervous disposition, his finding it difficult to cope with his father’s immense fame and his father’s unrealistic expectations of him. His father was always a distant figure, incapable of demonstrating love to both his wife and his son. The evening of his death, Mouse made his way down to the Thames (ironically the home of Ratty, Toad and Mole). There he lay down on the railway track running across Port Meadow and awaited the train that ended his misery. His death did at least bring one consolation; in recognition of his suffering, Oxford University, for the first time, made special provision for disabled students.

Kenneth Graham

Alastair Graham

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