Book 3 Project: Book Review

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

J. M. Barrie became famous for his novel Peter Pan. Peter Pan was a great story that led to many films, including the Disney cartoon Peter Pan, Peter Pan’s sequel Return to Neverland, and Hook, and television references and mini- series, for example Neverland (a mini-series produced by Syfy). Peter Pan is a fairy tale that has been passed down from generation to generation and it will continue to be a classic.

Peter Pan has many scattered details throughout the book, like the story line and the characters. The story line in Peter Pan is more of a series of adventures that Peter and his friends go on, instead of one continuous plot. The characters in Peter Pan are all very stereotypical. Peter is the perfect example of an immature and forgetful little boy who refuses to grow up or act his own age. Curly is not all that bright but is a lovable little boy. Nibs, Tootles, and Slightly were bouncy and happy additions to Peter’s group.  The twins were very interesting compared to the other Lost Boys, they didn’t have much of a background story and they were usually referred to as one person.

Peter Pan is a very short book, consisting of about 200 pages. The story skips around a lot and does not have a continuous flow. The author goes from one adventure to another without explaining what happens in between which can get frustrating. I would have liked for the author to write a series of books about Peter Pan and his adventures instead of briefly mentioning them through the narrator. The narrations were often humorous and enjoyable. J.M. Barrie did a great job of balancing descriptions, action, and dialogue to create a book that keeps your attention and is rarely slow. Overall Peter Pan was an interesting and creative story. I enjoyed reading the fairy tale that has been told so many different times and in many different ways.

Peter Pan has become a classic tor many reasons. Neverland is a wonderful idea and it is very relatable because at some point in everyone’s lives they don’t want to grow up and wish that they could be a kid forever.  J.M. Barrie describes the landscape of it as, “Neverland is always more or less an island, with astonishing splashes of colour here and there, and coral reefs and rakish-looking craft in the offing, and savages and lonely lairs, and gnomes who are mostly tailors, and caves through which a river runs, and princes with six elder brothers, and a hut fast going to decay, and one very small old lady with a hooked nose.” J.M. Barrie did a wonderful job at creating this magical place that can be extremely difficult to describe, but at the same time is very easy to imagine. It seems as if you are there in a dream because you are never far from an interesting story. In Peter Pan the narrator states “Of all detectable islands the Neverland is the snuggest and most compact; not large and sprawl, you know, with tedious distance between one adventure and another, but nicely crammed.”

Overall I would have to give Peter Pan four and a half stars out of five. The book is written well and is a great story, with good characters and a wonderful setting but it is very short and you wish that it would continue. Peter Pan is like the favorite toy that you had when you were little; it fills you with bitter sweet memories and reminds you of being young and growing up. Peter Pan is a classic tale that lets you fly away to another world and set sail on an adventure.