Just Finished Reading: Peter Pan by J M Barrie (FP: 1911) [207pp] 

It was a story, or was it? When Peter arrived that night when their parents were at a nearby neighbour's house the children could hardly believe it. But belief took a back seat when Peter flew across the room and promised to teach them all to do likewise. Wendy, the more grown up and more sceptical one, took her time about it but was soon floating across the beds like a gas-filled balloon. The boys, John and Michael, soon joined in the fun and almost before they knew it, they had flown out of the open window. Where next, they asked? Peter smiled and said: Neverland. So, they flew throughout the night to the legendary isle of fun and adventure, an island of deadly Pirates and sly Indians, the place where the Lost Boys lived, and the dread Captain Hook plotted the demise of Peter Pan. It was going to be quite the adventure as long as they remembered the way home... 

This was probably the most childish of the children's books I’ve read to date (not having read very much as a child, nor – as far as I can remember – having much read to me). Naturally throughout I was picturing scenes from the 1953 Disney classic and was a little surprised that much I thought of as probable Disneyesque additions were actually in the original text – like the children's ‘nurse’ ‘Nana’ being a large Newfoundland dog (a St Bernard in the movie I think) and the crocodile nemesis of Captain Hook ticking from a swallowed clock. I think what surprised me most was that the supposed ‘hero’ Peter really wasn’t a very pleasant character. Not only was he completely self-obsessed, rude and aggressive he actually spent a great deal of effort manipulating the Lost Boys by disparaging their families – and MOST especially Mothers – in order to keep them in Neverland and under his power. I think part of it was the Peter, being eternally young, couldn’t focus on or remember much about the past (actively avoiding such memories when they did pop up) and because of that simply didn’t (and couldn’t) care about anyone else but himself – because he couldn’t remember any relationship he was part of. Children, and even adults, remember HIM for years or decades after they encountered him, but Peter would forget THEM almost as soon as they were out of his sight. I’m sure that a full psychological profile of Peter Pan would bring up a whole host of syndromes all going back to a DEEP childhood trauma. Not doubt more than a few essays and dissertations have been produced on just such a theme! 

Overall, this was a worthwhile read. There is the usual unthinking racism of the age – involving the ‘red’ Indians – and it was surprisingly violent in places (and rather callously so) but I’m going to put that down to the Imperial age it was written in and the target audience of middle-class children it was aimed at. Only Wendy and Peter were the only even partially developed characters with most of the others (although a few did have their moments) and it would’ve been nice to understand more of the Hook/Pan dynamic – over and above the fact that the hook that gave Hook his name was the result of Peter cutting off his hand during a fight. At least two more children’s classics to come later this year.