This is going to be a long one, because we’ve finally arrived at Chapter V (yeah, we’re still just at chapter V) and we meet one of the most beloved characters in the tale: the caterpillar. To be fair, as it often happens with Carroll, the actual introduction of the character is done at the […]
Chapter IV of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland features a new meeting between Alice and the White Rabbit, who’s still worried about being late with the Duchess (a character that’s usually blended with the Queen of Hearts). It’s another famous growing up / shrinking down scene, the one within the White Rabbit’s house, so our guidance […]
Well, the Peter Pan series occupied me quite a lot, almost as much as the Wind in the Willows one. And after a brief recess in which I explored a quite unusual British folk tale, I’m back to Arthur Rackham‘s work and I think it’s about time that I take it as a chance to […]
The fourth and last “faction” in Barrie’s Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens is, of course, Peter. And, as I have said previously, I think he’s a fairly different character than the one we see in Neverland. This just doesn’t come down to the fact that he’s a lot smaller (seven days old) and Rackham never […]
In the previous weeks I bought you what I referred to as the two main factions of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, J.M. Barrie‘s story preceding the much more famous Neverland story arc: we have birds on one side, living on the Serpentine Island, and faeries on the other side, haunting the Gardens. Arthur Rackham […]
Last week I continued down Arthur Rackham‘s trail and I started writing a bit about his work on the first version of Peter Pan, one I actually prefer a lot over the more well-known Neverland story: Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. His illustrations are incredible (and they’re a lot): I started from birds, one of […]
I’m not a fan of Peter Pan. My significant otter is quite fond of the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, but I kind of hate the little shit and I have always rooted for the pirates. When it comes to adaptations, my distaste expands indifferently to the cartoon and to movies alike, including Hook, and […]
Last week, I gave you a little bit of insight on The Little Mermad, probably the work by Hans Christian Andersen that I detest the most (although it’s hard to choose between that and The Little Match Girl). This week I thought I should balance that by writing something on a tale I actually like, […]
When I talked about Arthur Rackham, quite some weeks ago it seems, I mentioned that two themes might have been worthy of a separate discussion: his love for twisty trees and his portrayal of water-nymphs, mermaids, water-maidens such as Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Floßhilde and my personal favourite: Undine. So this Sunday I step out of […]
A “lay” is a form of poetry, as I have had the chance of explaining when I wrote about “The Lay of St. Cuthbert”, and this one is part of the works known as The Ingoldsby Legends, a collection of humorous pseudo-folklore put together by Thomas Ingoldsby of Tappington Manor, pen name of clergyman Richard Harris […]