Peter Pan (Barnes & Noble Classics) - Softcover

J. M. Barrie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593082134 ISBN 13: 9781593082130

Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics, 2005

Synopsis

&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RPeter Pan&&L/I&&R, by &&LSTRONG&&RJ.M. Barrie&&L/B&&R, is part of the &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R&&LI&&R &&L/I&&Rseries, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics&&L/I&&R: &&LDIV&&R

• New introductions commissioned from today's top writers and scholars
• Biographies of the authors
• Chronologies of contemporary historical, biographical, and cultural events
• Footnotes and endnotes
• Selective discussions of imitations, parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, and films inspired by the work
• Comments by other famous authors
• Study questions to challenge the reader's viewpoints and expectations
• Bibliographies for further reading
• Indices & Glossaries, when appropriate

All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. &&LI&&RBarnes & Noble Classics &&L/I&&Rpulls together a constellation of influences―biographical, historical, and literary―to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works.&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&R&&L/I&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LI&&RPeter Pan&&L/I&&R first flew across a London stage in 1904, overwhelming audiences with its tale of a magical boy who never grows up, who lures young Wendy and her brothers to Neverland where they meet pirates, Indians, fairies, and the Lost Boys. Following the play’s astonishing success, &&LB&&RJ. M. Barrie&&L/B&&R revised and expanded the story and published it as this novel, originally titled &&LI&&RPeter and Wendy &&L/I&&Rwhen it appeared in 1911. For children, it remains a marvelous mix of fantasy and adventure, featuring unique, imaginative characters, who frisk and frolic in an enchanting land.&&LBR&&R&&LBR&&RFor adults, the story of Peter and the Lost Boys works on a much deeper level, speaking to them about the inevitable loss of childhood and the ability “to fly.” The climactic duel between the “proud and insolent youth” (Peter Pan) and the “dark and sinister man” (Captain Hook) is both a swashbuckling romp and a moving metaphor for the complex, poignant struggle between innocent but irresponsible youth and tainted but dependable maturity. Neither side wins, for the one inevitably becomes the other. Of course, the ageless Peter Pan is the happy exception.&&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R &&L/DIV&&R&&LDIV&&R&&LP style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"&&R&&LSTRONG&&RAmy Billone&&L/B&&R teaches at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature at Princeton University, where she wrote her dissertation on women’s involvement with the nineteenth-century sonnet.&&L/P&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/DIV&&R&&L/B&&R&&L/B&&R

About this title

Review

"All children, except one, grow up." Thus begins a great classic of children's literature that we all remember as magical. What we tend to forget, because the tale of Peter Pan and Neverland has been so relentlessly boiled down, hashed up, and coated in saccharine, is that J.M. Barrie's original version is also witty, sophisticated, and delightfully odd. The Darling children, Wendy, John, and Michael, live a very proper middle-class life in Edwardian London, but they also happen to have a Newfoundland for a nurse. The text is full of such throwaway gems as "Mrs. Darling first heard of Peter Pan when she was tidying up her children's minds," and is peppered with deliberately obscure vocabulary including "embonpoint," "quietus," and "pluperfect." Lest we forget, it was written in 1904, a relatively innocent age in which a plot about abducted children must have seemed more safely fanciful. Also, perhaps, it was an age that expected more of its children's books, for Peter Pan has a suppleness, lightness, and intelligence that are "literary" in the best sense. In a typical exchange with the dastardly Captain Hook, Peter Pan describes himself as "youth... joy... a little bird that has broken out of the egg," and the author interjects: "This, of course, was nonsense; but it was proof to the unhappy Hook that Peter did not know in the least who or what he was, which is the very pinnacle of good form." A book for adult readers-aloud to revel in--and it just might teach young listeners to fly. (Ages 5 and older) --Richard Farr

Book Description

An upscale classic edition, with the full text and illustrations from the internationally acclaimed Silke Leffler.

Edition details

• Publisher: Barnes & Noble Classics
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 1593082134
• ISBN 13: 9781593082130
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208