(I know this seems like a hefty paragraph to read, but it's by A.A. Milne, so you know it will be worth it)
"One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows. The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and if she does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The elder man tries it on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of character. We can't criticize it, because it is criticizing us. As I wrote once: It is a Household Book; a book which everybody in the household loves, and quotes continually; a book which is read aloud to every new guest and is regarded as the touchstone of his worth. When you sit down to it, don't be so ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or on the art of Kenneth Grahame. You are merely sitting in judgment on yourself. You may be worthy: I don't know. But it is you who are on trial."
Leave it to the British to be intimidating about an incredibly sweet book. But it's true! It takes a certain disposition, I think, to really enjoy the book and to allow it move you.
But enough snobbery for today.
This book is fantastic and that's that.
--Kelly
Ps Dear Englanders, you know I only make fun because I secretly wish my cats and I lived in a tiny cottage out in the British country.
