Book Review

After two days of intense reading, I finally completed the book, Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. The best thing about this book was how it managed to keep me hooked right from the first chapter to the very end, and even left me wanting more.

This story was written by Barrie, and whose characters seem as if they've been based off of real life people who had been close to the author. Barrie's older brother had died in a tragic accident and that had upset his mother greatly, making her believe that her late son was still very much young and alive in her mind. It could be from here that Barrie came up with the concept of Peter Pan, a boy who could never grow old.

The story of Peter Pan is more of the fantasy genre, where a young boy who is able to fly brings a few mortal children back to his home in Neverland where everything is left to the imagination. A story like this ignites our imagination, and can spark that longing inside all of us to become children all over again. Of course the novel has its antagonist, Captain Hook, whose only aim is to kill Peter Pan. Upon closer thought, Hook could actually represent reality itself, of which it tries to kill the idea of Peter Pan, thus waking us up from this dream world.

There are also other characters like Wendy, who would tell Peter and the Lost Boys (other boys who lived in Neverland alongside Peter) stories that had happy endings. In a way, these characters were all metaphors that we could relate to and that was a concept I found interesting. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this story and I hope that someday I can find another book that can make me happy, sad, angry and joyful at the same time.