This was another read-out-loud with my daughter. We recently read The Wind in the Willows and enjoyed it so much that I immediately wanted to find anything else by Kenneth Grahame I could. Thanks to the public library, I’m glad we did.
Like The Wind in the Willows, this book is hilarious. We had several laugh out loud moments. The thought of a pacifist, poetry-loving dragon is entertaining in itself. And Grahame does such a good job of making said dragon come alive that, though it would seem hard, considering my previous notions about dragons, it is quite easy to imagine. I recall Chesterton’s statement in Orthodoxy to the effect that we need to read of golden apples to remind us that apples are really green (or red, of course), etc. Perhaps we need a poetry-loving, pacifist dragon to remind us that dragons are really vile and heinous. But, wait…there are no dragons. I guess the point is moot. But I digress.
The staged fight between the dragon and St. George is tremendous and I will never forget it. I love the fact that the dragon gets caught up in the drama of the performance and begins to play his part almost too well. It is reminiscent of a pro wrestling match – a staged fight filled with drama and hooting and hollering. Why not? It makes for a good laugh. As for the pro wrestling analogy, if you don’t believe me, just watch this VIDEO. Come on, watch it. You won’t regret it. Maybe you will. But not if you share my sense of humor.
As for applications – I may be reaching a bit, but there is a pretty good picture of our world painted satircaly in this story (though you can’t press the analogy too far). Grahame certainly makes fun of the town’s propensity to lie, slander, and cajole in order to start a fight and find some entertainment. Maybe I’m not reaching after all – that’s modern America in general. That’s the Democrats and the Republicans (in no particular order). Side A (you decide who it represents) wants a fight and some entertainment. Why not wail against side B until someone goes after them – even if you have no real case to compel a real fight, why not just make up some ‘facts,’ or impose a false standard upon side B? Side B is a dragon after all! We don’t care about his poetry.
I guess this could apply in international affairs as well. Who would have thought The Reluctant Dragon could serve as a primer on politics and international policy? Perhaps it is a bit of a reach.
