Dream Days

The Golden Age #2

by Kenneth Grahame, Ernest H. Shepard (Illustrator)

IN the matter of general culture and attainments, we youngsters stood on pretty level ground. True, it was always happening that one of us would be singled out at any moment, freakishly, and without regard to his own preferences, to wrestle with the inflections of some idiotic language long rightly dead; while another, from some fancied artistic tendency which always failed to justify itself, might be told off without warning to hammer out scales and exercises, and to bedew the senseless keys with tears of weariness or of revolt. But in subjects common to either sex, and held to be necessary even for him whose ambition soared no higher than to crack a whip in a circus-ring-in geography, for instance, arithmetic, or the weary doings of kings and queens-each would have scorned to excel. And, indeed, whatever our individual gifts, a general dogged determination to shirk and to evade kept us all at much the same dead level, -a level of ignorance tempered by insubordination.Fortunately there existed a wide range of subjects, of healthier tone than those already enumerated, in which we were free to choose for ourselves, and which we would have scorned to consider education; and in these we freely followed each his own particular line, often attaining an amount of special knowledge which struck our ignorant elders as simply uncanny. For Edward, the uniforms, accoutrements, colours, and mottoes of the regiments composing the British Army had a special glamour. In the matter of facings he was simply faultless; among chevrons, badges, medals, and stars, he moved familiarly; he even knew the names of most of the colonels in command; and he would squander sunny hours prone on the lawn, heedless of challenge from bird or beast, poring over a tattered Army List. My own accomplishment was of another character-took, as it seemed to me, a wider and a more untrammelled range. Dragoons might have swaggered in Lincoln green, riflemen might have donned sporrans over tartan trews, without exciting notice or comment from me. But did you seek precise information as to the fauna of the American continent, then you had come to the right shop. Where and why the bison "wallowed"; how beaver were to be trapped and wild turkeys stalked; the grizzly and how to handle him, and the pretty pressing ways of the constrictor, -in fine, the haunts and the habits of all that burrowed, strutted, roared, or wriggled between the Atlantic and the Pacific, -all this knowledge I took for my province. By the others my equipment was fully recognised. Supposing a book with a bear-hunt in it made its way into the house, and the atmosphere was electric with excitement; still, it was necessary that I should first decide whether the slot had been properly described and properly followed up, ere the work could be stamped with full approval. A writer might have won fame throughout the civilised globe for his trappers and his realistic backwoods, and all went for nothing. If his pemmican were not properly compounded I damned his achievement, and it was heard no more

Genres: Classics, Short Stories, Fiction, Fantasy, Childrens, Novels, Middle Grade

168 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1898

About the author

Kenneth Grahame was a British writer. He is best remembered for the classic of children's literature The Wind in the Willows (1908). Scottish by birth, he spent most of his childhood with his grandmother in England, following the death of his mother and his father's inability to look after the children. After attending St Edward's School in Oxford, his ambition to attend university was thwarted and he joined the Bank of England, where he had a successful career. Before writing The Wind in the Willows, he published three other books: Pagan Papers (1893), The Golden Age (1895), and Dream Days (1898).

Reviews

[Ajeje Brazov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Racconti sul periodo magico dell'infanzia, quel periodo dove tutto appare come un'infinita scoperta, anche il minimo movimento, la minima percezione sonora, un oggetto ecc... ti fa scaturire le domande fatidiche: Cos'è? Perchè? Ma soprattutto: Cosa potrebbe essere?
Domande che, poi, con l'andare degli anni svaniranno in patetiche, banali risposte così concrete, da rendere il tutto un Nulla. Invece in quell'età tutto è così astratto, immaginifico, esplorativo, fantastico agli occhi ed alla mente, che girovaga per miriadi di mondi, luoghi e tutto appare come in un sogno ad occhi aperti...

Nelle lunghe sere invernali, quando aprivamo per terra i nostri libri illustrati e ci sdraiavamo a guardarli uno accanto all'altro coi gomiti sprofondati nel tappeto davanti al focolare, la prima operazione da compiere era l'assegnazione dei ruoli. Dovevamo spartirci, tutti senza eccezione, i personaggi delle illustrazioni in base alla nostra anzianità. Solo quando questa fase era stata conclusa in ogni minimo dettaglio, si poteva passare alla storia; da quel momento in poi, oltre alle emozioni suscitate dalla trama, ciascuno di noi era direttamente coinvolto nelle vicende di uno dei protagonisti, e ne condivideva successi o insuccessi come fossero propri.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sequel to ‘The Golden Age’, this one includes what is surely Grahame’s most famous short story, ‘The Reluctant Dragon’, in which we find out what really happened between St. George and the Dragon. I had a copy of this one as a child and it was absolutely delightful to revisit it in my forties.

[GoldGato · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about Kenneth Grahame’s childhood remembrances from the 19th-century is the sequel to The Golden Age, the first book about his juvenile days. Here, Grahame has a tighter structure in the sense of having eight stories of which one, THE RELUCTANT DRAGON, is rather famous. The Olympians are still the unaware adults, too involved with the responsibilities of life to take much part in the great adventures of childhood.

This is an English rural lifestyle before the onslaught of the mass consumerist changes of the coming 20th-century, so Grahame had the local countryside as his kingdom. It’s the type of idyllic life many children no longer have because of today’s go-go-go push to find oneself. Games and dramas unfold with simple premises and dragons can live just over the hill. In other words, there is still an air of innocence, motivated by toy soldiers and picture books.

…the pictures remained; pictures never lied, never shuffled nor evaded; and as for the story, I could invent it myself.

Whereas the first book was more involved with the actual play and incidents of Grahame’s youth, this book is more focused on the make-believe, such as finding walled towns to siege and ships to plunder. Obviously, he never did any of those things, but his imagination took him to other worlds simply because a child’s mind allows that to happen. Grahame hits on the essence of a child’s ability to fervently believe in the unknown until the child grows old enough to learn otherwise. Perhaps that is why children’s books remain so very popular today. I still remember the whisperings of night and all of its possibilities, something that Grahame lovingly portrays in one story. The two books make a very good pairing.

Book Season = Spring (whimsical memories)

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will have to admit that this book was a bit of a disappointment - okay the binding and edition are amazing but what is what you would expect from a Folio edition - however the actual book itself was a bit of a disappointment.

Ok this book is a classic although really it is second volume of a two book series of short stories which sort of centre around the same group of children - however the stories are a little too whimsical and disjointed for my liking although many scholar of children's literature quote these books as being some of the guiding lights in modern children's stories. The problem is this is from the same author that gave us Wind in the Willows one of my all time favourite children's books and one I often go back to reading time and time again. The problem is they just do not compare.

So am I judging this book too harshly - more than likely, did I struggle to read the stories most certainly and should I really gauge this book in isolation more than probably but I cannot.

But on top of that there is the whimsical nature of the stories - where story will meander between real and imaginary at the change of a sentence and I always struggle with such shifts - for example I child may be talking to another child about how he escapes in to an imaginary world only in the next paragraph to actually be there acting out what he has just described.

In short I am sure this is an academics dream but for me it just did not click but I cannot withheld respect for the man as he did give me (I mean us) Wind in the Willows

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read "A Wind in the Willows" last year, in my own late middle age, and was awed. It was like finding out there was this guy named Shakespeare who wrote plays—the work transcended a "star" rating.

This book doesn't. It's beautifully written, and wise, but a historical curio. It's odd that a book about talking animals would seem to be timeless, and a book about talking children so dated, but there you have it. Glad to have read it.

[lethe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kenneth Grahame is such an odd writer. I remember reading The Wind in the Willows for the first time (when I was in my early twenties, I believe) and finding the language extremely difficult for children.

This story collection is no different in that aspect:

And if at the time he paid the penalty exacted by the sordid unimaginative ones who temporarily rule the roost, he must ever after, one feels sure, have carried inside him some of the white gladness of the acolyte who, greatly privileged, has been permitted to swing a censer at the sacring of the very Mass. (p. 8)

Can any child read (or listen to) that without their eyes glazing over?

To be fair, in the introduction to my edition Julia Eccleshare writes that the stories were originally intended for adult readers, but for that I find them too simple. In fact, I didn't care for any of the stories, including the most famous one, "The Reluctant Dragon". The only exception is the last one, called "Departure", which I did enjoy.

Shame about the pretty edition, but this book can go.

[Alec Longstreth · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more I read Kenneth Grahame, the more I love his writing style. Like The Golden Age before it, this recounts scenes from childhood with great feeling and detail. Plus the wonderful pen and ink illustrations of Ernest Shepherd perfectly compliment the text. This collection includes an early version of The Reluctant Dragon, one of my all-time favorite stories. I look forward to finally reading The Wind in the Willows next!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

These eight stories are just superb. Each one takes the reader right back to their childhood (assuming they aren't still there of course) in all its imaginative glory where anything is possible and even the walk home can hold untold opportunities from palaces with chocolate and soda rooms to dragons reluctant to fight. An absolute delight.

[Jan1243 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some lovely, lovely stories about the imagination that blooms in childhood, including The Reluctant Dragon. But there are other gems as well. How must he have loved his only son, for whom he went on to write The Wind in the Willows. Such tragedy, too, that he was traumatized by being shot in the bank he worked in, and that he lost his son, the inspiration of his imagination, to suicide at the age of 22.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars.

I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Penrod books by Booth Tarkington. It has the same exuberant, joyful respect for the innocence and seriousness of bygone childhood imagination. And if the last story doesn't choke you up just a little, you have neither heart nor soul and should just go back to your "Twilight" collection.

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly only suitable for those who adore Edwardian childrens fiction, or who, like me, would read a press release for shoe polish if it were penned by Grahame.

The best of the lot: 'The Twenty-First of October.'

[Rauf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bloody hell, this book is shiny! Some pieces are stronger than the other...I love "The Magic Ring", "A Saga of the Sea", "The Reluctant Dragon" and "A Departure".

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

childhood vignettes - some are awfully close to my own memories.

[Janette Townend · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fan of 'Wind in the Willows' I was really looking forward to reading this book and I was not disappointed by this gifted story teller. I found 'Dream Days' to be a delightful memoire of Victorian childhood and the days when children were seen and not heard; left to read story books, paint, play and make up games. When imagination and simple play things conjured up pirates, sword fights and other heroic adventures and there was the freedom to play in the countryside with no fear of cars on the roads or being kidnapped by strangers etc. just fields and imagined thoughts. I loved the gentle feel of this book and the tale of 'The Reluctant Dragon', a story of friendship and negotiation was really charming.

I din't realise that this is the sequel to 'The Golden Age' and look forward to reading this book sometime.

[Ann-Marie Messbauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dream Days" is divided into stories rather than chapters, but the collection reads like a novel. One story flows to the next. They are connected, and all together they make a cohesive whole. These are not children's stories but rather stories about children, remembrances of childhood written in a style for adults to appreciate.

I love Kenneth Grahame's subtle style and his use of language. The writing feels confiding in a friendly way. There is humor, tenderness, hope, regret, and some lovely small-scale adventures.

[Ulrik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fra den gyldne tidsalder for børnelitteratur kommer her en af genrens mestre og hans vidunderlige noveller. Kenneth Grahame skildrer på fantastisk og meget humoristisk vis livet set fra en victoriansk søskendefloks synsvinkel. Grahame har en fantastisk greb på hans børnekarakterer, og placerer de unavngivne voksne karakterer meget smart på et andet plan med begrebet "The Olympians", som fortælleren bliver ved med at bruge om dem. Altså at de voksne i deres liv er som fjerne guder på Olympus, som en gang i mellem blander sig i børnenes liv... for det meste imod deres vilje.

Jeg var især glad for klassikeren The Reluctant Dragon, som også nemt kan findes udgivet selvstændig og er den mest kendte af novellerne, og October 21st, som er en lidt rørende hyldest til både Trafalgar Day (og Lord Nelson). "A Departure" er også en vidunderlig nærmest victoriansk udgave af Toy Story.

Alt i alt har den her været en ren nydelse af læse... og nok snart genlæse.

[Andre Piucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Grown-up people really ought to be more careful. Among themselves it may seem but a small thing to give their word and take back their word. For them there are so many compensations. Life lies at their feet (...) I only waited till that hateful, well-known “Some other time, dear!” told me that hope was finally dead. It made it worse — if anything could — to hear that stale, worn-out old phrase, still supposed by those dullards to have some efficacy."

[nuzzyfipples · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book to read to children, but also good to read as an adult. While this is a sequel to The Golden Age, you don't need to have read the first collection of stories to enjoy this one, which is what they both are - a collection of short stories from the point of view of an unnamed boy with his siblings.

If you can find it, acquire the Folio Society edition for the wonderful Little Nemo-esque illustrations throughout.

[Marmot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not so much a book for kids as a book about how an adult remembered feeling as a kid. Glad I just read this to myself and didn’t bother trying to read it to my kids, they wouldn’t have understood it, and found it really boring.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful collection of pieces to while away an afternoon.

[Janet Keeten · Rating 5 out of 5]

The language is beautiful. I too am a reluctant dragon.

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly magical reminiscence on childhood and its eventual end.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous.

[Peter J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the Golden Age, but still good.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming, sweet and very imaginative. Captures the essence of childhood so well.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who was accustomed to whiling away the hours in distant fantasy lands as a child, this book is for you.

[Clemencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

In times of deep anguish or sorrow, this is one of my fall-back resources.

[Mairi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm, ütleks, et keskpärane. Ma ei saanud päriselt aru, kes peaks olema raamatu sihtgrupp...

[Emily Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's like going back to childhood, only better.

[Brandon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! Delightful childhood reminiscences beautifully written in Grahame's charming prose. Poetic, tender, insightful, very lovely, a portal into the life of a children.