I finished reading JM Barrie’s original Peter Pan book this evening. My girls asked me to read it to them. But I quickly discovered the classic text wasn’t really suitable for a modern 4 and 6 year old. You do find it is not the book you think it is, especially if you have grown up with the Disney version. Peter Pan is a selfish shit. Tinker Bell is a scheming shrew who actively tries to murder one of the children. And the whole thing is laced with a rampant sexism that is hard to overlook even with the most generous eye (women/girls are just there to cook, clean and generally act as skivvies for the boys).

On balance I would have to say that it is not suitable for children today. You need to find some other sanitised version.

As an adult though, you can draw a smile from some of the slightly dated language. This passage amused me on the plane this evening:

“The little house looked so cosy and safe in the darkness, with a bright light showing through its blinds, and the chimney smoking beautifully, and Peter standing on guard. After a time he fell asleep, and some unsteady fairies had to climb over him on their way home from an orgy. Any of the other boys obstructing the fairy path at night they would have mischiefed, but they just tweaked Peter’s nose and passed on.”

I know the word meant something else a century ago. But if I read that to my 4 and 6 year old’s I just know that at some stage they would state in public (mortifying their father) that they wanted to take part in “a fairy orgy”!

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