This is actually not the edition that I bought, but it is based on what I found in an assuming secondhand bookshop in the suburbs of Perth for $4. To be fair, it was my girlfriend who found the second edition of this book, published almost a century ago in 1926. The bookshop owner was a bit surprised himself, but true to his principles, sold it to me with the agreed price of $4. I bought another book from him to offset him the loss.
I was curious about the value of the book, which is no longer in good condition. A few pages ripped here and there, the bind falling apart, but compared to $700+ very good condition second editions, this may be worth a couple of hundred. I guess I can buy a lot of nasi lemak with that. But I don’t sell my books. And I plan to give it to my niece when she can appreciate the value of reading.
In all honesty, I don’t know what to expect from the book, despite how popular it is. I knew it was about a clumsy bear who was not all that smart, but potentially endearing. He has friends who may be more annoying than cuddly than he is and they go on adventures together along with Christopher Robin who was their head honcho. And in all honesty it was not that far off from what I have in mind. The original Pooh was really a teddy bear looking thing than this yellowy round red-shirted honey bear that we know today. But for some reason, for me, the original is always the best and Winnie the Pooh, looking too much of a teddy bear is the bear that I prefer to have on my mind.
But it is hard to separate what we know from popular culture than what our imagination allows ourselves. For Winnie the Pooh, it is best to start with a clean slate and you can perhaps enjoy the book as a child would — with its witty stories, endearing and surprisingly loveable characters. Winnie the Pooh is a character who is a joy to read before he became a pencil case, or a lunchbox, or merchandise.
Christopher Robin is a real person, the author’s son who was six years old at the time of writing. The book addresses the reader as “You” in several occasions, and even though we are not Christopher Robin, we are in his shoes throughout the book. It is jarring at first and I was confused of who “You” might refer to. It is not often that an author would use the second person. Pooh is the main character in the story, but the other characters such as Eeyore and Piglet shone as well. I’ve never liked Piglet in the cartoons but I can tolerate that dumbass animal here. These characters, in fact, are real dolls owned by Christopher Robin.
But as an adult reading this book for the first time, the comedy delighted me. There are several highlights here, such as the conjecture of the name Winnie-the-Pooh or Pooh-the-Winnie, or when Pooh got stuck in halfway in Rabbit’s cave as he had too much to eat and had to starve himself for a week before he was thin enough to escape from his predicament, or when Pooh provided an idea for Christopher Robin which makes Christopher Robin wonder if Pooh isn’t as dumb as it looks.
Some readers can surmise that the characters in the book represent a mental illness. And if I can accept this line of thinking, it seems to me to be a drab way to interpret the wonderful characters. All characters of literature are flawed in some way. Regardless of symbolisms, and the deficiencies in each of the characters, they manage to find a solution to their problems and often embark on adventures which make you wish you were a kid again. And this is the joy of reading children’s books as an adult (the good ones at least) — that they remind you that once upon a time, your imagination is a source of your joy and adventures, and that it still is.
