Audiobook · read by volunteers
Peter Pan (version 2)
J. M. Barrie (1860–1937)
Read by Layna, Mary Anderson, Yazpistachio, Sarah Ashley, Brad Powers, Sibella Denton · 17 chapters · 4 h 50
About the book
A boy who never grows up, a window left open, and a shadow that has gone astray. One night Peter Pan slips into a London nursery to find what he lost, and meets Wendy Darling, who sews the shadow back on. In return, he offers her an unforgettable trip: second to the right, and straight on till morning.
Together with her brothers, Wendy flies to Neverland, a place of lost boys, mermaids, a fierce band of pirates and a crocodile that has swallowed a clock. There are battles and games, but there is also a quieter story underneath, about mothers, childhood and the sadness that comes with growing older.
J. M. Barrie’s tale mixes laughter and wistfulness with great skill, and it has remained a favourite for generations. This second LibriVox version of the story has seventeen chapters and lasts nearly five hours. It is a wonderful choice for reading aloud in families, or for adults who would like to revisit the story with fresh ears.
Introduction
J. M. Barrie (1860-1937) was a Scottish playwright and novelist who found lasting fame with Peter Pan. The character first appeared in a section of his 1902 novel The Little White Bird, then in the play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up, first staged in London in 1904. The prose version, published in 1911 as Peter and Wendy, is the text on which most later editions of the story are based.
The story grew out of Barrie’s friendship with the Llewelyn Davies family, whose sons inspired the adventures he invented. He later gave the rights to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, which still benefits from them. Peter Pan has since become one of the most adapted tales in modern culture, in theatre, film, animation and ballet.
What sets the book apart from its many versions is Barrie’s narrator, who comments playfully and sometimes ironically on the action, speaks directly to the reader, and cannot resist a joke or an aside. Beneath the humour there is a note of melancholy, since Peter’s freedom comes at a price, and the book keeps a delicate balance between delight and loss.
This is the second LibriVox recording of the work. It has seventeen chapters and runs for about five hours, read by LibriVox volunteers. Children will enjoy the adventure and the pirates, while adults may find themselves more drawn to the elegy for childhood. Either way, it is a story that rewards a second hearing.
Public domain
J. M. Barrie died in 1937: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text