Charlotte's Web Book and Charm

by E B White

Charlotte's Web is the story of a spider called Charlotte, who sets out to save a pig named Wilbur from being eaten. And what an odd little story it is. I tend to visualise when I read but I had to suppress my imagination because I hate spiders and just the thought makes me scratch. So in a lot of ways this was a hard read. In others it was easy. I liked Charlotte for the most part. She was an amusing character - intelligent, caring, determined and loyal. I liked how she outmaneuvered the humans.


‘How about “Terrific, terrific, terrific”?’ asked the goose. ‘Cut that down to one “terrific” and it will do very nicely,’ said Charlotte. ‘I think “terrific” might impress Zuckerman.’ ‘But Charlotte,’ said Wilbur, ‘I’m not terrific.’ ‘That doesn’t make a particle of difference,’ replied Charlotte. ‘Not a particle. People believe almost anything they see in print. Does anybody here know how to spell ‘terrific’?’

White, E. B.. Charlotte's Web . Rupa Publications. Kindle Edition.

She was definitely the most amusing character but I felt the whole story was kind of flat and disconnected. I liked Wilbur but he wasn't particularly riveting. And Fern starts off strong and then gradually disappears off the page. It was strange. Still there were quite a few amusing parts and it wasn't too long, so I mostly enjoyed it.

My favourite section was the following;

‘I’ve got something to tell you, Edith,’ he said. ‘You better sit down.’ Mrs Zuckerman sank into a chair. She looked pale and frightened. ‘Edith,’ he said, trying to keep his voice steady, ‘I think you had best be told that we have a very unusual pig.’

A look of complete bewilderment came over Mrs Zuckerman’s face. ‘Homer Zuckerman, what in the world are you talking about?’ she said. ‘This is a very serious thing, Edith,’ he replied. ‘Our pig is completely out of the ordinary.’ ‘What’s unusual about the pig?’ asked Mrs Zuckerman, who was beginning to recover from her scare. ‘Well, I don’t really know yet,’ said Mr Zuckerman. ‘But we have received a sign, Edith—a mysterious sign. A miracle has happened on this farm. There is a large spider’s web in the doorway of the barn cellar, right over the pigpen, and when Lurvy went to feed the pig this morning, he noticed the web because it was foggy, and you know how a spider’s web looks very distinct in a fog. And right spang in the middle of the web there were the words ‘Some Pig.’ The words were woven right into the web. They were actual part of the web, Edith. I know, because I have been down there and seen them. It says, ‘Some Pig’, just as clear as clear can be. There can be no mistake about it. A miracle has happened and a sign has occurred here on earth, right on our farm, and we have no ordinary pig.’

‘Well,’ said Mrs Zuckerman, ‘it seems to me you’re a little off. It seems to me we have no ordinary spider.’ ‘Oh, no,’ said Zuckerman. ‘It’s the pig that’s unusual. It says so, right there in the middle of the web.’ ‘Maybe so,’ said Mrs Zuckerman. ‘Just the same, I intend to have a look at that spider.’ ‘It’s just a common grey spider,’ said Zuckerman. They got up, and together they walked down to Wilbur’s yard. ‘You see, Edith? It’s just a common grey spider.’

White, E. B.. Charlotte's Web . Rupa Publications. Kindle Edition.

This was a favourite for a few reasons - but mainly because she is the only one who has a clue. Clearly Mrs Edith Zuckerman is a genius and honestly - why aren't any of them interested that the SPIDER CAN WRITE?! The lack of logic there kind of irritates me. They're all caught up in the pig because the SPIDER TOLD THEM TO. But Edith is the only one to question it. The only other thing that bothered me was that Fern can hear what all the animals say but never actually converses with them? How on earth does that make sense? If you found yourself understanding animals and believing they're your friends why wouldn't you try to hold a conversation? And the ending was bizarre. And terrifying. (Spider hater - 514 spiders. Yeah)

But sometimes it's easier to just accept the way things are and let it go. So overall quick decent read, rating of 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 because it made me chuckle at a few points.