Phantastes George MacDonald 9781142796457 Books
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This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
Phantastes George MacDonald 9781142796457 Books
I read Phantastes because of the very high recommendation of C. S. Lewis. I'm surprised by the negative reviews, but if MacDonald's other books are really better than this one then I'm excited to read them, because I really liked Phantastes.At first it was hard to get into because for a while the story seems to wander aimlessly. MacDonald describes Fairy Land beautifully, but I just didn't see any plot to connect the seemingly random events. Also, it was sometimes a chore to get through the long sections of poetry (as I'm not a big fan of poetry).
BUT at about halfway through the book, a story started to take shape, or rather, the "story" was hinted at all along, and the central struggles finally came to the surface, like love vs. possessiveness, and sacrifice. It's really a connect-the-dots kind of book, but not in the sense of a detective story: in a deeper sense of seeing the picture that MacDonald paints of the human heart, a picture that at first looks like random splotches, but then, as if we were watching the picture being painted, becomes more and more recognizable as the separate shapes are connected and finally find their meaning as a whole. MacDonald has painted not only a fairy story, but he has painted us, our own heart, in all its joy and pain.
Once I saw this, it really changed my attitude toward the book. I read the second half in one sitting! I'll definitely read it again sometime because I'm sure I missed a lot of the layers and hidden meanings.
My advice: If you're bored in the first half, just keep reading! It gets better.
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Phantastes George MacDonald 9781142796457 Books Reviews
I would not have been able to read this book at another time in my life. It is a wandering fairytale with intense emotions of many themes. It doesn't really have strong central plot as much just being a poetic journey on a young man through fairyland. I can't imagine any child could really grasp this book. I think perhaps those who have experienced intense sorrows would benefit the most on these images.
Do not go into this book expecting high fantasy or even a coherent fairy tale. Reading Anodos' journey through faerie land is like being immersed in someone's beautiful, rambling, half-understood dream. George MacDonald uses a bewildering profusion of symbols, allegory, and good old-fashioned fairy tale ingredients to ponder the nature of beauty, love, nobility, the true self, eternity, etc. I felt like the overall affect was somewhat uneven, swinging between overly ornate Victorian melodrama and truly beautiful expressions of longing and beauty.
Here are some of the phrases I found most memorable
"What I did see [of her face] appeared to be perfectly lovely; more near the face that had been born with me in my soul, than anything I had seen before in nature or art."
"I learned that he that will be a hero, will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work, is sure of his manhood."
"...I often think of the wise woman in the cottage, and of her solemn assurance that she knew something too good to be told."
It's rare that I give a book 5-stars, but "Phantastes" definitely earned it. This is the first time I've read one of MacDonald's books, so if the others are even better I can't wait to read them!
About the book The first half is like a beautiful, but fragmented, dream. It's difficult to see how the fragments relate to each other, or what purposes they serve. Many chapters could easily work as stand-alone short stories. In the second half, everything starts to come together. It's like piecing together a puzzle to see what picture forms at the end.
The story often becomes philosophical, but in a way that encourages individual thinking rather than promoting only the narrator's viewpoint.
Readers of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (or any other Inklings, for that matter) will probably find "Phantastes" worthwhile.
Do not expect to like this book if you have never felt the immortal longings of Fairyland stir in your soul. But for those who have heard the faint notes of fairy music whispering to you on some golden Midsummer twilight, they might find some enjoyment in this strange tale of a man's wandering through the fairylands.
This is not a plot-driven book. The story is simple enough. A man wanders into the mystical other world and encounters strange goings on. The plot springs from this like a dream, shifting unexpectedly and often, flowing like a river shifting and twisting in its banks. An act as simple as opening a door might bring a sudden shift in the narrative, a jump in time and place. If this lack of structure sounds unappealing, then this book is probably not for you. The story recounts the journey of Anodos through the spiritual realms of Faerie, and his triumphs and failures therein. As a reader who enjoys such fantastical journeys, I found this book to be a pleasant read.
The ending of the book was not as satisfying as I had hoped it would be, especially after the long winding road to reach it. Also, the book includes a lot of poems, verse and songs, which I find bogs down the flow of the narrative. The songs in particular, which can be quite lengthy at times, I did not like. Because they lack music, the lyrics are somewhat dead on the page. Some of these songs seemed to go on and on for pages. Tolkien showed this same irritating trait later in his works, so if you find the songs in the Lord of the Rings unappealing, then you probably won't like these.
C.S. Lewis claimed that Phantastes was the bok that baptized his imagination, and it is easy to see why. This is certainly a powerful book, and for anyone interested in the breadth of Fantasy literature (beyond Tolkien and Tolkien-deriatives), I would recommend reading this. Don't expect to find high adrenaline excitement on every page. But do expect to encounter a haunting vision of Faerie that will stick with you for a while.
I read Phantastes because of the very high recommendation of C. S. Lewis. I'm surprised by the negative reviews, but if MacDonald's other books are really better than this one then I'm excited to read them, because I really liked Phantastes.
At first it was hard to get into because for a while the story seems to wander aimlessly. MacDonald describes Fairy Land beautifully, but I just didn't see any plot to connect the seemingly random events. Also, it was sometimes a chore to get through the long sections of poetry (as I'm not a big fan of poetry).
BUT at about halfway through the book, a story started to take shape, or rather, the "story" was hinted at all along, and the central struggles finally came to the surface, like love vs. possessiveness, and sacrifice. It's really a connect-the-dots kind of book, but not in the sense of a detective story in a deeper sense of seeing the picture that MacDonald paints of the human heart, a picture that at first looks like random splotches, but then, as if we were watching the picture being painted, becomes more and more recognizable as the separate shapes are connected and finally find their meaning as a whole. MacDonald has painted not only a fairy story, but he has painted us, our own heart, in all its joy and pain.
Once I saw this, it really changed my attitude toward the book. I read the second half in one sitting! I'll definitely read it again sometime because I'm sure I missed a lot of the layers and hidden meanings.
My advice If you're bored in the first half, just keep reading! It gets better.
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