George MacDonald

Benisse

Benisse

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Now strictly speaking Macdonald was not in the Inklings group in Oxford; but because he was such an influence on C.S. Lewis as well as J.R.R. Tolkien (and other authors of fantasy such as E. Nesbit and Madeline L'Engle too), I'd like to place a thread about George MacDonald in the Inkling forum.

C.S. Lewis spoke of MacDonald as his master, and the impact of MacDonald's fantasy Phantastes on him was transformational: "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier." In 1945 Lewis cast George MacDonald in the role of guide in his heavenly fantasy, The Great Divorce, and in 1947 Lewis edited an anthology of George MacDonald to promote a wider readership of his works.

So what have you read by this influential writer? What are your reactions and thoughts about his works?
 
I've read some MacDonald - in fact, I went out of my way to track down Phantastes and Lilith, knowing the influence they had on Lewis. I got the Curdie books (explicitly mentioned in That Hideous Strength), and I have a collection of MacDonald stories on my shelf.

In my opinion, he takes a little getting to for the modern reader. He's a bit wordy and obscure in his writing, but that's common for writers of that period. Like Chesterton, he assumes the reader shares a common background of knowledge, and alludes to it constantly. But he's a good writer. One of his best, and most mysterious (and at times disturbing) works is At The Back of the North Wind.
 
Thanks for that info, PoTW. I got Phantastes and Lilith, too, because I knew MacDonald had influenced CSL through those books, and I did not enjoy them at all. Isn't it funny? CSL, whose writing I always love, loved MacDonald, whom I can hardly understand! I think it must be because of CSL's educational background in Medievalism and mythology that I don't have? I had a hard time following MacDonald at all! But I love CSL's portrayal of MacDonald in the Great Divorce ... Maybe I have to be a bit smarter to get him! But I will look for the North Wind one, maybe that will be more to my taste?
 
At the Back of the North Wind has some beautiful, unforgettable imagery, and in my opinion its meandering plot is easier to follow than Phantastes or Lilith. But the characters seem unidimensional at times so it has more the feel of a (rather long) fable to me.
 
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I just recently read "Sir Gibbie." It took me a while to get into it because my copy had a ton of typos, so it felt more like I was translating it rather than reading for enjoyment. Once I got the hang of it, however, I discovered a beautiful story! I loved the way you could see the various developments in Gibbie's relationship with God and how that effected those around him.
I tried reading "At the Back of the North Wind" when I was much younger and gave up after a while because I just didn't get it and thought it was boring. Having read and enjoyed "Sir Gibbie," I now want to try "At the Back of the North Wind" again.
 
My mom loves his books. I've read a few of his fairy tales, "The Giant's Heart", "The Grey Wolf", "The Light Princess", and "The Shadows". All are great! I especially enjoyed "The Light Princess" for its male hero, who serves as an excellent role model for young men, and "The Shadows" for it's views that show different angles of viewing situations and the hearts of human beings.
 
I've read Phantastes, Lilith, The Princess and the Goblin, and The Princess and Curdie. I read what I thought was At the Back of the North Wind as well, but I'm not entirely sure whether the version I read was abridged or not. And then a few of his fairy tales, "The Light Princess" and "The Castle."

I really liked the first four, though At the Back of the North Wind was a turkey of a different color. The Princess and Curdie in particular is a favorite of mine. Queen Irene is a fascinating character, and I love her interactions with Curdie. There's so much about life in general, and the Christian life in particular, that MacDonald expresses through their talks at the beginning of the book. The idea of Curdie getting his gift by putting his hands in her fire is also fascinating, and quite original to MacDonald. I suppose we have him to blame for some later, more unfortunate fantasy literature; but that doesn't make his stories any less interesting.
 
I am a little bit surprised. I had read At the Back of the North Wind several years ago, but I didn't pay attention to who wrote it. I did not know it was written by George MacDonald. (I guess I'll have to pay more attention to authors, lol. :rolleyes:)
 
For anyone who enjoyed my "Sophia Renee" poem, I recommend MacDonald's Scottish love story, Alec Forbes and His Friend Annie.
 
inkspot said:
Thanks for that info, PoTW. I got Phantastes and Lilith, too, because I knew MacDonald had influenced CSL through those books, and I did not enjoy them at all. Isn't it funny? CSL, whose writing I always love, loved MacDonald, whom I can hardly understand! I think it must be because of CSL's educational background in Medievalism and mythology that I don't have? I had a hard time following MacDonald at all! But I love CSL's portrayal of MacDonald in the Great Divorce ... Maybe I have to be a bit smarter to get him! But I will look for the North Wind one, maybe that will be more to my taste?
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I just finished reading Phantastes. I had picked it up before, but just couldn't stick with it. This time I enjoyed it more, although the meandering plot gives the story a rather impressionistic feel between samples of poetry.
 
Well, considering how early a fantasy it is, MacDonald was probably copying a lot of things from actual poets. Prose fantasy wasn't very common at the time.

I need to re-read Phantastes sometime. I've re-read parts of it a lot, but never the whole thing. In part because it is so episodic and impressionistic. It reads well in fragments, unlike most later fantasies. (LotR is an exception...it's less episodic, but I can still open it anywhere and feel like I'm being fed.)
 
inkspot said:
Thanks for that info, PoTW. I got Phantastes and Lilith, too, because I knew MacDonald had influenced CSL through those books, and I did not enjoy them at all. Isn't it funny? CSL, whose writing I always love, loved MacDonald, whom I can hardly understand! I think it must be because of CSL's educational background in Medievalism and mythology that I don't have? I had a hard time following MacDonald at all! But I love CSL's portrayal of MacDonald in the Great Divorce ... Maybe I have to be a bit smarter to get him! But I will look for the North Wind one, maybe that will be more to my taste?
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Inkspot, Maybe it would be better for you to start with a book like "The Princess and the Goblin"; "Phantastes" and "Lilith" are both of them heavily symbolic and the writing style of "Phantastes" is especially surreal. "At the Back of the North Wind" is perhaps more easily digestible, but it is still quite long, complete with long passages of nonsensical poetry.
 
The Curate of Glaston

So now that I read Phantastes and rather liked it, the next McDonald on my list is Lilith. However, my husband is reading through The Curate of Glaston by MacDonald and just shared a passage in which the gatekeeper of a large estate and his niece talk about the difference between satisfaction and contentment (Book I, Chapter 14, "The Dream").

Satisfaction is having things the way they should be, but that does not often happen for very long in real life; we live in a fallen world. Contentment, on the other hand, is willingly (and cheerfully) accepting your lot in life trusting in God's purpose and goodness towards you. But we still long for the time when the imperfect will give way to the Perfect:

"There is a great difference between I wish I were and I would like to be. To be content is not to be satisfied. No one ought to be satisfied with the imperfect. It is God's will that we should contentedly bear what he gives us. But at the same time we can look forward with hope to the redemption of the body."

The kicker in all this is that both the gatekeeper and the niece have a physical disability (dwarfism) and in this exchange the niece is coming to terms with accepting her disability. I just thought this was so cool and MacDonald was lightyears ahead of his time, in making people with disabilities main characters in a novel (the gatekeeper actually is the person who leads the curate to faith!)

My husband shared this same passage with my daughter who also has a disability, and later that day she changed her Facebook status to:
I am glad that God made me with Down syndrome!!

So maybe my next MacDonald read will be the Curate of Glaston instead of Lilith...
 
+JMJ



Glenburne said:
The idea of Curdie getting his gift by putting his hands in her fire is also fascinating, and quite original to MacDonald.
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SPOILER ALERT (The Princess and Curdie):

It's on that gift that I wanted to focus. Isn't it fascinating how Curdie is given the ability to feel the "hand" or the "body" of a person behind their physical appearance? The true character of a person (or beast) is made manifest through a touch of his hand. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when he put out his hand to his beast-companion (What was the beast's name again?), I believe that he felt the hand of a child. And when he touched that doctor and felt the skin of a snake, that just gave me the creeps!

Glenburne said:
I suppose we have him to blame for some later, more unfortunate fantasy literature; but that doesn't make his stories any less interesting.
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Might I ask which of MacDonald's works you are referring to here, Glenburne?
 
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I think the beast's name was Lina... I love the way Curdie's hands had the gift of knowing a person's character by touch.


crjr9833 said:
SPOILER ALERT (The Princess and Curdie):

It's on that gift that I wanted to focus. Isn't it fascinating how Curdie is given the ability to feel the "hand" or the "body" of a person behind their physical appearance? The true character of a person (or beast) is made manifest through a touch of his hand. Correct me if I'm wrong, but when he put out his hand to his beast-companion (What was the beast's name again?), I believe that he felt the hand of a child. And when he touched that doctor and felt the skin of a snake, that just gave me the creeps!
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In at least one book, I think "Phantastes," Mr. McDonald vividly depicted a wide landscape WITH NO WATER. This metaphor of spiritual deadness hits hard; I actually felt thirsty when I first read the novel.
 
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