Not head-over-heels on a reread but still very much a fan. An evocative and thought-provoking book that I think I will be coming back to again.


Old review:

The Story: 4.5
The Edition: 3.5

It is very rare that I finish a book only wanting to read it again from start to finish, but Phantastes is one such book.

I am not usually a fan of fantasy, but I do take interest in reading influential works and so I bought Phantastes upon hearing of its significance in the genre. It is considered by many to be one of the first ever fantasy books if not the first, and has had a big influence on both Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Lewis Carroll was also a good friend of the author (George MacDonald) and wrote Alice In Wonderland about a decade after Phantastes was published.

The main character, Anodos (which means "Pathless") after an encounter with a female apparition, wakes the next day to find his surroundings somewhat altered and his bedroom overgrown with a stream running through it. He assumes that he is in another world, and not knowing what else to do, sets off eastward in the hope of learning more. He meets various characters along his way, both good and bad, all representative of something in Anados' (and to a certain extent George's) life. For the entire story we journey with Anados as he matures and makes the transition from boy to man.

Phantastes bears a strong theme of journeying, quite similar to that of Pilgrim's Progress and it does a very good job of remaining fresh and interesting despite its simple story. But as the book progresses we begin to realise more and more that this is so much more than just a simple fairy tale and that every character and event is significant in its meaning. It is a deep and rich experience, with complex, allegorical characters.

I awarded the book with 4.5 instead of 5 due to the "story within a story" portion dealing with Cosmo and the mirror. Although good, and relevant to Adanos in its symbolism, I found it too much of a deviation from the main narrative, making the transition back to Anados seem a bit unnatural.

The edition itself that I read was the 150th Anniversary Annotated edition which I have awarded 3.5 (not contributing to the overall mark). The cover is lovely, the introduction informative and the annotations both interesting and useful. However, by explaining and connecting up some of the imagery of the book, the annotations annoyingly serve to spoil later parts. Some comments on the symbolism I would also have considered to be matter of opinion were stated as fact. I would say that it is very much worth reading the introduction and annotations, but as a guide during a second read-through.

A brief comment on something that greatly puzzles me: towards the back of the book is an advert for the special annotated edition of George Macdonald's other adult fantasy work, "Lilith". However, despite being advertised, it doesn't appear to exist. I cannot find a single thing about it anywhere on the net. The only site that comes up acknowledging its existence is Google books (http://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Lilith.html?id=mqhhPgAACAAJ&redir_esc=y). But it provides little information other than its ISBN which, when typed into anything, provides zero results. Can anyone solve this mystery for me? ( )

This is not your father's fantasy. This is a new realm. Do not come here expecting a coherent storyline, and everything neatly wound up. But if you want to dream more vividly than you ever have at night, if you want to see images more clearly than anything Hollywood has to offer, if you want to read that which you will never forget- then here is where you can rest. This is probably not a book that will explicitly change your worldview. It will rather implicitly change it, winding it's way into the inner depths of your mind, taking root, and blossoming in all you see and do afterward. You will have an irresistible urge to look for fairies under every doily, and see the world as magically as Amelie does. As I read it, the world opened up, and I understood, for a brief moment, the numinous around me- and so knew that of God.

No. Knowing is the wrong word. At least, not in our modern sense of the word. I did not understand it. But I knew it. It was present, not around me, but within me.

This is what Phantastes can do for you, if you read it intimately. ( )

I’ve always been curious about George MacDonald’s works, but in retrospect, this probably wasn’t the greatest first book to pick up by him. Thankfully, I was able to listen to it in audio—otherwise, I would have never finished the story! Overall, I found this book somewhat confusing to understand, as it seemed like we were always jumping around in this fairy/fantasy world doing random things. The descriptions were beautiful, and the imaginative location was interesting to explore, but the story itself didn’t tie together very well for me. I’m sure there were allegorical portions of the book, but figuring out what they are is a bit beyond me. Not a great first read, but I’m looking forward to trying out some of his other works, and maybe one day I’ll come back to this one and understand its purpose better! ( )

this early book of fantasy begins well, with one of the best descriptions of being in a dream ever written. It falls off towards the end as it morphs into a sermon on the morality of self sacrifice. Nonetheless, the strain begun here runs to Morris, then Eddison and Cabell, and, at last, to Tolkien. A very good read, unless you are a fantasist of violence, complete and total. ( )

This is such a whimsical book. The tone and atmosphere feel like a real life fairy-tale. The story is slow and steady, and a bit too meandering in the middle, but still delightful to read. I could have done without quite so many "singing" poems, not to say they all should be cut out, but I didn't feel that they all were necessary to the story. ( )