George MacDonald (1) (1824–1905)

Fascinated by a tale told him by his great-aunt about a golden key hidden by the fairies at the end of the rainbow, a boy sees a rainbow in the woods at sundown and goes to investigate. Fearful that the three bears of her story book are at her door a girl escapes from her bedroom window and runs into the woods. Thus Mossy the boy and Tangle the girl embark on their adventure in Fairyland.

Their fairy tale quest is also a surreal and metaphysical tale of recurring existence, filled with hints show more of Christian metaphors. Three times is often the charm for MacDonald beginning with the reference to the folktale Silverhair (more commonly known now as Goldilocks and the three bears). The protagonists, Mossy, the boy and Tangle, the girl, encounter three men in various stages of their lives: old, young, and infant. These men or boys aid them on their way. Mossy and Tangle themselves also experience these three ages, but like their three guides, it’s not necessarily in the usual chronological order, indicating that the fairyland through which they journey is outside the bounds of time and space. It is a place of reoccurrence and resurrection and also one of separation and reunion. And as Yolen points out in the afterword, it’s also “an extended metaphor of life and death.” show less

This has all the lyrical prose of a Victorian Children’s Fairy Tale, whimsical and wholesome. It dangerously approached saccharine sermonizing – if not for the North Wind. Sometimes a Tall Woman with Dark Hair, sometimes a Wolf, or a Fairy, or an Unseen Breath, she is the most intriguing character in a fairy tale I have encountered in some time. Biden by her unnamed Master, she often does what seems cruel, causing pain, suffering, and even death. And yet, in the end, is it revealed that show more all she does is for the healing, the betterment, and the good fortune of people. She is neither callous nor wanton in her destruction, but precise and obedient, doing her duty with a single-minded service to her master. A the Back of the North Wind is a place, a place she cannot see or visit, but a place she often takes those she is bidden to carry there. It seems a place where neither time nor illness nor hungry nor suffering dwell.
Daylight is a bit too cherubic for my taste, but I related to his constant out-of-place nature. He doesn’t fit in but doesn’t seem to notice. It is thought Daylight was modeled after MacDonald’s own son, as a tribute to the boy. His angelic goodness is off-set by the secondary characters, rough-and-tumble crowd, cabbies and street urchins, drunks and benevolent gentlemen. They seem real in a way Daylight does not. But perhaps that is the point.
This is a fantastic fairy tale, whimsical and imaginative, but with a somber ending that makes this far more than just a gossamer tale of nonsense for children. To understand that pain and death are important teachers, vital to our life and growth, is a lesson worth teaching our children. MacDonald’s story helps explain this concept to children in a way that makes sense to them. And may help adults understand a concept that seems so contrary to our minds. show less

One thing I love about British literature---and just British culture, in general---is the quirky sense of humor we often see in their books and entertainment. Those in the British Empire have a way with words, and it often takes some deeper thinking about words to understand their puns and symbolism. I'll test the waters here a bit by saying that I think they've got "proper" English down, and reading something written by a British writer always challenges my vocabulary.

George MacDonald's, show more The Light Princess, is such a fun little book to read because it's just full of puns and nonsensical things and wonderful plays on words that make all the nonsensical things ok because the whole thing is brilliantly written. MacDonald seems to me to be a fantastic mixture of his contemporary and student, Lewis Carroll, and our more modern Roald Dahl.

MacDonald was a Scottish writer and Christian minister who lived from 1824-1905. He was a major literary influence on some of our favorite authors like J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Madeleine L'Engle. He was the author of over 60 published works, including poetry, fantasy, realistic fiction and nonfiction.

Inspired by the tale of Sleeping Beauty, The Light Princess tells the story of a princess who was cursed at birth and lost her "gravity". Throughout the story, she deals with issues of gravity---both as a state of being and in the sense of physics. When someone is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for her comfort, good overcomes evil and she learns lessons in true love.

There are so many fun literary elements in, The Light Princess. Readers will encounter allusions to nursery rhymes, as well as laugh-out-loud jokes that only an adult would understand. "The King told stories and the Queen listened to them," is one of my favorite lines! Symbolism and witticisms abound. It's such a great story because it's obvious how much fun MacDonald had writing it.

Whether you are a youth, studying the book as an assignment, or an adult, reading and researching for fun, there's neat things to be found for everyone in this short story that's long on character. show less

Summary: The story of a young boy who gives himself to discover his own work within God’s work and how he finds his vocation.

This story is a kind of Horatio Alger story with a spiritual twist. Willie Macmichael is the son of a country doctor, beloved by his patients. The doctor has an interesting educational philosophy, letting Willie learn on his own until he’s ready and motivated to go to school. So Willie explores about the village. Conversations with a widow who knits and sews show more persuade him that it might be time to find some worthy work to do. As he discusses her contention that we work but God doesn’t need to with his father, he is persuaded that God is always working and that the work of people is found within that work.

So he goes about exploring the world of work, trying shoe-making, carpentry, and blacksmithing, becoming proficient in each and making friends with those who taught him. He figures out on his own how to read, reading to Hector, the shoe-maker. Then he is ready for school, in which he delights.

He and a friend discover an old well. Willie, endlessly clever, devises a way to pump water to irrigate his parent’s garden, and then makes a Rube Goldberg alarm to wake himself up to stargaze at night. When his Granny needs to move in, he determines to make one of the rooms in the nearby ruins of an old building habitable. Spelman, the carpenter helps him, and he helps Spelman with water from the well, which seems to have healing properties.

That brings us to another aspect of Willie’s character. He has a tender heart. He wants to save his mother waking to feed his baby sister. Later, when Agnes wishes she were a bird that could perch in the trees, Willie works unbeknownst to her to create a place in the trees, safely reached. He moves to give his grandmother room, and later, an ill tradesman.

But it is a conversation with the town clergy that plays a key part in Willie finding his vocation. And it is not as a minister. Rather, it will involve the old ruins, the well, and a partnership with his father. None of what Willie has done is wasted. Instead, it weaves into good work beyond what Willie could have imagined.

I have to admit, Willie seems to be too good to be true. This was written while MacDonald was editing Good Words for the Young and is the second of his boy’s novels. He makes a few mistakes in his inventions, but, if I recall correctly, is guilty of no deliberate wrongdoing. Unlike Pilgrim’s Process, there seems to be no straying from the path that makes one chastened but wiser. I can’t help wondering if boys might have better identified with Willie if there had been a bit of mischief.

That said, while probably not one of the best of MacDonald’s stories, it is diverting and delightful. It points us toward the practical truth that we find our vocation as we faithfully do the work at hand. And with that, we find that we indeed work within the work of God. show less