One of the Original Fairy Tale Classics of Western Literature
“Alas, how easily things go wrong! / A sigh too much, a kiss too long / And there follows a mist and a weeping rain / And life is never the same again” - George MacDonald, Phantastes
Imagine turning 21 and being dragged into a fantasy world full of perils and creatures that want to kill you. Imagine overcoming these dangers, going from villain to hero and beyond, loving and being deceived, helping and being helpless. Imagine waking up and everybody saying you’re gone for 21 days, though it felt like 21 years. How would you change your life?
George MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister.
Known particularly for his poignant fairy tales and fantasy novels, George MacDonald inspired many authors, such as W. H. Auden, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence."
Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became friends with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by MacDonald.
MacDonald grew up influenced by his Congregational Church, with an atmosphere of Calvinism. But MacDonald never felt comfortable with some aspects of Calvinist doctrine; indeed, legend has it that when the doctrine of predestination was first explained to him, he burst into tears (although assured that he was one of the elect). Later novels, such as Robert Falconer and Lilith, show a distaste for the idea that God's electing love is limited to some and denied to others.
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