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Title: Phantastes: A Faerie Romance for Men and Women (George MacDonald Original Works)
ISBN: 1881084221
Author:
George MacDonald
Publicate Date: 1994-10
Publish: 1994-10
List Price: $38.00
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $27.74
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $32.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $27.74
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Phantastes is Fantastic!!
I just finished reading a Tolken essay of what a Fairy Story is supposed to be.
Then I read this book. This one is right on. I was in the world with the people in the story.
Lilith was the first George MacDonald book I read.
Really, there is no comparison. As a fairy story Phantases is better. Especially considering that it was written first. Also, I did not miss the religious references. They are both wonderful!!!!
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2: a reminder of fantasy in 1858
Phantastes, by George MacDonald, was first published in 1858. The somewhat rambling prose style reflects the writing of that era. In spite of the wordiness, the story is delightful and very interesting. I was impressed that the yearnings of the main character and the yearnings of us 21rst- century humans are largely the same. On the whole, I much enjoyed the tale.
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3: A difficult read but good nonetheless
This book is well worth the effort it takes to read. Mr. Macdonald's writing style is difficult to say the least, however, the richness of the storyline makes it well worth the effort. This is a book that I intend on reading again and each time I read I will update my review of the book.
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4: Phantastes is fantastic
MacDonald is a master of fantasty, and in the "Phantastes" he is at his best. MacDonald's best is providing a window that looks out on the world in way you have never seen before. That window is fairie land, and he combines both the strange, original, and striking with the a masterly handle on familiar types and images. You will meet the fairies, tree spirits, castles, a beautiful maiden, the round-table knight, and other fairy staples. You will be challenged to imagine new things. The hero of the story is Anodos, a man without any distinct purpose in his life. He is thrown into fairie land and sets off to find his ideal, and in the end finds his purpose. It is a journey worth taking with him. Even if you do not agree completely with MacDonald (I don't), it is well worth the while to sit under his imagination. He will teach you to see the world differently.
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5: Father of modern fantasy- or father of depth psychology?
I was not sure what to expect from this novel. I had from reading C.S. Lewis known that he considered MacDonald to be his "master." I also knew that he was highly regarded by both J.R.R. Tolkien and G.K. Chesterton. Then there was the fact that so many called him the father of modern fantasy. In light of this I expected to find an early adventure tale set in faeryland with a few elves and dragons thrown in- and interlaced with Christian platitudes. I could not have been more wrong...
What I found beneath the dense Victorian and Scottish veneer of his writing style was pure depth psychology- written in 1858!
It is all here: anima, animus, shadow, Self, the higher spiritual world as the source of patterns (archetypes), the subconscious reached through dreams- and through the plane of the mirror or of the surface of the waters, the necessity that the ego or small self must die that the Self find its place. Then there are hints and suggestions of the earth, or even faery, as a place of struggle for the purpose of growth and transcendence. Chapter 24 gives hints of the immortal part of the soul separating from the body for spiritual life- or rebirth ("take to itself another form.")
In short, there is no "fantasy" here, for George MacDonald instead broke through into the Higher Reality. His Faeryland is the higher spiritual world that interfaces with our own like veins of silver through granite. No, I would not call McDonald the father of fantasy, but I would call him the father of depth psychology, for he had obviously anticipated Jung's life work- and even gone directly to his hard-won spiritual conclusions. Both men crossed the plane of the subconscious to bring back Truth, for as C.S. Lewis told us in THE GREAT DIVORCE, MacDonald would never lie to us.
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