George MacDonald Books

One of the most memorable characters from George MacDonald's "The Princess and the Goblin" was the miner boy Curdie, who rescues Princess Irene and infiltrates the goblin kingdom. But the princess was the real focus on the book, not her miner boy.

However, the sequel "The Princess and Curdie" shifts the focus from Irene to Curdie. MacDonald's otherworldly writing elevates what could have been a simple morality tale, and makes it both horrifying and beautiful. This is one book that doesn't suffer as a sequel.

Time has passed since the events of the first book, and now Curdie is back in the mines, and has come to believe that Irene's great-great-grandmother is "nothing but ridiculous nonsense." Then one day he thoughtlessly shoots a pigeon -- a pigeon that happens to belong to that lady. Overcome with remorse, he carries the pigeon to the tower where she lives.

The lady forgives Curdie, but gives him a mission to fulfil, to make up for it: He and a repulsive creature called Lina must find a way to save the king from his malignant advisors. To do that, she gives him the power to tell whether a man is good at heart -- or is turning into a beast.

About ninety-nine percent of the time, it would be a rotten idea to make a sequel to a book like "The Princess and the Goblin." It was charming, magical and optimistic. So why mess with something that is already perfect?

But "The Princess and Curdie" has the success of being a more mature, darker book, with a surprisingly palatable moral lesson. The skeptical Curdie learns that "whoever does not mean good is always in danger of harm," and MacDonald provides a small glimpse at the darker side of human nature.

MacDonald's writing stays dreamy and vaguely otherworldly, even with such ordinary things as a family sitting down to dinner, or children running out to see a dog. The only problem is the ending, a few paragraphs that could have been easily left out, which seem needlessly pessimistic after the book's triumphant events.

MacDonald continues wotj the mysterious, goddess-like presence of the old princess, hinting that she is everywhere under different names. And Lina is an especially poignant addition, a woman who did something, and ended up being turned into a grotesque creature as a punishment.

While "The Princess and Curdie" is very different from its predecessor, it is also a rich, enchanting fantasy story that builds on the strengths of MacDonald's first "Princess" book.

It's a credit to "Princess and the Goblin" that its author was a personal favorite (and shaping influence) to fantasy titans C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. But if their liking for George MacDonald's works isn't enough to impress, then take it just for what it is: A creepy, unique, compelling work of early fantasy.

Little Princess Irene has always been kept in ignorance of the goblins -- until one night when she and her nursemaid stay out a bit too late, and are chased by a bizarre creature. They are rescued by a young miner boy, Curdie, who tells her the way to deal with them.

While mining, Curdie explores underground caverns where the goblins dwell, uncovers a terrible plot -- and is taken captive by the malignant goblin queen. And Irene explores a mysterious tower where her magical "great-grandmother" lives -- not knowing yet that she's at the center of the goblins' plotting, and that Curdie may be her only hope.

Like many early fantasy stories, "The Princess and the Goblin" is a book completely free of cliches. Written in the 1800s, this book has the flavour of a long-forgotten fairy tale that MacDonald simply dug up and presented to the public. We have goblins, monsters, a heroic young boy, a brave princess, noble kings and magical ladies. What else is a fairy tale about?

It's also striking for its mixture of childlike optimism and extraordinary writing. MacDonald often writes some scenes with the sort of twee flavour of many nineteenth-century novels, with chirrupy kids and kindly servants. But he also can whip up some truly amazing atmosphere: exquisite moonlit scenes that play out like dreams, or underground disasters that sound like nightmares.

Similarly, it's a credit to him that the characters of Curdie and Irene are as likable as they are. Irene in particular is a triumph, since she borders on twitty sometimes. Perhaps that was deliberate, since this little girl gradually grows in strength and guts as the book progresses, bringing her up to speed with the more mature Curdie.

Part fable and part-fairy tale, and populated with goblins, miners and magical grandmothers, "The Princess and the Goblin" is an enchanting prelude to the modern fantasy genre.

It's a credit to "Princess and the Goblin" that its author was a shaping influence to fantasy titans C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. But if their liking for George MacDonald's works isn't enough to impress, then take it just for what it is: A creepy, unique, compelling work of early fantasy.

Little Princess Irene has always been kept in ignorance of the goblins -- until one night when she and her nursemaid stay out a bit too late, and are chased by a bizarre creature. They are rescued by a young miner boy, Curdie, who tells her the way to deal with them.

While mining, Curdie explores underground caverns where the goblins dwell, uncovers a terrible plot -- and is taken captive by the malignant goblin queen. And Irene explores a mysterious tower where her magical "great-grandmother" lives -- not knowing yet that she's at the center of the goblins' plotting, and that Curdie may be her only hope.

Like many early fantasy stories, "The Princess and the Goblin" is a book completely free of cliches. Written in the 1800s, this book has the flavour of a long-forgotten fairy tale that MacDonald simply dug up and presented to the public. We have goblins, monsters, a heroic young boy, a brave princess, noble kings and magical ladies. What else is a fairy tale about?

It's also striking for its mixture of childlike optimism and extraordinary writing. MacDonald often writes some scenes with the sort of twee flavour of many nineteenth-century novels, with chirrupy kids and kindly servants. But he also can whip up some truly amazing atmosphere: exquisite moonlit scenes that play out like dreams, or underground disasters that sound like nightmares.

Similarly, it's a credit to him that the characters of Curdie and Irene are as likable as they are. Irene in particular is a triumph, since she borders on twitty sometimes. Perhaps that was deliberate, since this little girl gradually grows in strength and guts as the book progresses, bringing her up to speed with the more mature Curdie.

Part fable and part-fairy tale, and populated with goblins, miners and magical grandmothers, "The Princess and the Goblin" is an enchanting prelude to the modern fantasy genre.

It's a credit to "Princess and the Goblin" that its author was a personal favorite (and shaping influence) to fantasy titans C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. But if their liking for George MacDonald's works isn't enough to impress, then take it just for what it is: A creepy, unique, compelling work of early fantasy.

Little Princess Irene has always been kept in ignorance of the goblins -- until one night when she and her nursemaid stay out a bit too late, and are chased by a bizarre creature. They are rescued by a young miner boy, Curdie, who tells her the way to deal with them.

While mining, Curdie explores underground caverns where the goblins dwell, uncovers a terrible plot -- and is taken captive by the malignant goblin queen. And Irene explores a mysterious tower where her magical "great-grandmother" lives -- not knowing yet that she's at the center of the goblins' plotting, and that Curdie may be her only hope.

Like many early fantasy stories, "The Princess and the Goblin" is a book completely free of cliches. Written in the 1800s, this book has the flavour of a long-forgotten fairy tale that MacDonald simply dug up and presented to the public. We have goblins, monsters, a heroic young boy, a brave princess, noble kings and magical ladies. What else is a fairy tale about?

It's also striking for its mixture of childlike optimism and extraordinary writing. MacDonald often writes some scenes with the sort of twee flavour of many nineteenth-century novels, with chirrupy kids and kindly servants. But he also can whip up some truly amazing atmosphere: exquisite moonlit scenes that play out like dreams, or underground disasters that sound like nightmares.

Similarly, it's a credit to him that the characters of Curdie and Irene are as likable as they are. Irene in particular is a triumph, since she borders on twitty sometimes. Perhaps that was deliberate, since this little girl gradually grows in strength and guts as the book progresses, bringing her up to speed with the more mature Curdie.

Part fable and part-fairy tale, and populated with goblins, miners and magical grandmothers, "The Princess and the Goblin" is an enchanting prelude to the modern fantasy genre.

It's a credit to "Princess and the Goblin" that its author was a personal favorite (and shaping influence) to fantasy titans C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. But if their liking for George MacDonald's works isn't enough to impress, then take it just for what it is: A creepy, unique, compelling work of early fantasy.

Little Princess Irene has always been kept in ignorance of the goblins -- until one night when she and her nursemaid stay out a bit too late, and are chased by a bizarre creature. They are rescued by a young miner boy, Curdie, who tells her the way to deal with them.

While mining, Curdie explores underground caverns where the goblins dwell, uncovers a terrible plot -- and is taken captive by the malignant goblin queen. And Irene explores a mysterious tower where her magical "great-grandmother" lives -- not knowing yet that she's at the center of the goblins' plotting, and that Curdie may be her only hope.

Like many early fantasy stories, "The Princess and the Goblin" is a book completely free of cliches. Written in the 1800s, this book has the flavour of a long-forgotten fairy tale that MacDonald simply dug up and presented to the public. We have goblins, monsters, a heroic young boy, a brave princess, noble kings and magical ladies. What else is a fairy tale about?

It's also striking for its mixture of childlike optimism and extraordinary writing. MacDonald often writes some scenes with the sort of twee flavour of many nineteenth-century novels, with chirrupy kids and kindly servants. But he also can whip up some truly amazing atmosphere: exquisite moonlit scenes that play out like dreams, or underground disasters that sound like nightmares.

Similarly, it's a credit to him that the characters of Curdie and Irene are as likable as they are. Irene in particular is a triumph, since she borders on twitty sometimes. Perhaps that was deliberate, since this little girl gradually grows in strength and guts as the book progresses, bringing her up to speed with the more mature Curdie.

Part fable and part-fairy tale, and populated with goblins, miners and magical grandmothers, "The Princess and the Goblin" is an enchanting prelude to the modern fantasy genre.

I was so excited to discover this audio book since the story itself is around 150 years old. My [...] daughters loved the book so much and wanted me to read it to them again. I wanted to move on to other books so I bought this and it is wonderful. Ian Whitcomb reads slowly enough for children to grasp the meanings that are profoundly simple while they listen and think at the same time. They had many questions to ask me about the meaning of things in life after listening to this. At the conclusion of the over 5 hour reading, of course listened to it over a few days, they asked to hear it again. It was a delight to me as well since I have listened to other readers talk so fast that much of the story was missed.

This article (which you can find for free at Dr. Macdonald's site) is excellent beyond words. It shows his dishonest opponents for what they are, and the evil tactics they use, this being done by so-called "objective scientists" who can't find any way to silence Dr. Macdonald. As the article dryly points out, several of these Jewish "scientists" have promised a refutation of Macdonald's work for closing on ten years now, but we're still waiting. The easier way out for these people would simply be to get him fired or something similar, as they have done countless number of times before to various people who got too close to the truth.

The article is very readable, and contains quite thorough reviews and comments on all of Dr. Macdonald's four books on the subject, in addition to an interview with the gentleman, and some of the "critique" that has been voiced against him from the usual suspects. The mere fact that all of the opposition is based on obviously biased racial interests shows me quite open that we are still living under Stalinism. You can write about anything you want, as long as it is not controversial or dangerous to the ones controlling the intellectual climate. Some "Democracy", huh?

It also contains some interesting facts, for example, it turns out that Macdonald is born Catholic, something that hadn't really occurred to me, even after repeated readings of his work. I always imagined he was WASP, for some reason, but oh well, Scottish Catholic works for me.

All in all, an article every thinking man and woman of the world should read, to find out in about 30 pages what all the fuzz is about, and why the West is completely off-track on it's way towards it's divine destiny. And after all, as Macdonald says himself, isn't all that really matters if he is correct or not? After reading this, I don't think anyone can deny that he most decidedly is correct.

Read it!

This is a very good book. Very very very good. That's a triple very. Very good.
In this tale, "The Annals of a Quiet Neighborhood", George Macdonald recounts in very fine detail his first experience as Parson. After reading the book I almost wondered why it was titled "Quiet Neighborhood". Sounds boring doesn't it? Well, it's not. You'll discover some of the most remarkable and extraordinary people in the pages of this book, all with a story of their own. This is one of those books that offers the reader, however, more than a merely interesting story; though it is that as well. Some of George MacDonalds most core beliefs are revealed through the voices and actions of his characters, including the Parson himself (George Macdonald, or Mr. Walton in the book). How much of the book is fiction, and how much of it actually happened, I do not know and it doesn't really say. Nor do I think it matters a great deal.
What I really love about MacDonald's fiction in general and this book in particular is how he manages to take the theology in his "Unspoken Sermons" (A great book too, in its own right), and translate it into every day situations. While "Unspoken Sermons" deals largely with the theory, Macdonald's fiction stories show practically how these truths can be lived and seen in every day life. Even so is this book. If you like anything else of Macdonald's you'll like this too. If you haven't ever read any Macdonald, well, your missing out. It's easy to see why this man had such a big influence on some of the leading thinkers of the 19th century such as C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton.

MacDonald wrote this over a century ago, and the language is hard on under-educated kids, but the adventure, the unexpected twists in the plot, and the moral lessons make this one of my absolute favorite books, even if the language is a bit hard to get through.

MacDonald's adventure fantasy stories were the inspiration for Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and his daughter was even the inspiration for "Alice in Wonderland" - an impressive bit of literary history to take in!

The first George MacDonald book I ever read and it permanently hooked me! I couldn't put it down, and neither could my teen aged sons. All this plus it manages to teach wonderful values too! GREAT!