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Phantastes: A Faerie Romance
 
 
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Phantastes: A Faerie Romance [Paperback]

George MacDonald (Author)
4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Phantastes: A Faerie Romance + Lilith + The Complete Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 185 pages
  • Publisher: Ethics & Public Policy Center Inc.,U.S. (Dec 1981)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0802860605
  • ISBN-13: 978-0802860606
  • Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 15.4 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 306,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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More About the Author

George MacDonald
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Product Description

Product Description

In October 1857, George MacDonald wrote what he described as "a kind of fairy tale, in the hope that it will pay me better than the more evidently serious work." This was "Phantastes" - one of MacDonald's most important works; a work which so overwhelmed C. S. Lewis that a few hours after he began reading it, he knew he "had crossed a great frontier." The book is about the narrator's (Anodos) dream-like adventures in fairyland, where he confronts tree-spirits and the shadow, sojourns to the palace of the fairy queen, and searches for the spirit of the earth. The tale is vintage MacDonald, conveying a profound sadness and a poignant longing for death.

About the Author

George MacDonald(1824-1905) The great nineteenth-century innovator of modern fantasy, whose works influenced C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams. "I do not write for children," MacDonald once said, "but for the childlike, whether of five, or fifty, or seventy-five."
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I AWOKE ONE MORNING with the usual perplexity of mind which accompanies the return of consciousness. Read the first page
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
By Daniel Jolley HALL OF FAME TOP 100 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
This is an enchanting work of high fantasy, lyrical in its composition, spiritual in its nature, and enlightening in its effect on the careful reader. As the subtitle says, Phantastes is a Faerie Romance For Men and Women. The Fairy Land in which Anodos, the narrator, ventures is not the fairy land of youth's innocent dreams; rather, it is an otherworldly plane full of great beauty and terrible ugliness, impish little fairies and horrible, teasing goblins, nurturing spirits and malevolent entities. Anodos' discovery of a fairy inside his deceased father's old desk leads to his unplanned journey into this world of wonder. Interestingly, upon entering Fairy Land, Anodos leaves the beaten path and makes his way through the woods all on his own. He meets a diverse cast of characters along the way, reckoning with dark beings who threaten his spiritual well-being while also finding great and needed comfort at crucial times from nurturing maternal forces. His own shadow takes on perhaps the most malevolent influence of all the beings he deals with. He often finds himself compelled to sing, and his songs are powerful enough to free a beautiful White Lady from inside a statue; he remains infatuated with this lady for a long time, trying desperately to find her; his love for her, he comes to realize, comes in large part from his feelings of having been the one to free her, and an important point the author seems to be suggesting is that the love of a giver is much more pure than the love of a benefactor.

Much of this story is allegorical; Anodos basically comes to know himself and to see the world more objectively as a result of his journeys. He often resorts to tears, yet he also raises his voice in song to uplift others. He discovers the power of brotherly love and the beauty that is all around, yet he cringes at the sight of the shadowy creatures that would do him ill. His journey is challenging because he naturally falls prey to feelings of pride and egotism, but his losses and sorrows eventually coalesce themselves into something of beauty, for it is these experiences that help him grow more spiritual. Much has been made of MacDonald's religious beliefs, but Phantastes to me calls forth no religion other than spiritualism and personal growth and maturity. Good and evil do not exist in Fairy Land, except in the sense that there is both good and evil in each individual spirit.

Doubtless, some will not like MacDonald's 19th-century, florid style. There is action in this novel, but it definitely takes a back seat to exposition and philosophical musings. Some will surely find Phantastes exceptionally boring, but those readers willing to follow Anodos deeply into Fairy Land will embark on an enlightening, touching read that will almost surely make them better persons for having taken the literary journey.

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
The story of a man and his journey into the faerie land, Phantastes is rather a series of experiences than a continuous plot. The main character is no brave hero, and by no means does he succeed in all his adventures. But the true value of the book comes from understanding that it is by weighing our experiences rather than succeeding in them all that we find meaning in this life.

Being composed of so many events that take place in the protagonist's journey, Phantastes could almost be chopped up into several short stories and served as a chronological anthology. But MacDonald, contrary to the conventions we are accustomed to today, chose to keep the narative together and present it as if it were one contiuous plot. Therefore, those who expect action are as little likely to find it as the are to enjoy the book. But for those of us who are romantics who can get lost in the beauty of each of these episodes, there is a glorious treasure to be found in this journey to the land of faeries.

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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Deep reality: finally someone has put it into words. If you like fantasy, and if you think there's anything at all Real about fantasy, you will like this book.
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