Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mystical Christian Quest Fantasy
Review of the Allison and Bubsy Ltd. paperback edition (1989) of the 1895 original
Scottish author and minister George MacDonald (1824-1905) is considered by many to be the founder on modern fantasy fiction. He mentored Lewis Carroll and influenced and inspired authors such as W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit, G.K. Chesterton and Madeleine L'Engle. You can also spot a hint of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan and the Lost Boys" in MacDonald's Lilith in the characters of the "Little Ones' who never grow up.
Lilith (1895) is MacDonald's final major work and it is a much more serious Christian mysticism fantasy as opposed to earlier lighter fare such as the popular [b:The Princess and the Goblin|444381|The Princess and the Goblin (Princess Irene and Curdie, #1)|George MacDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348689290l/444381._SY75_.jpg|3193161] (1872). The plot is rather complex and involves the lead character passing back and forth between our world and another dimension via a mirror in his attic. There is a good summary of the plot at Wikipedia if you are interested, which you can read (with Spoilers obviously) here.
As the above plot summary reveals, the main quest of the piece involves the salvation of Adam's first wife Lilith who has become an evil sorceress princess ruling the city of Bulika. Lilith is a character that originates in Jewish mythology, but who has been excised from the Christian Bible except for an oblique reference in Genesis 1:27 which implies that there was originally a woman created at the same time as Adam, and not from his rib (as occurs later in Genesis 2:23). A lot of this is heavy going of course, but it is still fascinating to read if mythology and fantasy is of interest to you. The novel can still be read for its lighter parts involving the "Little Ones" and their mobilization with a herd of horses and elephants to conquer the kingdom.
My thanks to Liisa and Martin & family for this lovely rare edition gift!
Trivia and Link
Lilith (1895) is out of copyright protection, so it is available to read for free in various eBook formats at Project Gutenberg.
Review of the Allison and Bubsy Ltd. paperback edition (1989) of the 1895 original
Scottish author and minister George MacDonald (1824-1905) is considered by many to be the founder on modern fantasy fiction. He mentored Lewis Carroll and influenced and inspired authors such as W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit, G.K. Chesterton and Madeleine L'Engle. You can also spot a hint of J.M. Barrie's "Peter Pan and the Lost Boys" in MacDonald's Lilith in the characters of the "Little Ones' who never grow up.
Lilith (1895) is MacDonald's final major work and it is a much more serious Christian mysticism fantasy as opposed to earlier lighter fare such as the popular [b:The Princess and the Goblin|444381|The Princess and the Goblin (Princess Irene and Curdie, #1)|George MacDonald|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348689290l/444381._SY75_.jpg|3193161] (1872). The plot is rather complex and involves the lead character passing back and forth between our world and another dimension via a mirror in his attic. There is a good summary of the plot at Wikipedia if you are interested, which you can read (with Spoilers obviously) here.
As the above plot summary reveals, the main quest of the piece involves the salvation of Adam's first wife Lilith who has become an evil sorceress princess ruling the city of Bulika. Lilith is a character that originates in Jewish mythology, but who has been excised from the Christian Bible except for an oblique reference in Genesis 1:27 which implies that there was originally a woman created at the same time as Adam, and not from his rib (as occurs later in Genesis 2:23). A lot of this is heavy going of course, but it is still fascinating to read if mythology and fantasy is of interest to you. The novel can still be read for its lighter parts involving the "Little Ones" and their mobilization with a herd of horses and elephants to conquer the kingdom.
My thanks to Liisa and Martin & family for this lovely rare edition gift!
Trivia and Link
Lilith (1895) is out of copyright protection, so it is available to read for free in various eBook formats at Project Gutenberg.
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It is interesting but long in places it needn't be long.
This book is even weirder than N.D. Wilson, if that's possible, and I don't remember it very well, and I was definitely too young to get it at age 13. (I think I spent most of 2015-2016 thinking I could handle adult books?? Like I read Christy and all of the Jane Austens and some Stephen Lawhead and this? And I remember very little of any of them...)
Need to reread before I know what I think of it.
Need to reread before I know what I think of it.
Despite the very flowery, somewhat overwrought and clumsy writing, this is a uniquely imaginative and engaging story with lots of interesting ontological and epistemological questions.
Following a phantom, an average man is pulled into a strange world--one ephemeral and magical, where issues of salvation are not theoretical but are instead a literal battle and quest. Lilith is a direct allegory of Christian Universalist salvation, laid atop strange magics and stranger symbolism. Over landscapes effervescent and transcendent, shadowed and looming, the beginning of the book is more of a ramble than a journey; at his best MacDonald is deeply evocative, and while the book's internal mythos can be arbitrary it is just as often inspired and provoking. But as the book continues and develops direction, it sours. I love the compelling and flawed characters, but often felt as if I wasn't intended to: Lilith's desire for self-determination is sympathetic and inspiring, and then roundly condemned. The book's unique and delicate internal mythos is occasionally at conflict with and often trampled by the appearance of literal Christian figures and messages.
Lilith ends with the same beautiful imprecision with which it begins, which salvages some things. I admire MacDonald, and parts of this book are captivating; I even enjoy it thematically. But this is story made slave to allegory, and while it is somewhat too subtle to be preachy and works in bits and pieces--the fantastic landscape, the larger-than-life characters, the echoing of damnation and salvation in the threat and beauty of the setting--it crumbles as a whole. It pains me to rate this book relatively low, but it simply never clicked for me; I much prefer The Golden Key for its more delicate, less precise balance of the fantastic and symbolic, and I don't recommend Lilith.
Lilith ends with the same beautiful imprecision with which it begins, which salvages some things. I admire MacDonald, and parts of this book are captivating; I even enjoy it thematically. But this is story made slave to allegory, and while it is somewhat too subtle to be preachy and works in bits and pieces--the fantastic landscape, the larger-than-life characters, the echoing of damnation and salvation in the threat and beauty of the setting--it crumbles as a whole. It pains me to rate this book relatively low, but it simply never clicked for me; I much prefer The Golden Key for its more delicate, less precise balance of the fantastic and symbolic, and I don't recommend Lilith.
challenging
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes