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A review by littleredhat
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
4.0
I learned about this book's existence whilst on a YouTube binge looking for Rik Mayall clips (you are much missed, good sir) - it turns out he voiced the goblin prince in an animated adaptation. Being a fairy tale fan, I resolved to give this a go.
I generally feel goblins get a bad rap in fantasy works. Personally, I find them somewhat endearing, but they are almost always portrayed as villianous, sneaky and greedy. Heck, I even wrote a university assignment on '"Goblin Market" and "Overheard on a Saltmarsh" demonstrating how goblins are used to symbolise predatory men. Consequently, because of that association and the book's title, I was able to predict the goblins' evil plan early on. Given that the heroine, Princess Irene, is only a child, a whole other sordid level is added - but one I feel a child reader wouldn't really pick up on.
Fairytale tropes both feature and are inverted here. Princess raised with ladylike manners befriends brave miner boy and gets caught up in perilous adventure. Then again, Irene isn't passive: she is headstrong, speaks her mind and is always truthful and keeps her promises - two traits she considers vital in a princess. She even rescues her miner friend, Curdie, at one point... although, of course, the male hero gets his fair share of action moments, too. In the absence of a Fairy Godmother, there is intsead a mystical grandmother character, beautiful and dreamlike, who influences events and protects the heroes from afar.
The goblins themselves are brilliant creations. Family conversations are funny (and a tad relatable!) and the wonderfully obnoxious queen probably went to the same finishing school as Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Even the goblin prince, Harelip, breaks the mold somewhat: he is himself half-human, for which he is mocked mercilessly by his own wicked stepmother, and it seems he is going along with the plot due to a sense of duty and expectation rather than any personal malice, making him an (almost) sympathetic character.
The archaic language might make it a trickier read for its intended child audience, but I would still thoroughly recommend it as a bedtime story. After all, I'm almost 30, and I could hardly put it down.
I generally feel goblins get a bad rap in fantasy works. Personally, I find them somewhat endearing, but they are almost always portrayed as villianous, sneaky and greedy. Heck, I even wrote a university assignment on '"Goblin Market" and "Overheard on a Saltmarsh" demonstrating how goblins are used to symbolise predatory men. Consequently, because of that association and the book's title, I was able to predict the goblins' evil plan early on. Given that the heroine, Princess Irene, is only a child, a whole other sordid level is added - but one I feel a child reader wouldn't really pick up on.
Fairytale tropes both feature and are inverted here. Princess raised with ladylike manners befriends brave miner boy and gets caught up in perilous adventure. Then again, Irene isn't passive: she is headstrong, speaks her mind and is always truthful and keeps her promises - two traits she considers vital in a princess. She even rescues her miner friend, Curdie, at one point... although, of course, the male hero gets his fair share of action moments, too. In the absence of a Fairy Godmother, there is intsead a mystical grandmother character, beautiful and dreamlike, who influences events and protects the heroes from afar.
The goblins themselves are brilliant creations. Family conversations are funny (and a tad relatable!) and the wonderfully obnoxious queen probably went to the same finishing school as Wonderland's Queen of Hearts. Even the goblin prince, Harelip, breaks the mold somewhat: he is himself half-human, for which he is mocked mercilessly by his own wicked stepmother, and it seems he is going along with the plot due to a sense of duty and expectation rather than any personal malice, making him an (almost) sympathetic character.
The archaic language might make it a trickier read for its intended child audience, but I would still thoroughly recommend it as a bedtime story. After all, I'm almost 30, and I could hardly put it down.