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A review by skyereads
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
5.0
Wow. I think this is now my favourite George MacDonald book, and I regret not having read it earlier. Loved to pieces the bit about Irene and the primroses, the Grandmother's room and the thread.
There are so many later books which I can now see were influenced by this; The Silver Chair, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, I'm sure Tolkien must have read it too. How strange to find Goblins like these in a Victorian story!
Only criticism was that the ending contained some violence (one particular act by Curdie) which seemed out of keeping with the tone of the book, which is otherwise very gentle. Would have liked the Goblins to have some redeeming qualities too.
Must hunt down a nice old illustrated edition of this now!
There are so many later books which I can now see were influenced by this; The Silver Chair, the Weirdstone of Brisingamen, I'm sure Tolkien must have read it too. How strange to find Goblins like these in a Victorian story!
Only criticism was that the ending contained some violence (one particular act by Curdie) which seemed out of keeping with the tone of the book, which is otherwise very gentle. Would have liked the Goblins to have some redeeming qualities too.
Must hunt down a nice old illustrated edition of this now!