Product Description

It has been 15 years since Roderick McGillis edited For the Childlike, a landmark collection of essays about George MacDonald's writings. This latest collection of 14 essays sets a new standard that will influence MacDonald studies for many more years. George MacDonald experts are increasingly evaluating his entire corpus within the nineteenth century context. This volume provides further evidence that MacDonald will eventually emerge from the restrictive and somewhat misleading reputation of being C.S. Lewis' spiritual "master." _._._._ MacDonald scholar, Stephen Prickett writes: "This is an important, exciting, and even challenging and controversial volume. It looks, as never before, at MacDonald's historical imagination, the influence of his native Scottish culture, the impact of English and German Romanticism, his reading of the Bible, his interest in Darwinism, and in the Victorian intellectual environment as a whole. Several contributors provocatively discuss recent adaptations, redactions, and presentations of MacDonald's work and thought. This collection of essays truly places MacDonald in context." _._._._ Rolland Hein, author of George MacDonald: Victorian Mythmaker, writes: "Many astute critical judgments in this comprehensive collection represent the best of contemporary scholarship on George MacDonald."

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1568675 in Books
• Published on: 2008-01-15
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

Customer Reviews

A Welcome Critical Anthology
This volume is ideal for those studying or teaching about author George MacDonald and his place in the literary canon. The essays are divided into four sections: the first deals with the precursors and sources that inspired and paved the way for MacDonald; the second (and longest) focuses on his writings; the third addresses the movements and groups with which MacDonald was associated; and the fourth looks at MacDonald's reputation and legacy. There is significant diversity in the approaches and arguments in this anthology, which makes for a wide-ranging and useful examination of MacDonald. I particularly enjoyed the sections that tied MacDonald's fiction to the Gothic phenomenon and related Gothic authors such as Bram Stoker. If you want to explore MacDonald in a thoughtful and scholarly way, this volume provides an ideal opportunity for "one-stop shopping." I hope it will revive academic interest in this remarkable author.

MacDonald's Legacy Lives On
George MacDonald may have died 103 years ago (1905), but his legacy lives on. Those who love his work and those who study his work apparently had a rare meeting at the 100th anniversary of his death in 2005. The outgrowth of this meeting was the enlivening of minds towards the works of this great writer.

The essays contained in this collection analyze MacDonald's writing from many points of view. His literary past is discussed and how his own work built upon his predecessors. His literary present is discussed, as to how his work was viewed amongst his contemporaries; and his literary future is discussed in the context of his continuing influence on today's writers.

To appreciate this work, one should be a MacDonald scholar, or interested in becoming a MacDonald scholar. This is not a work for the general public. However, it will serve its purpose and has its place. And if it can revive interest in MacDonald's work, it is well worth it.