Phantastes, by George MacDonald.
January 29th 2009 20:17
This is one of the grandfather classics of fantasy. It takes the form of a dream journey, in which the protagonist is whisked away to Faerie Land. This isn't the happy, smiley Faerie Land of American folklore, but more reminiscent of the strange and mystical Otherworld of Celtic mythology.
It borders on being allegorical and didactic, but it never really reaches that point. I definitely whiffed a strong hint of Christian teaching, but for someone who's not already very familiar with those teachings (like actually studied them) then a lot of the hints will be obscure.
It's a story of growing up and maturing, very much on the male end of things. The protagonist spends the book searching and chasing after this beautiful elf/fairy woman, and he can't really explain why.
The whole narrative is very surreal and maintains that wondrous, bizarre, and intimately disturbing feel of dreams throughout the book. The descriptions of emotion and images are achingly poetic and beautiful and will haunt you long after you put the book down. The impossibly magical locales and colorful characters he meets are well-painted, but still take the background to his dream-quest.
The dream journey was--and still is--a popular mode of storytelling, and this--which is definitely a fantasy--really pulls of the dream theme and feel very well. George MacDonald and this book of his in particular were very influential for later writers, most notably C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, who both loved and admired MacDonald's works. C.S. Lewis said that when he read Phantastes he felt that he had crossed a great frontier.
Pick up a copy of this little book, read it in the quiet and alone, slowly and deliberately. Every image and beautifully constructed metaphor is dense with meaning and symbolism, and if you pay attention, you will get something out of this book that's much longer-lasting than simply a good time.
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