Phantastes

by George MacDonald, Arthur Hughes (Illustrator)

Overview

Phantastes is a tale of a young man, Anodos, who awakes to find himself in the land of Faerie on his twenty first birthday and sets out to follow a path there. He spends twenty one days in this strange world which he later said felt like twenty one years. Anodos has a couple of different meanings in Greek, but in this story it clearly seems to mean "without a path". Right away at the beginning of the story we find the young man wandering off the path. He continues to wander off the path now and again, but always some good soul will help him get back to his proper place. Learning to stay the path and listen to the intuitive voice inside is often a matter of losing his pride (which generally took on the form of a relentless shadow following him night and day, sun or no sun). It’s a multifaceted story that plays out the road to redemption not so very different from Pilgrim's Progress, The Divine Comedy, or many other stories like it but few told with such imagination.

At this moment, this is the only digital edition of Phantastes which carries all of the original illustrations by MacDonald’s good friend, Arthur Hughes.

Phantastes is not only a classic text, but one which is rated by many as one of the top ten fantasy books in the English language. Lewis Carroll's personal copy of Phantastes (which was signed CL Dodgson on the title page) has an estimated value of nearly $13,000-dollars.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940014480468
Publisher:	Horatio Press
Publication date:	05/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
Sales rank:	961,851
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

George MacDonald was one of the most respected authors of his generation in 19th century Scotland. He wrote over fifty books, nearly half of them novels for adults, along with some theological studies, several volumes of essays & criticism, a few volumes of poetry, and three best selling children's novels accompanied by a couple more volumes of fairytales. He wrote in nearly every literary genre. Although today much of his poetry and adult fiction would be considered rather prosaic, as C.S. Lewis pointed out, it was fantasy that he really excelled in. His only two fantasy novels written for adults--Phantastes and Lilith--are often spoken of as two of the best novels ever written in the English language. His three fantasy novels for children, The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and the Curdie, and At the Back of the North Wind are so strange and otherworldly that adults often enjoy them as much, or more, than children.

MacDonald, born December 10, 1824, drew an enjoyment from reading books even as a young boy that encompassed all the typical poetic elements of elusiveness that so engage the mystical minded. By his late teens, as a student at King's College in Aberdeen, young George was already reading Shelley, Coleridge, James Hogg, and Tom Moore while also finding time to write poetry of his own. He had a powerful intellect, winning 3rd prize in Chemistry and 4th in Natural Philosophy, subjects he would lecture on years later at a Ladies' College to earn some much needed money.

The MacDonald family was quite poor early on, barely staying away starvation at times, often accepting the charity of friends and family. Eventually, however, George MacDonald would run in some very high literary circles. During the winter of 1872-73 he would address several thousands at a time during his lecture tour of the USA. He was great friends with Samuel Clemens (A.K.A.--Mark Twain), Charles Dodgson (A.K.A.--Lewis Carroll), John Ruskin, Lady Byron (widow of Lord Byron), and Ralph Waldo Emerson among others. Several of his closest friends sat in high positions of government such as William Cowper-Temple. Others were well known clergymen like F.D. Maurice or college professors such as Dean Stanley. By the late 1860's he had become a very celebrated author. Children would walk back and forth in front of his home hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who was so much loved. He would later be held in high esteem by CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, and JRR Tolkien.