false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175962872m/577555.jpg 577555 4 An authoritative edition of the shorter fairy tales of George MacDonald, "one of the most remarkable writers of the nineteenth century" (W. H. Auden)<br><br>George MacDonald occupied a major position in the intellectual life of his Victorian contemporaries, and his dazzling fairy tales earned him the admiration of such twentieth-century writers as C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and W. H. Auden. Employing paradox, play, and nonsense, like Lewis Carroll's Alice books, MacDonald's fairy tales offer an elusive yet meaningful alternative order to the dubious certitudes of everyday life.<br><br><i>The Complete Fairy Tales</i> brings together all eleven of George MacDonald's shorter fairy tales, including "The Light Princess" and "The Golden Key," as well as his essay "The Fantastic Imagination." The subjects are those of traditional fantasy: fairies good and wicked, children embarking on elaborate quests, journeys into unsettling dreamworlds, life-risking labors undertaken. Though they allude to familiar tales such as "Sleeping Beauty" and "Jack the Giant-Killer," MacDonald's stories are profoundly experimental and subversive. By questioning the concept that a childhood associated with purity, innocence, and fairy-tale "wonder" ought to be segregated from adult skepticism and disbelief, they invite adult readers to adopt the same elasticity and openmindedness that come so naturally to a child. <br><br>"I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him as my master . . . The quality that had enchanted me in his imaginative works turned out to be the quality of the real universe, the divine, magical, terrifying and ecstatic reality in which we all live." --C. S. Lewis 435387 1987 The Complete Fairy Tales (Penguin Classics) total:116|5:62|4:36|3:14|2:3|1:1| 116 503 212 14 4 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1986 Mon Oct 12 18:18:42 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 18:41:11 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Dec 30 11:03:16 -0800 2008 Tue Jan 20 10:15:04 -0800 2009 The Fantastic Imagination. It is extremely helpful to understand his views and i...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Oct 23 05:57:06 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 06:38:34 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Jun 17 07:52:17 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 07:29:11 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Aug 27 21:17:51 -0700 2009 Thu Aug 27 21:20:23 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Mar 07 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 11:19:49 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 31 13:51:55 -0700 2009 most of the stories in here are wondrous tellings, all are rather dream-like.
i think my two most favourites, off the top of my head, were 'the golden key' and 'the histor...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 28 06:45:17 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 18 08:57:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Sat Aug 11 01:13:53 -0700 2007 Sat Aug 11 01:20:00 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 21:09:04 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 09:54:24 -0700 2009 2 4 0 false false Thu Oct 02 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 13:44:07 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 02 12:06:54 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Tue Feb 12 19:15:27 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 07:16:23 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon Sep 29 03:04:14 -0700 2008 Wed Nov 12 13:42:56 -0800 2008 5 0 false false Sun Nov 18 04:11:52 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 18 04:12:22 -0800 2007 5 0 false false Wed Oct 22 18:22:04 -0700 2008 Wed Sep 03 14:19:42 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 22 18:22:04 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Nov 11 16:35:04 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 11 16:35:04 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 10 16:55:43 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 16:55:43 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Nov 10 08:35:21 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 10 08:35:21 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Nov 06 15:40:35 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 06 15:40:35 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 03 02:05:59 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 03 02:05:59 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Mon Nov 02 22:45:41 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 22:45:41 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=577555