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A Prisoner in Fairyland
by
[FULL TEXT]
In the train, even before St. John's was passed, a touch of inevitable reaction had set in, and Rogers asked himself why he was going. For a sentimental journey was hardly in his line, it seemed. But no satisfactory answer was forthcoming -- none, at least, that a Board or a Shareholders' Meeting would have considered satisfactory. The old vicar spoke to him str ...more
In the train, even before St. John's was passed, a touch of inevitable reaction had set in, and Rogers asked himself why he was going. For a sentimental journey was hardly in his line, it seemed. But no satisfactory answer was forthcoming -- none, at least, that a Board or a Shareholders' Meeting would have considered satisfactory. The old vicar spoke to him str ...more
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Paperback, 344 pages
Published
September 1st 2003
by Wildside Press
(first published 1913)
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This story surprised me. I wasn't prepared to like it as much as I did, but such are the surprises that await one who is willing to dig through the archives of public domain literature. I would certainly classify this one as a gem.
I had never heard of Algernon Blackwood until I was searching for good public domain books to download from Project Gutenberg when I came across a forum that mentioned several of his books. Upon further research I decided on The Willows and A Prisoner in Fairyland. The ...more
I had never heard of Algernon Blackwood until I was searching for good public domain books to download from Project Gutenberg when I came across a forum that mentioned several of his books. Upon further research I decided on The Willows and A Prisoner in Fairyland. The ...more
A wealthy businessman retires in order to devote himself to a great work of charity, only to discover that he's been going about it in quite the wrong way.
This synopsis is really dry, and honestly says very little about the book, but A Prisoner in Fairyland is pretty much impossible to sum up. On the surface, the above synopsis is what the book is about. Henry Rogers retires, intending to devote himself to his grand Scheme for Disabled--we never learn exactly what--and on a whim goes back to his ...more
This synopsis is really dry, and honestly says very little about the book, but A Prisoner in Fairyland is pretty much impossible to sum up. On the surface, the above synopsis is what the book is about. Henry Rogers retires, intending to devote himself to his grand Scheme for Disabled--we never learn exactly what--and on a whim goes back to his ...more
At the heart of A Prisoner in Fairyland is a little story about wonder and compassion and love. Unfortunately that story gets lost among all of the WORDS. Seriously, it could have been cut down by at least half and still had enough length to tell a still rambling story about Rogers' adventures in the starlight.
There were two nit picky things that really bothered me throughout. One was how Rogers calls his cousin Daddy. What self respecting grown man calls his male cousin Daddy? (or for that matt ...more
There were two nit picky things that really bothered me throughout. One was how Rogers calls his cousin Daddy. What self respecting grown man calls his male cousin Daddy? (or for that matt ...more
An extreme indulgence for my romantic fantasy side (Byron romantic, not Nora Roberts romantic). Some truly soul-stirring moments, but overall a little long. I was glad when it was over; but I was also glad I read it.
Realism is not my thing, couldn’t make it past ch 8
It may have some flaws in writing, but the concepts are wonderful and cosmically spiritual in nature - the very high thinking involved in this book is what gives it its high value.
A wonderful read! It took a while for the story to grab me as a reader, but once it did it took my imagination to places and heights I never thought of going!!
I did it! I finally finished the book I began over 8 months ago! And if the time it took me to read it makes you think that this is a reflection of the quality of the writing, then you couldn't be further from the truth. This book is beautiful. And it's very much aware.
If I were to explain this book in terms of what people might understand, I would say it's the 'Inception' of early 20th century literature. It talks about the connection we all have as human beings during our most vulnerable state ...more
If I were to explain this book in terms of what people might understand, I would say it's the 'Inception' of early 20th century literature. It talks about the connection we all have as human beings during our most vulnerable state ...more
This was tedious to read. He uses the same elements that I've noted in all his previous novels, even using the same names and relationships for characters. There's this obsession he has with "so called real things" and thinking that imagining things can make them real and that the imagined things are more real than actual reality. This is in every novel of his.
The plot is... what exactly? There's so much time spent on children talking about nonsense that I couldn't figure out where the "story" w ...more
The plot is... what exactly? There's so much time spent on children talking about nonsense that I couldn't figure out where the "story" w ...more
Hmmmm, this book reads like it was written for pay-by-the-word. Occasionally Blackwood is beautifully lyrical and the words are well worth it, but there is a lot of repetition. The message also was interesting, from 1913, that we are all connected by our thoughts and that thinking well, thinking good things, sending good wishes and deeds into the world, is of great benefit to all. Since I believe this, it was interesting to read this approach to it.
I purchased this especially to read on a long ...more
I purchased this especially to read on a long ...more
I read this as a download from FeedBooks - a long, rambling story with a rather abrupt ending, but if one accepts the somewhat surreal assumptions made about dreaming and imagination, in the context of the story at least, it's actually quite a good read. I wouldn't recommend it as one's first Algernon Blackwood read though; too long and too weird.
Read 'The Willows' and 'Jimbo', in that order, before this. I've given up on some works of his and wondered why I bothered with others, but this one I ...more
Read 'The Willows' and 'Jimbo', in that order, before this. I've given up on some works of his and wondered why I bothered with others, but this one I ...more
Well, this was disappointing. Blackwood's short stories - "The Willows," for example, are great, in the vein of Lovecraft or Dunsany. This...this novel just didn't grab me. The characters were blandly inoffensive, the writing style was akin to Dickens being read by someone on Quaaludes, and...yeah. Not too great.
...more
This book is just beautiful. There's not much in the way of plot, and the language is a bit dense at times. But the main conceit of the novel, the concept of Fairyland and of good people spreading beauty to the world simply by being was lovingly explored in a giant, entrancing metaphor.
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Oh god, this could be at least five times shorter X_X Nevertheless, it's Blackwood, the language and the general ideas were beautiful, that's why I can't give it a single star. :/
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Jul 20, 2010
Carl Bettis
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
abandoned,
speculative-fiction
Too much magic and starlight and wistfulness, too little character and conflict. At least, in the first 1/3 of the book. I didn't go any further than that.
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The plot never really got going.
A beautiful story, though why it was in my 'Horror Books' app, I will never know...
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I thought the book was utter bullshit, but it was such very beautifully written bullshit that I gave it 2 stars anyway.
If ever I was going to stop reading a book, this would have been the one. Painful, slow, long. I didn't understand the point of it.
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Blackwood was born in Shooter's Hill (today part of south-east London, but then part of northwest Kent) and educated at Wellington College. His father was a Post Office administrator who, according to Peter Penzoldt, "though not devoid of genuine good-heartedness, had appallingly narrow religious ideas." Blackwood had a varied career, farming in Canada, operating a hotel, as a newspaper reporter i
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“No place worth knowing yields itself at sight, and those the least
inviting on first view may leave the most haunting pictures upon the
walls of memory.”
—
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inviting on first view may leave the most haunting pictures upon the
walls of memory.”
