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Diana Wynne Jones: The Fantastic Tradition and Children's Literature
British author Diana Wynne Jones has been writing speculative fiction for children for more than thirty years. A clear influence on more recent writers such as J. K. Rowling, her humorous and exciting stories of wizard's academies, dragons, and griffins-many published for children but read by all ages-are also complexly structured and thought provoking critiques of the fantasy tradition. This is the first serious study of Jones's work, written by a renowned science fiction critic and historian. In addition to providing an overview of Jones's work, Farah Mendlesohn also examines Jones's important critiques of the fantastic tradition's ideas about childhood and adolescence.
276 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Farah Mendlesohn
36 books173 followersFarah Mendlesohn is a Hugo Award-winning British academic and writer on science fiction. In 2005 she won the Hugo Award for Best Related Book for The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction, which she edited with Edward James.
Mendlesohn is Professor of Literary History at Anglia Ruskin University, where she is also Head of English and Media. She writes on Science Fiction, Fantasy, Children's Literature and Historical Fiction. She received her D.Phil. in History from the University of York in 1997.
Her book Rhetorics of Fantasy won the BSFA award for best non-fiction book in 2009; the book was also nominated for both Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
In 2010 she was twice nominated for Hugo Awards in the Best Related Books category.
She was the editor of Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction from 2002 to 2007. She formerly was Reviews Editor of Quaker Studies.
Mendlesohn is Professor of Literary History at Anglia Ruskin University, where she is also Head of English and Media. She writes on Science Fiction, Fantasy, Children's Literature and Historical Fiction. She received her D.Phil. in History from the University of York in 1997.
Her book Rhetorics of Fantasy won the BSFA award for best non-fiction book in 2009; the book was also nominated for both Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
In 2010 she was twice nominated for Hugo Awards in the Best Related Books category.
She was the editor of Foundation - The International Review of Science Fiction from 2002 to 2007. She formerly was Reviews Editor of Quaker Studies.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 27, 2022
This highlighted to me the existence of an essay by Diana Wynne Jones (based off a speech she did) called 'Birthing a Book'. This is not included in Reflections: On the Magic of Writing, and while this has sadly been taken down off the original website, I have thankfully found it via the Internet Archive, which I link here for future reference.
January 8, 2011
Great analysis and discussion of Diana Wynne Jones' books. Instead of looking at the books one by one or chronologically (which would take a while) the book breaks things down into certain ideas like time travel and portal fantasies, pointing out how Jones tends to make criticism part of the story and turn cliches on their head.
It made me want to go out and read all her books I haven't read and re-read the ones I had. There are so many characters and stories (and those stories are complex!) that sometimes I wished they were clearer in my mind when they were being discussed, as the author assumes that familiarity from the start. There's not much in the way of intros or synopsis for beginners. But this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the books.
It made me want to go out and read all her books I haven't read and re-read the ones I had. There are so many characters and stories (and those stories are complex!) that sometimes I wished they were clearer in my mind when they were being discussed, as the author assumes that familiarity from the start. There's not much in the way of intros or synopsis for beginners. But this didn't interfere with my enjoyment of the books.
December 6, 2015
If you've spent countless hours devoting yourself to Diana Wynne Jones' impressive collection of work, reading this book will be an incredibly satisfying experience. It details many of the complexities of her story telling - from how she chooses to subvert the fantasy genre to her clever manipulation of time travel - and really did increase my (already vast) appreciation for Jones' stories. Be warned though that a more than passing familiarity with Jones' books is necessary before reading through this volume, as otherwise many of the points brought up throughout it will merely be confusing or possibly ruin the endings of novels you haven't already read.
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February 18, 2018loc 273 (intro): '... people do lose sight of their ideals quite often in adolescence and young adulthood; they tend to see life as far too complex and then come up with the idea that things are only real and valid if they are unpleasant and boring.' (Diana Wynne Jones, 'The Heroic Ideal - A Personal Odyssey,' The Lion and the Unicorn 13 (1989).
p. 168-9 'The assumption that all aspects of the fantastic are metaphoric - that horror is about a fear of contamination, that the quest is the Bildungsroman (the story of growing up) - is an imposition that limits the understanding of the fantastic and renders it impossible to consider fantasy qua fantasy, or fantasy as technique. It is not wrong, or uninteresting, but it treats fantasy fiction as medicine rather than a creative act. Butler wrote of fantasy generally, and Jones specifically,
p.179'Jones can [...] also demonstrate that analysis, the reframing of what is seen, can breach consensus reality.'
p.194-5'Jones writes for the book-starved. The intertextuality of her books can be understood in a number of ways, but at least one element is that they seem designed to be reread and wrung dry of all possible detail, and then even the manner in which the detail is fitted together is to be considered. [...] Diana Wynne Jones writes Künstlerromane, tales that are essentially about the growing of the child into the artist.'
p.195-6'Amusingly, Jones seems to be training her readers to be what Peter Hunt described as those who "read in a deviant way"; that is, critically. [...] It is just possible that for Jones's complexity to be appreciated, first she had to grow her own critics.'
p. 168-9 'The assumption that all aspects of the fantastic are metaphoric - that horror is about a fear of contamination, that the quest is the Bildungsroman (the story of growing up) - is an imposition that limits the understanding of the fantastic and renders it impossible to consider fantasy qua fantasy, or fantasy as technique. It is not wrong, or uninteresting, but it treats fantasy fiction as medicine rather than a creative act. Butler wrote of fantasy generally, and Jones specifically,
To think of it [fantasy] as a disposable husk, to be discarded once the enabling work has been done would imply a naive conception of the experience of reading. In Jones's case it would also miss the point. One of the attractions of Jones's magical literature is its ability to convey the sense that "normal" life (or the etiolated version of it available to the inactive imagination) is partial and illusory. In her books magic can also function metonymically as well as metaphorically.' (Charles Butler, "Now Here: Where Now?")
p.179'Jones can [...] also demonstrate that analysis, the reframing of what is seen, can breach consensus reality.'
p.194-5'Jones writes for the book-starved. The intertextuality of her books can be understood in a number of ways, but at least one element is that they seem designed to be reread and wrung dry of all possible detail, and then even the manner in which the detail is fitted together is to be considered. [...] Diana Wynne Jones writes Künstlerromane, tales that are essentially about the growing of the child into the artist.'
p.195-6'Amusingly, Jones seems to be training her readers to be what Peter Hunt described as those who "read in a deviant way"; that is, critically. [...] It is just possible that for Jones's complexity to be appreciated, first she had to grow her own critics.'
November 23, 2008
Of Diana Wynne Jones's more than 40 excellent fantasy fiction books, my favorites are:
* Charmed Life, and its sequal The Pinhoe Egg
* Howl's Moving Castle, followed by House of Many Ways
* Power of Three
* The Ogre Downstairs
* Dogsbody
* Deep Secret, followed by The Merlin Conspiracy
When Jones started writing, it was accepted that boys would not read books with girls as protagonsts. Jones had only sons, and she wanted them to read her books, but she also wanted to be able to write about female protagonists.
As Mendlesohn points out in this perceptive book, Jones manged to do both, consistently (and quietly) altering, undercutting, and even reversing deeply embeded conventions of fantasy fiction.
This is a good book of criticixm, though occasional missing words and cumbersome patches suggest that its editorial team had an off day.
* Charmed Life, and its sequal The Pinhoe Egg
* Howl's Moving Castle, followed by House of Many Ways
* Power of Three
* The Ogre Downstairs
* Dogsbody
* Deep Secret, followed by The Merlin Conspiracy
When Jones started writing, it was accepted that boys would not read books with girls as protagonsts. Jones had only sons, and she wanted them to read her books, but she also wanted to be able to write about female protagonists.
As Mendlesohn points out in this perceptive book, Jones manged to do both, consistently (and quietly) altering, undercutting, and even reversing deeply embeded conventions of fantasy fiction.
This is a good book of criticixm, though occasional missing words and cumbersome patches suggest that its editorial team had an off day.
June 10, 2015
Odlična knjiga, i lep primer kako se može ozbiljno analizirati fantastika za decu i njena posebnost u odnosu na fantastiku za odrasle - a i himna veličanstvenosti Dajane Vin Džouns. Jedini problem jeste što delovi o odnosu vremena i pripovedanja prosto vapiju za upotrebom Ženeta i Rikera, a njih nema ni od korova :( Ne pamtim da sam videla tako izrazit primer da autor pipa tražeći tačno određeno teorijsko oruđe (ovde naratologiju) i ne nalazi ga.
October 22, 2008
Just about as much fun as rereading a whole stack of Diana Wynne Jones books (which is to say, lots, especially for a whole book of literary theory). Farah Mendlesohn *gets it* about these books, really really well.
January 17, 2012
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1844360...
An excellent, thorough look at the works of the much-missed author, taking us through how Jones educates her readers subtly through her writing, which made me want to fill in the large gaps in my own reading of her works
An excellent, thorough look at the works of the much-missed author, taking us through how Jones educates her readers subtly through her writing, which made me want to fill in the large gaps in my own reading of her works
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews