I squeezed in the last several chapters of this book just as the new semester ground its gears and wheezed into shaky motion.
::
Lilith
This fantasy suffers from convoluted “action” sequences and dialogue muddied by excessive gusto (!!!), but the rare sense of paradox, which is MacDonald’s trademark, shines through. Some might find Lilith excessively morbid, but in reality this is the last charge one should level at the book. Undeniably, “death” is the central theme; but in MacDonald’s universe, death is life. Lilith attempts to probe the opaque mysteries of eternal life, defiant evil, genuine personhood, and beauty—and thanks to MacDonald’s humility, coupled with an imagination which few can match—it succeeds. One puts the volume down with a healthily unsettled mind. Those searching for the author’s masterwork, however, will want to read Phantastes.
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Dying Toward Life
Subscribe to:
or 
or
5 comments:
Don't worry! I'm not a spammer!
I read this book earlier this year. Definitely unsettling, terrifying at times...and i found myself wondering where the heck the entire confused thing was going until the last quarter of the book. It does take a lot of imagination and patience to get through parts of it...but i walked out satiated and happy. In quite an unexpected way.
Have you ever read his short stories? There are some real gems to be found there, too.
"Definitely unsettling, terrifying at times..."
We're tracking on this one. When I put the book down, I hadn't anticipated being so content. MacDonand manages to unwind enough threads to reach a kind of equilibrium.
I have read his short stories, but not for awhile. I remember liking one about a "day" boy and a "night" girl...and others besides. The book is on my shelf, begging to be reopened this evening.
Any other MacDonald readers out there?
(As to the spamming - now deleted - I think I'll give in and turn on Blogger's anti-spam device, even though it complicates the comment process.)
Any other MacDonald readers out there?
Definitely. I've read The Golden Key so many times that its imagery leaks over into a lot of other stories. Lilith is great, as well as some of his more traditional fiction: The Fisherman's Lady, The Marquis' Secret, The Curate's Awakening, etc.
The only thing of his that I didn't like was the McDLT, hot side hot, cold side cold... quite frankly, I was confused. I'm more of a Big Mac fan.
Photogen and Nyctiris (i think that's how you spell it)! The day boy and night girl...i love that one, too.
Well, last night I actually did it - read a couple short stories before bed. I read The Golden Key, which I vaguely remembered from my childhood, and which was exquisite. As gymbrall says, imagery like that doesn't ever really leave you.
I also read The Giant's Heart, which was mildly grotesque, but in a tolerable way.
Next up, I think, is The Day Boy and the Night Girl. Starting to read McDonald more extensively, I'm finding the parallels to C.S. Lewis' work fascinating.
If I had to rank what I've read so far, I'd still give Phantastes the nod... as the double-quarter pounder meal in McD's weighty portfolio.
Post a Comment