The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Irene is the bright and joyous Daughter of the King and lives in a place crawling with the worst sorts of goblins. Amazingly mature for her young years, she is of interest to the goblins for some reason. Two people intervene to protect her life, Curdie, the young son of a miner and her ghostly and powerful great grandmother who lives in the castle, but only Irene knows she’s there.
MacDonald’s works on the Faeries were intended for the entertainment of children, but there is great wisdom buried therein. MacDonald’s depth of learning and indeed, understanding, about the world is on full display, such as when Irene learns from her mysterious grandmother, “We are all very anxious to be understood, and it is very hard not to be. But there is one thing much more necessary.′
‘What is that, grandmother?’
‘To understand other people.‘”
The genius of MacDonald is that even when being entertaining, his books constantly whisper to us about the need to humbly respect and seek to understand the others who travel with us.
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