"Introduction to 'Phantastes' by George MacDonald."

"Introduction to 'Phantastes' by George MacDonald." | Dr Kirstin JEFFREY JOHNSON

Рет қаралды 11,279

3 жыл бұрын

An introduction to Phantastes, by Dr Kirstin Jeffrey Johnson. Much of the material referencecd in this lecture can be found in " 'Servant of All': Arthurian Peregrinations in George MacDonald," by K. Jeffrey Johnson in The Inklings and King Arthur: J. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis, and Owen Barfield on the Matter of Britain by Sørina Higgins and "Rooted Deep: Relational Inklings of the Mythopoeic Maker, George MacDonald" in Informing the Inklings edited bby M. Patridge & K. Jeffrey Johnson.

Пікірлер: 12

@SteveDouglas 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent introduction! I was one of those weirdos who got through it the first time and I've read it several times since, but even with that exposure this sheds a lot of excellent insight, especially in regard to its championing of Arthurian literature in a subversive way. Thanks for posting this!

@thepipersmantel 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you for posting this. I had a similar experience to Lewis, and George MacDonald's works have greatly impacted my life for the better!

@zzzmd2be 3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for this thoughtful introduction. I made it through Phantastes the first time a few years ago, but not without some consternation. I look forward to re-reading it for the Rabbit Room Reading Group starting soon.

@sdbruceb 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for this. I had just finished listening to Phantastes and definitely had some trouble keeping my mind on course. Part of it was the reader was very monotone and partly the story was not so easy... But your background, commentary and analysis were so helpful. I am looking forward to going through it again.

@thewhisperingtheologianasmr 2 жыл бұрын

This is absolutely fascinating! Thank you for sharing

@michaelkelleypoetry 2 ай бұрын

I think the main problem a lot of people have in reading Phantastes is they get it as an e-book which Lewis never would have had. The first time I tried reading it, I tried to read it as part of a collection of George MacDonald's works on the Kindle and I couldn't get through it. I couldn't even get through the Princess and the Goblin on the Kindle. But when I got physical copies of both Curdie books and a physical copy of Phantastes, I absolutely devoured them. I don't know what it is, but in physical form, they are amazing reads, but even knowing the stories now, I still get bogged down if I try to read them in electronic form. And what's weird, there are a lot of books that I am able to read in Kindle form, like Narnia or the LOTR, but MacDonald, I have to have physical copies. Phantastes is an amazing book and real page-turner, but in Kindle form, it's a slog. I don't know why, but there you have it. hahah.

@Scott_Terry 2 ай бұрын

I've yet to successfully read an e-book. I have read Phantastes both in hard-copy and as an audiobook performance. Both be hittin' different (as the kids say). For MacDonald's Scottish dialect novels, I think having a good audio-book performance is very important - at least until you get the hang of it for yourself - but that's just me.

@Scott_Terry 2 ай бұрын

I'm just a blue-collar nobody but I've read Phantastes many times, although, after listening Dr. Johnson's lecture here, I'd like to go through it again. I've never been a big fan of this or MacDonald's Lilith. In fact, I think everything good in Lilith can be had - and much clearer - in the Wingfold trilogy. That Mr. Polwarth; short in stature, tall in Spirit! Unfortunately, I missed out on reserving a spot for the upcoming 200th anniversary celebration of MacDonald (hosted by the Wade Center). Too bad. I was hoping to see what other fans of MacDonald looked like in the flesh. Also - speaking of the importance of biographies, anyone know a good book-length biography of A.J. Scott?

@Myrdden71 2 жыл бұрын

Veritas Press has Phantastes as a reading for their Omnibus curriculum, and hundreds or even thousands of Christian School and homeschool students have read it over the past decade or two. A wonderful work, certainly a foundational work for modern fantasy and more.

@radstuff-jq5jo 3 ай бұрын

If Phantastes is supposed to be a journey into true knighthood/chivalry, why would Lewis have seen it as more universally applicable to himself and everyone he knew?

@jonathanbarnes3061 2 жыл бұрын

(55:58) ...goes beyond the expression of things we have already felt. It arouses in us sensations we have never before, nevrer anticipated having, as though we had broken 💔 out of a normal mode of consciousness and 'possessed joys not promised to our birth.'It gets under our skin, hits us at a level deeper than our thoughts or even our passions, troubles oldest certainties till all questions are reopened, and in general shocks us more fully awake ⏰️ than we are moat of our lives.

@alevan5714 Жыл бұрын

This is a lot of fun information into the book’s, Phantastes, background that makes the book more valuable than I thought it would be. I bought the book only because C.S. Lewis mentioned its importance, as the base for his thinking about morality and life and death, in his preface to “The Great Divorce.” I’ve now read that book three times and am currently discussing it, by phone, with my eldest grandson. I sent him a copy of it through Amazon. The concept C. S. Lewis develops in this book that we personally “choose” Hell-actually run to it through our own sense of self righteous importance-even in the face of Paradise’s life giving contradiction of our self’s importance-made a religiously changing impression on me; and, I’m hoping, will make a difference in my grandson’s life. I don’t expect much, just an opening in his mind that could be life changing for him. But it’s the fact that my grandson thinks so much of what I have to say that, he will discuss books with me, that is amazing to me. I love that boy! Thank you for your wonderful lecture. I’ve subscribed to your KZfaq channel