Watership Down is a masterpiece. Every single page is filled with glistening prose, fascinating characters, and understated brilliance. At first it’s hard to believe that the story really is about rabbits. How will the author will continue to develop such a tale for so many pages? One expects that at some point the rabbits will be …
Phantastes by George MacDonald My rating: 4 of 5 stars Phantastes reads like a self-aware, coherent dream. It follows the wanderings of Anodos (I don’t believe his real name is ever given, but this is what he is sometimes called) through the strange realm of Fairy Land. There is no real plot to this story …
As promised in my recent Six Degrees post, here is a short review of the Worm Ouroboros by E.R. Eddison. Hope you enjoy it. This book is brilliant, a literary feast that makes modern works seem wanting in their command of the English language. It is written in Jacobian english and is highly stylized, requiring …
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne My rating: 3 of 5 stars Melancholy. That’s the word I’d think best describes this book because that is the work which describes its principal character, Captain Nemo. Though Monsier Arronax is the narrator and present in each scene he is overshadowed by the brooding master …
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darknessby Andrew Peterson My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a delightful and whimsical tale about the Igiby children and their troubles with the evil Fangs who have taken over their homeland of Skree. It is part Tom Sawyer, part Phantastes, and conveys a strong sense …
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Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson My rating: 4 of 5 stars If you’re looking for authentic pirate adventure, I can’t think of a better book to recommend than Treasure Island. Stevenson has the jargon down pat and really makes you feel like you’re part of the crew. For the most part, the journey is …
The Complete Fairy Tales by George MacDonald My rating: 5 of 5 stars I give this book 5 stars really on the strength of three of its stories- The Light Princess, The History of Phtogen and Nycteris, and my favorite of all, The Wise Woman or the Lost Princess. Not that the other stories are …
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Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne My rating: 5 of 5 stars I can’t say enough about what an enjoyable journey this was. The characters were vivid and charming, the plot brisk (once it got going), and the language and descriptions were superb. Phileas Fogg, the main character, proved “equal to the …
