The Light Princess - Softcover

MacDonald, George

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1515315231 ISBN 13: 9781515315230

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015

Synopsis

The Light Princess presents an unusual twist on the fairy tale genre. The strange curse placed on the baby princess in this tale prevents the child from having any gravity. The princess must be kept from floating away by a rope that moors her to the ground like a human balloon. Somehow she must find a way to fall in love to break the spell.

A wonderful spin on the Sleeping Beauty myth, The Light Princess can be enjoyed by adults and children thanks to the masterful story telling of George MacDonald (The Princess and the Goblin).

About this title

Review

The fact that George MacDonald--a scholar as well as a preacher and writer--once read this fairy tale to his students instead of giving them a lecture says volumes about the man and his beliefs. It also says much about his faith in the power of stories. The Light Princess is a simple enough tale, clearly written for children--a princess at her christening is cursed by a wicked witch with lightness (she floats blissfully about the castle all day long, and gets into all sorts of adventures, as one can easily imagine)--yet it holds a powerful spiritual truth. Gravity, weight, sorrow, suffering--all of this the princess misses, but with all of these she misses love, for what is love without weight, without body? What is love without falling? She discovers this truth, of course, only at the last minute when a faithful prince loves her enough to die for her.

Sometimes it's not a ponderous lecture--or sermon--that we need in order to experience what incarnation is about. --Doug Thorpe.

About the Author

George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet, and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. His writings have been cited as a major literary influence by many notable authors including W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit and Madeleine L'Engle. C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his "master": "Picking up a copy of Phantastes one day at a train-station bookstall, I began to read. A few hours later," said Lewis, "I knew that I had crossed a great frontier." G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a book that had "made a difference to my whole existence".

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1515315231
• ISBN 13: 9781515315230
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 49