Catholic Thought discussion

We're almost upon Christmas, and we haven't started our Christmas read yet!
Let's start with the first short story, "The Gifts of the Christ Child" it is a quick read of about 30 pages. In a couple of days I'll post an introduction. In the meantime, I'll open a thread for the first poem, "A Christmas Carol".

Here is the Wikipedia entry for George MacDonald:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...

He is considered a forerunner of the modern fantasy genre and was a big influence on Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. There is a great documentary called "The Fantasy Makers" where he is prominently featured at the beginning and it goes into why he wrote stories he did. For anyone who has access to FORMED through their parish, you can watch it for free. Amazon Prime will charge you $2.99 rental. It is well worth it, especially if you are a Tolkien and C.S. Lewis fan. I know I've watched it at least twice, though a refresher wouldn't hurt :-)

Here is a trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0knV...

Has anyone read "The Shadows" yet? I have read most of it and I don't know what the heck I read. I am baffled.

I'm in the middle of it and share your bafflement. So far I don't see a connection with Christmas, and I'm trying to connect it with similar stories about imaginary beings, but no luck so far. Also wondering what happened to the fairies?

I agree. I'm in the middle of it, and how this connects to Christmas aside from it happening at Christmas time I have yet to figure out.

Should we drop it or do we want to persevere?

I am wondering if this story is MacDonald making a story of Carl Jung's preoccupation with shadow, as the dark side of our psyche. Were Jung and MacDonald contemporaries? if so, the story makes more sense. One of Jung's well-known quotes is something about understanding the darkness in others through getting in touch with our own shadow side. The story makes more sense that way.

Here it is: "Knowing your own darkness is the best method for dealing with the darkness of other people." Which is what the protagonist seems to be experiencing. But where do the fairies come in and how is making him the fairy king a part of the process or is it?

But MacDonald was publishing before Jung was born. So much for that. Jung was a student during McDonald's later years.

Madeleine wrote: "But MacDonald was publishing before Jung was born. So much for that. Jung was a student during McDonald's later years."

Yeah, I was going to tell you that. MacDonald died in 1905 when Jung was 30. Not sure when Jung started publishing but I doubt MacDonald even heard of Jung.

I started reading Uncle Peter and it's wonderful. I would concentrate on that and if people want to go back to The Shadows we can do so.

That sounds like a plan, Manny.

I pushed through "Shadows" and it didn't get any better. So yes, that one was a dud.

I'm going to put up the folder and summary for Uncle Peter.

I have not read The Shadows, but those of you who have might be interested in some of the reviews of the story. You can find them here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...

Celia wrote: "I have not read The Shadows, but those of you who have might be interested in some of the reviews of the story. You can find them here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1......"

Thanks Celia. I guess quite a few understood it and liked it. I was just lost. We could give this another try after Uncle Peter. Did you read Uncle Peter? I have that folder up for comments.

I read some of the reviews, and I don't know where they found the metaphors, etc.
I found "Shadows" a bit creepy. I have no desire to reread it. They are not described as being beautiful beings, and even though they work for the good of mankind, I didn't get a sense as to where this benevolence came from. In a fantasy story you have to get an understanding of what kind of world you are in, what the underlying moral compass of good and evil is. I didn't get a sense of this being well developed. I could be wrong. Though I can't shake the sense that this story may have been just an idea MacDonald played around with.

Manny wrote: "Celia wrote: "I have not read The Shadows, but those of you who have might be interested in some of the reviews of the story. You can find them here:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1......"

I started Uncle Peter and so far like it. I will weigh in on the proper thread.