Victorians! discussion

For the first read in 2023 we'll be reading George MacDonald's The Princess and the Goblin. We'll be able to read it in about five weeks.

Week 1: 2 - 8 Jan: Chapters 1 - 7
Week 2: 9 - 15 Jan: Chapters 8 - 14
Week 3: 16 - 22 Jan: Chapters 15 - 20
Week 4: 23 -29 Jan: Chapters 21 - 26
Week 5: 31 Jan - 5 Feb: Chapters 27 - 32

George MacDonald is considered the forerunner of modern fantasy fiction who had a great influence on J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Here is a trailer to the documentary "The Fantasy Makers". Amazon Prime has it for rent ($2.99). It is well worth it if you're a Tolkien and/or Lewis fan. George MacDonald is featured quite prominently at the beginning of the film and it is explained why he wrote the stories he did.

I forgot the link!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0knV...

Here is a link to the George MacDonald Society website.

https://george-macdonald.com/

From the home page there are many links of interest. Under the ‘Resources’ link are biographies and other relevant materials. The resources section includes G K Chesterton explaining that ‘The Princess and the Goblin’ was that novel that……
’ made a difference to my whole existence, which helped me to see things in a certain way from the start; ……….’

Thanks for sharing that, Trev!

I just watched The Fantasy Makers, and it was very well done. It’s streaming for free with commercials on Crackle. (And, yes, I know how weird that is after all the cable tv hoopla of the last 40 years!)

I am a bit surprised that Madeleine L’Engle did not get a nod, but I guess they kept it to Brits. Any way, it was definitely worth the trouble of locating it. Thanks for the recommendation!

Kerstin wrote: "Here is a trailer to the documentary "The Fantasy Makers". ."

it seems the full movie is on youtube, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8I5f...

(haven't watched it yet)

Renee wrote: "I just watched The Fantasy Makers, and it was very well done. It’s streaming for free with commercials on Crackle. (And, yes, I know how weird that is after all the cable tv hoopla of the last 40 y..."

You're welcome!

I don't think I've ever heard of Crackle, lol! Anymore there are so many platforms out there it is hard to keep up.

I hadn't thought of Madleine L'Engle, but you are right. She was very instrumental too. The gist I got from the documentary is that with Tolkien and Lewis the genre of fantasy with its roots in fairy tales, epic sagas and poetry was (re)established. In a way they didn't do anything really new, they brought back forms of story telling that is ages old.

sabagrey wrote: "Kerstin wrote: "Here is a trailer to the documentary "The Fantasy Makers". ."

it seems the full movie is on youtube, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8I5f...

(haven't watched it yet)"

Oh thank you! that is great!

There is an interesting connection between the name ‘Coleridge’ and George Macdonald. No…….not Samuel Taylor here….but firstly his daughter Sara. Sara has been acknowledged by some scholars as the first author of a published fairy tale novel written in English.

(Here is an extract about her from Wikipedia…..)

’ The first eight years of her married life were spent in a little cottage in Hampstead. There four of her children were born, of whom two survived. In 1834, Mrs Coleridge published her Pretty Lessons in Verse for Good Children; with some Lessons in Latin in Easy Rhyme. These were originally written for the instruction of her own children, and became very popular.[2]

In 1837, the Coleridges moved to Chester Place, Regent's Park; and in the same year appeared Phantasmion, a Fairy Tale, Sara Coleridge's longest original work, described by critic Mike Ashley as "the first fairytale novel written in English".[7]

The literary historian Dennis Butts describes Phantasmion as a "remarkable pioneering fantasy" and "an extraordinary monument to her talent".[8] The songs in Phantasmion were much admired in their time by Leigh Hunt and other critics. Some, such as "Sylvan Stag" and "One Face Alone", are notably graceful and musical and the whole fairy tale has beauty of story and richness of language. Some scholars of the fantasy genre call Phantasmion a possible influence on George MacDonald.[8]’

The great niece of Sara was Mary Coleridge who was a novelist and poet who used the pseudonym ‘Anodos’ to publish her work. Anodos was taken from George MacDonald’s Phantastes

More about Mary here……

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_El...

How interesting!

I coincidentally have a charity shop paperback of this on my bookshelf! I will join in.

I started today. It’s very readable.

Trev wrote: "The great niece of Sara was Mary Coleridge who was a novelist and poet who used the pseudonym ‘Anodos’ to publish her work. Anodos was taken from George MacDonald’s Phantastes..."

That's really interesting, Trev. You really dived in deep!

Kerstin wrote: "Now for a technical question: How do you post pictures in a comment?"

Just above the comment box, on the top right, there is a link (some html is ok). Click on the link. 5 options down next to image you will find the text you have to copy (what you enter into your comment for the image to appear). There are also further tips underneath in pale grey (don't copy those into the comment). You have to replace the example link with your own url link to an image online. You also have to adjust the numbers according to whether your image is landscape or portrait, also according to personal size preference.

If you need further help, you are welcome to private message me. I'm happy to walk you through the process. I had to practice a fair bit when I first decided to try it!

When I put images in comments I find this link a little bit easier to use.

I copy and paste the bold text, insert the link to the image between the quotation marks and then remove the spaces after and before the end brackets.

https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/...

Trev wrote: "I find this link a little bit easier to use."

That works too, Trev! There is no customisation with the second way. A large sized image will paste a large image in the comments. The other way allows more control, especially if you have a particular image in mind which happens to be large. Some people prefer the first way for their reviews, so they are better able to design their layout.

1. < img src="" width="" height="" / >

2. < img src="" / >

This is the difference between the two when it comes to what is being copied and pasted. In the first, you paste in the URL and add the image dimensions of your preference (between the quotation marks). In the second, you only paste in the URL . Of course, remove the spaces before and after the brackets for both ways.

On reflection, my suggestion for Kerstin is to start with the second example and once comfortable with that, try the first (if a more customised way is wanted or needed).

Jane wrote: "1.

2.

This is the difference between the two when it comes to what is being copied and pasted. In the first, you paste in the URL. In the second, you paste in the URL and add the image dimensio..."


Thanks. That will also be helpful for me in the future.

Jane wrote: "Kerstin wrote: "Now for a technical question: How do you post pictures in a comment?"

Just above the comment box, on the top right, there is a link (some html is ok). Click on the link. 5 options ..."

Ah, thanks!

Hi Victorians!

I know I've fallen behind, we had a family emergency over the weekend. I'll get us back on track either today or tomorrow.

@Kerstin, I hope all is well! You and your family are in my prayers.

Thanks Peej!
And welcome to Victorians!