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 modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. In addition to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons.
George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the arena of unbiased fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. In auxiliary to his fairy tales, MacDonald wrote several works of Christian theology, including several collections of sermons.
His writings have been cited as a major theoretical influence by many notable authors including Lewis Carroll, W. H. Auden, David Lindsay, J. M. Barrie, Lord Dunsany, Elizabeth Yates, Oswald Chambers, Mark Twain, Hope Mirrlees, Robert E. Howard, L. Frank Baum, T.H. White, Richard Adams, Lloyd Alexander, Hilaire Belloc, G.K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Walter de la Mare, E. Nesbit, Peter S. Beagle, Neil Gaiman and Madeleine L’Engle.
C. S. Lewis wrote that he regarded MacDonald as his “master”: “Picking taking place 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 good frontier.” G. K. Chesterton cited The Princess and the Goblin as a baby book that had “made a difference to my total existence”.
Elizabeth Yates wrote of Sir Gibbie, “It moved me the habit books did when, as a child, the great gates of literature began to entrйe and first encounters subsequently noble thoughts and utterances were unspeakably thrilling.”
Even Mark Twain, who initially disliked MacDonald, became links with him, and there is some evidence that Twain was influenced by him. The Christian author Oswald Chambers wrote in his “Christian Disciplines” that “it is a striking indication of the trend and shallowness of the ahead of its time reading public that George MacDonald’s books have been so neglected”.