The Princess and the Goblin, with eBo..., George MacDonald
The Princess and the Goblin, with eBo..., George MacDonald
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The Princess and the Goblin, with eBook

Author: George MacDonald

Narrator: Ian Whitcomb

Unabridged: 5 hr 17 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 04/06/2009

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included


Synopsis

Young Princess Irene is sent to the country to be raised in a half-farmhouse, half-castle located in the side of a mountain. While exploring the top of the castle, Irene becomes lost and inexplicably finds her way to a mystifying and beautiful woman spinning a thread. Princess Irene discovers that this woman to which she is drawn is her great-great-grandmother. But after she returns, her nurse, Lootie, refuses to believe in the old woman's existence, and the young princess cannot find the way back to her great-great-grandmother.

Days later, while on an outing with Lootie, Princess Irene believes that she detects a goblin. They meet a young miner, Curdie, who confirms her sighting. Soon Curdie discovers that goblins lurking under the castle have constructed an evil plot against the king and his palace. Princess Irene's belief in her great-great-grandmother's powers becomes essential as she and Curdie work to foil the sinister goblin plan. As the Princess tells Curdie, "Sometimes you must believe without seeing."

About George MacDonald

George MacDonald was a prolific author of both children's and adult books, including such classics as At the Back of the North Wind, The Princess and the Goblin, Lilith, and Phantastes. His works were the inspiration for later writers, including G. K. Chesterton, C. S. Lewis, and J. R. R. Tolkien.

A consummate Scotsman, MacDonald was born on December 10, 1824, in Huntly, Aberdeenshire. He was ordained as a congregationalist minister in 1845 and became a pastor at Arundel. This appointment did not last long, as he soon came into conflict with his parishioners and church because of his belief in purgatory and that all people eventually came into heaven, even animals.

In 1852, MacDonald married Louisa Powell, with whom he had six sons and five daughters. He was forced to resign from his church position in 1853, and after a brief sojourn in Algiers for the sake of his health, he became a freelance preacher, lecturer, and writer. His literary breakthrough came in 1855 with the publication of the narrative poem Within and Without. In the two decades that followed, he gained increasing fame and success with his children's books but was never able to earn enough money to support his family. Luckily, in 1877 he was granted a pension at the request of Queen Victoria.

MacDonald died on September 21, 1905, in Scotland.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Markus on March 29, 2016

Published in 1872, The Princess and the Goblin is one of the first books in the modern fantasy genre. This book had tremendous and very visible influence on all the (now much more famous) authors that came after it. It is of course very dated. It does not match the standards that fantasy have created......more

Goodreads review by Lea on December 20, 2021

Charming story fantasy for children written in 1872 by George MacDonald, the pioneer of the fantasy genre that influenced the new generation of most iconic writers such as Lewis Carroll, J.R.R. Tolkien, Madeleine L'Engle and C.S. Lewis. The writing style is old-fashioned, characters naive, tradition......more

Goodreads review by Hailey on October 11, 2016

*Read for class*......more

Goodreads review by Sanjay on January 01, 2016

No wonder why Tolkien and CS Lewis admired this tale. A very fine and enchanting story.......more

Goodreads review by Heidi on December 09, 2017

A charming fairy tale for children about a princess, a miner and hundreds of goblins- not just one. The goblins hate the king because they used to be normal humans. They chose to live underground, to be away from the king and his taxes, and that choice has turned them inhumanely ugly and grotesque. "......more