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At the Back of the North Wind
The haunting and memorable story of Diamond, the coachman son, and his adventures with the mysterious North Wind.
Leaving his little hayloft behind, Diamond sets off with North Wind, flying through the night on all sorts of strange, beautiful and sometimes even dangerous missions.
First published in 1871, this was the first and best-known children's book by George MacDonald, who mentored Lewis Carroll and inspired writers such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Leaving his little hayloft behind, Diamond sets off with North Wind, flying through the night on all sorts of strange, beautiful and sometimes even dangerous missions.
First published in 1871, this was the first and best-known children's book by George MacDonald, who mentored Lewis Carroll and inspired writers such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
346 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1871
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9015 people want to read
About the author
George MacDonald
1,538 books2,434 followersGeorge MacDonald was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He became 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 742 reviews
December 19, 2011
3rd time reading this through. One of my favorite stories of all time, but honestly, I started to feel that I absorbed as much as I could for this time in my life. The thought occurred to me that I might read this once more before I die, and that’s it. We’ll see what the years bring.
It is a beautiful story. Profound. Sometimes playful and outlandish in a Lewis Carroll sort of way. Honestly, some parts feel like just another Victorian nickel-novel. But MacDonald always manages to take it beyond its 19th century mew, and really succeeds like no author I’ve ever known in launching even beyond mere literature. You realize at some juncture that it’s about you—has always been about you. Some readers are disappointed in learning that MacDonald is only mildly interested in storytelling. He’s interested in reaching the reader, making a real connection in spirit, and writes with that goal in mind. It’s no surprise then that some accuse him of over-moralizing his tales, and losing track of the art, but I find him to be doing what he supposed to be doing with his stories, and using the art of storytelling to connect with people. He writes honestly, and in some deep paradoxical way I’m always convinced that he writes what he sees, and sees what he writes. Reading MacDonald always helps me to believe in greater things, in a fuller life potential, in a more beautiful God—in MacDonald’s world.
The story is about a boy who meets North Wind, a lovely ancient female embodied in the bitter, wintry wind, who serves as an emissary from God. This is truly a story for the childlike, as is all MacDonald’s works, but will appeal to today’s child much less than in the 19th century. North Wind is a metaphor for suffering in the world that has some intelligence behind the façade of senselessness, and the wind is described as only one of the various forms that God’s messengers may assume to reach us, depending on how ready we are, to help us ‘become who we are’. As far as the origin of pain, suffering, and so-called ‘misfortune’, not even North Wind can say what it all means, acknowledging a more remote antecedent of sense behind the sense. The closest North Wind can come to understanding it all, and maybe the closest MacDonald can get to it, is as a song:
"I will tell you how I am able to bear [the suffering of others], Diamond: I am always hearing, through every noise [and suffering], through all the noise I am making myself even, the sound of a far-off song. I do not exactly know where it is, or what it means; and I don't hear much of it, only the odor of its music, as it were, flitting across the great billows of the ocean outside this air in which I make such a storm; but what I do hear is quite enough to make me able to bear the cry from the drowning ship. So it would you if you could hear it."
When little Diamond questions North Wind about why she isn’t as good to others as she is to him, the answer deftly slams the forward dialogue into reverse:
Diamond: Why shouldn't you be good to other people as well as to me?
North Wind: That's just what I don't know. Why shouldn't I?
Diamond: I don't know either. Then why shouldn't you?
North Wind: Because I am.
Lest he give up there, North Wind ends with, “Besides, I tell you that it is so, only it doesn't look like it. That I confess freely. Have you anything more to object?”
The first half of the book is a bit fantastical with Diamond’s meeting the wind and such, but the second half of the book is mostly preoccupied with Diamond’s earthly struggles. Though I liked the first half best, the second half is really the important part I suppose, since it is the practical application of North Wind’s revelations.
I had an incident with this book that is worth mentioning regarding its value in my life. My dad had randomly picked this book off my shelf while visiting in Dallas, Texas. It fell open to these words:
North Wind: "You are quite mistaken. Windows are to see out of, you say. Well, I'm in my house, and I want windows to see out of it."
Diamond: "But you've made a window into my bed."
North Wind: "Well, your mother has got three windows into my dancing room, and you have three into my garret."
You can imagine my father’s confusion at reading that section, and later we all laughed as he read it out-loud and reminded me why he doesn’t read my sort of books!
Dad passed a few years later—a sudden stroke—and my brother shared with me a dream he had a short time after dad’s death. Dad was asking him to close the window because it was cold outside. Jeremy asked, “Why?” “Because they’ll get cold,” dad replied.
For me, and I know this is desperately reaching, it was a vivid reminder that dad had gone to the back of the North Wind, not suffering any longer; but we are still here in the cold, in a small corner of God’s greater Life, sheltered from some paralyzing horrors, but sheltered also from the truth at the foundation of the most unspeakable sorrows—endless warmth, and joy, and love. It was almost as if he was saying, “Don’t weep for me, weep for yourself that you have so far to go in such a chill wind.”
Bottom line, this was a mesmerizing and profound tale, and the peace communicated (not merely spoken or written) brings such a sense of assurance to me of what God is doing with all…this. I need as much of these kind of intelligent, lovely reminders as I can get.
It is a beautiful story. Profound. Sometimes playful and outlandish in a Lewis Carroll sort of way. Honestly, some parts feel like just another Victorian nickel-novel. But MacDonald always manages to take it beyond its 19th century mew, and really succeeds like no author I’ve ever known in launching even beyond mere literature. You realize at some juncture that it’s about you—has always been about you. Some readers are disappointed in learning that MacDonald is only mildly interested in storytelling. He’s interested in reaching the reader, making a real connection in spirit, and writes with that goal in mind. It’s no surprise then that some accuse him of over-moralizing his tales, and losing track of the art, but I find him to be doing what he supposed to be doing with his stories, and using the art of storytelling to connect with people. He writes honestly, and in some deep paradoxical way I’m always convinced that he writes what he sees, and sees what he writes. Reading MacDonald always helps me to believe in greater things, in a fuller life potential, in a more beautiful God—in MacDonald’s world.
The story is about a boy who meets North Wind, a lovely ancient female embodied in the bitter, wintry wind, who serves as an emissary from God. This is truly a story for the childlike, as is all MacDonald’s works, but will appeal to today’s child much less than in the 19th century. North Wind is a metaphor for suffering in the world that has some intelligence behind the façade of senselessness, and the wind is described as only one of the various forms that God’s messengers may assume to reach us, depending on how ready we are, to help us ‘become who we are’. As far as the origin of pain, suffering, and so-called ‘misfortune’, not even North Wind can say what it all means, acknowledging a more remote antecedent of sense behind the sense. The closest North Wind can come to understanding it all, and maybe the closest MacDonald can get to it, is as a song:
"I will tell you how I am able to bear [the suffering of others], Diamond: I am always hearing, through every noise [and suffering], through all the noise I am making myself even, the sound of a far-off song. I do not exactly know where it is, or what it means; and I don't hear much of it, only the odor of its music, as it were, flitting across the great billows of the ocean outside this air in which I make such a storm; but what I do hear is quite enough to make me able to bear the cry from the drowning ship. So it would you if you could hear it."
When little Diamond questions North Wind about why she isn’t as good to others as she is to him, the answer deftly slams the forward dialogue into reverse:
Diamond: Why shouldn't you be good to other people as well as to me?
North Wind: That's just what I don't know. Why shouldn't I?
Diamond: I don't know either. Then why shouldn't you?
North Wind: Because I am.
Lest he give up there, North Wind ends with, “Besides, I tell you that it is so, only it doesn't look like it. That I confess freely. Have you anything more to object?”
The first half of the book is a bit fantastical with Diamond’s meeting the wind and such, but the second half of the book is mostly preoccupied with Diamond’s earthly struggles. Though I liked the first half best, the second half is really the important part I suppose, since it is the practical application of North Wind’s revelations.
I had an incident with this book that is worth mentioning regarding its value in my life. My dad had randomly picked this book off my shelf while visiting in Dallas, Texas. It fell open to these words:
North Wind: "You are quite mistaken. Windows are to see out of, you say. Well, I'm in my house, and I want windows to see out of it."
Diamond: "But you've made a window into my bed."
North Wind: "Well, your mother has got three windows into my dancing room, and you have three into my garret."
You can imagine my father’s confusion at reading that section, and later we all laughed as he read it out-loud and reminded me why he doesn’t read my sort of books!
Dad passed a few years later—a sudden stroke—and my brother shared with me a dream he had a short time after dad’s death. Dad was asking him to close the window because it was cold outside. Jeremy asked, “Why?” “Because they’ll get cold,” dad replied.
For me, and I know this is desperately reaching, it was a vivid reminder that dad had gone to the back of the North Wind, not suffering any longer; but we are still here in the cold, in a small corner of God’s greater Life, sheltered from some paralyzing horrors, but sheltered also from the truth at the foundation of the most unspeakable sorrows—endless warmth, and joy, and love. It was almost as if he was saying, “Don’t weep for me, weep for yourself that you have so far to go in such a chill wind.”
Bottom line, this was a mesmerizing and profound tale, and the peace communicated (not merely spoken or written) brings such a sense of assurance to me of what God is doing with all…this. I need as much of these kind of intelligent, lovely reminders as I can get.
April 10, 2015
At the start, for the first half of it, I struggled to push my way through "At the Back of the North Wind." I thought it tedious and drawn out. But by the time I had waded into the middle, I found I was swimming.
I just finished this book, and I have to tell you, I have no way of using my tongue to convey how I feel and what this book has done in me. I sit without words, but without the ability to contain the rush of thought and emotion that crowd me on all sides. I look about and the only thing that can settle me and quiet me is a morning sunbeam passing through the curtains to the floor. I know that sounds rhapsodic and romaunt. I'm caught up, and enjoying every minute of it, like a man in love. But though my culturally-inherited "masculine" reflex wants me to say no more and erase all of this, how could I hide from you that bit of "mysticism" which I am presently enjoying?
Well, let me try to do some justice to this thing we call a "review" and actually talk about the book. I have one thing to tell you primarily: complete the story. I read the last chapter twice. Mull it over. Let thoughts on the whole story come and give yourself time to think about them, to philosophize and wonder. And then digest your thoughts. This is one of the greatest stories of any kind I have ever known (of course, this is only my estimation), and it is thus no surprise to me that C.S. Lewis wrote what he did of MacDonald's story-making:
"What he does best is fantasy—fantasy that hovers between the allegorical and the mythopoeic. And this, in my opinion, he does better than any man.... Most myths were made in prehistoric times, and, I suppose, not consciously made by individuals at all. But every now and then there occurs in the modern world a genius—a Kafka or a Novalis—who can make such a story. MacDonald is the greatest genius of this kind whom I know."
—This from a professor of literature at Cambridge.
I felt like I had experienced a holy moment when I finished the very last sentence of the last chapter—though I wonder if later my words here will seem surfeit. But I know they can't, because, as Diamond and the North Wind explain in the latter portion of the book: whether the dream is true or not, the thing it has done and the thing it stands for is true; and if the thing is true, mightn't we also say that the dream is "true"?
"At the Back of the North Wind" did nothing less to me than to make me aware of the wondrous ordinary—that the ordinary is never actually ordinary, but full of wonders, for those willing to perceive them.
It also made me ever more conscious of a different way of being, as I fell in love with the character of Diamond: a character that is so contented in trust, and fulfilled in love, that it cannot but live for the good of others (finding not that its own pleasure and good is overlooked, but that the good of others becomes its own pleasure and good) and that it cannot even feign to fear anything (finding that it is always watched and always loved by capable hands and full heart).
I will leave you to decide whether you will read the book. You will or you won't—there are other ways to come to these things yourself and other places to find great stories (though such transcendence is rare). But I don't feel any embarrassment in admitting the influence this book and George MacDonald's other works, each in their own kind, have made on me.
I just finished this book, and I have to tell you, I have no way of using my tongue to convey how I feel and what this book has done in me. I sit without words, but without the ability to contain the rush of thought and emotion that crowd me on all sides. I look about and the only thing that can settle me and quiet me is a morning sunbeam passing through the curtains to the floor. I know that sounds rhapsodic and romaunt. I'm caught up, and enjoying every minute of it, like a man in love. But though my culturally-inherited "masculine" reflex wants me to say no more and erase all of this, how could I hide from you that bit of "mysticism" which I am presently enjoying?
Well, let me try to do some justice to this thing we call a "review" and actually talk about the book. I have one thing to tell you primarily: complete the story. I read the last chapter twice. Mull it over. Let thoughts on the whole story come and give yourself time to think about them, to philosophize and wonder. And then digest your thoughts. This is one of the greatest stories of any kind I have ever known (of course, this is only my estimation), and it is thus no surprise to me that C.S. Lewis wrote what he did of MacDonald's story-making:
"What he does best is fantasy—fantasy that hovers between the allegorical and the mythopoeic. And this, in my opinion, he does better than any man.... Most myths were made in prehistoric times, and, I suppose, not consciously made by individuals at all. But every now and then there occurs in the modern world a genius—a Kafka or a Novalis—who can make such a story. MacDonald is the greatest genius of this kind whom I know."
—This from a professor of literature at Cambridge.
I felt like I had experienced a holy moment when I finished the very last sentence of the last chapter—though I wonder if later my words here will seem surfeit. But I know they can't, because, as Diamond and the North Wind explain in the latter portion of the book: whether the dream is true or not, the thing it has done and the thing it stands for is true; and if the thing is true, mightn't we also say that the dream is "true"?
"At the Back of the North Wind" did nothing less to me than to make me aware of the wondrous ordinary—that the ordinary is never actually ordinary, but full of wonders, for those willing to perceive them.
It also made me ever more conscious of a different way of being, as I fell in love with the character of Diamond: a character that is so contented in trust, and fulfilled in love, that it cannot but live for the good of others (finding not that its own pleasure and good is overlooked, but that the good of others becomes its own pleasure and good) and that it cannot even feign to fear anything (finding that it is always watched and always loved by capable hands and full heart).
I will leave you to decide whether you will read the book. You will or you won't—there are other ways to come to these things yourself and other places to find great stories (though such transcendence is rare). But I don't feel any embarrassment in admitting the influence this book and George MacDonald's other works, each in their own kind, have made on me.
August 1, 2021
So...as a kid, I had an abridged version of this book; it was part of the Young Reader's Christian Library series, which is pretty much like Thomas Nelson meets Great Illustrated Classics. However, though I was raised in a Christian home, I wasn't very enthused about the faith back then; I was much more enthused about my favorite computer games and television shows than anything to do with church or the Bible. Though I remember reading the easy reader version of this story back in the day, much of it was lost on me.
In recent years, I've done a complete one-eighty when it comes to the Christian faith. Not only was I baptized nearly two decades ago, but I often listen to Christian music and read Christian literature; in fact, I've read the Bible in its entirety every year since early in the 2010s. While I'm still working on how to properly live out my faith--as every Christian should be--God and Jesus are definitely important to me now.
That gave me a much different reaction to this book; I found it inspiring and powerful. It's telling that it continues to be in print over a century after its original release; it really does stand the test of time. If you're looking for a classic outside the realm of Shakespeare and Dickens, this is worth a try; I got my eBook copy from the Apple Books store for free!
EDIT: Since I recently got the complete works of George MacDonald from Apple Books, I thought I'd reread this...only to be disappointed; the version in that omnibus was abridged! If you want to read this book as it was originally written, get the free copy!
In recent years, I've done a complete one-eighty when it comes to the Christian faith. Not only was I baptized nearly two decades ago, but I often listen to Christian music and read Christian literature; in fact, I've read the Bible in its entirety every year since early in the 2010s. While I'm still working on how to properly live out my faith--as every Christian should be--God and Jesus are definitely important to me now.
That gave me a much different reaction to this book; I found it inspiring and powerful. It's telling that it continues to be in print over a century after its original release; it really does stand the test of time. If you're looking for a classic outside the realm of Shakespeare and Dickens, this is worth a try; I got my eBook copy from the Apple Books store for free!
EDIT: Since I recently got the complete works of George MacDonald from Apple Books, I thought I'd reread this...only to be disappointed; the version in that omnibus was abridged! If you want to read this book as it was originally written, get the free copy!
March 4, 2024
I wish I'd read this book as a child! But it was no less beautiful for me as an adult, and perhaps I got more out of it than I would have when I was younger. This is an allegorical, fairy-tale-like story about a young boy named Diamond, who is befriended by the North Wind. She appears to him in many forms, but most often as a tall, beautiful woman. Eventually, he is allowed to visit the beautiful country at the back of the North Wind. When he returns, his family's circumstances change for the worse, but through all their trials he is able to keep a joyful heart and help his family and many others, because of the glory he has seen. There were so many beautiful truths throughout this story and I loved it so much!
Some favorite quotes...
"Now the way most people do when they see anything very miserable is to turn away from the sight, and try to forget it. But Diamond began as usual to try to destroy the misery. The little boy was just as much one of God's messengers as if he had been an angel with a flaming sword, going out to fight the devil. The devil he had to fight just then was Misery."
"His head was full of the dream he had dreamed; but it did not make him neglect his work, for his work was not to dig stars but to drive old Diamond and pick up fares. There are not many people who can think about beautiful things and do common work at the same time. But then there are not many people who have been to the back of the north wind."
"The wind blew loud, but Diamond slept a deep sleep, and never heard it. My own impression is that every time when Diamond slept well and remembered nothing about it in the morning, he had been all that night at the back of the north wind. I am almost sure that was how he woke so refreshed, and felt so quiet and hopeful all the day. Indeed he said this much, though not to me—that always when he woke from such a sleep there was a something in his mind, he could not tell what—could not tell whether it was the last far-off sounds of the river dying away in the distance, or some of the words of the endless song his mother had read to him on the sea-shore. Sometimes he thought it must have been the twittering of the swallows—over the shallows, you, know; but it may have been the chirping of the dingy sparrows picking up their breakfast in the yard—how can I tell? I don't know what I know, I only know what I think; and to tell the truth, I am more for the swallows than the sparrows. When he knew he was coming awake, he would sometimes try hard to keep hold of the words of what seemed a new song, one he had not heard before—a song in which the words and the music somehow appeared to be all one; but even when he thought he had got them well fixed in his mind, ever as he came awaker—as he would say—one line faded away out of it, and then another, and then another, till at last there was nothing left but some lovely picture of water or grass or daisies, or something else very common, but with all the commonness polished off it, and the lovely soul of it, which people so seldom see, and, alas! yet seldomer believe in, shining out."
Some favorite quotes...
"Now the way most people do when they see anything very miserable is to turn away from the sight, and try to forget it. But Diamond began as usual to try to destroy the misery. The little boy was just as much one of God's messengers as if he had been an angel with a flaming sword, going out to fight the devil. The devil he had to fight just then was Misery."
"His head was full of the dream he had dreamed; but it did not make him neglect his work, for his work was not to dig stars but to drive old Diamond and pick up fares. There are not many people who can think about beautiful things and do common work at the same time. But then there are not many people who have been to the back of the north wind."
"The wind blew loud, but Diamond slept a deep sleep, and never heard it. My own impression is that every time when Diamond slept well and remembered nothing about it in the morning, he had been all that night at the back of the north wind. I am almost sure that was how he woke so refreshed, and felt so quiet and hopeful all the day. Indeed he said this much, though not to me—that always when he woke from such a sleep there was a something in his mind, he could not tell what—could not tell whether it was the last far-off sounds of the river dying away in the distance, or some of the words of the endless song his mother had read to him on the sea-shore. Sometimes he thought it must have been the twittering of the swallows—over the shallows, you, know; but it may have been the chirping of the dingy sparrows picking up their breakfast in the yard—how can I tell? I don't know what I know, I only know what I think; and to tell the truth, I am more for the swallows than the sparrows. When he knew he was coming awake, he would sometimes try hard to keep hold of the words of what seemed a new song, one he had not heard before—a song in which the words and the music somehow appeared to be all one; but even when he thought he had got them well fixed in his mind, ever as he came awaker—as he would say—one line faded away out of it, and then another, and then another, till at last there was nothing left but some lovely picture of water or grass or daisies, or something else very common, but with all the commonness polished off it, and the lovely soul of it, which people so seldom see, and, alas! yet seldomer believe in, shining out."
June 11, 2024
3⭐️
Not super sure how to rate this. I think I am missing the allegory or subtext of this story 🤷🏼♀️….
It was a cute story over all though. I liked Diamond as a character. Honestly, I felt like it had similar vibes (while still being vastly different) to The Mole, The Boy, The Fox and the Horse; a young boy’s surreal journey through his regular life with loads of existential, deep ponderings….
Not super sure how to rate this. I think I am missing the allegory or subtext of this story 🤷🏼♀️….
It was a cute story over all though. I liked Diamond as a character. Honestly, I felt like it had similar vibes (while still being vastly different) to The Mole, The Boy, The Fox and the Horse; a young boy’s surreal journey through his regular life with loads of existential, deep ponderings….
January 11, 2011
I am so delighted to have found this book amongst the treasures of project Guteberg. Thank goodness for public domain books and ebook readers! With the low price of admission, I find myself reading more and more books that I might not have otherwise taken the time to look up, or might not have remembered when I got to a library.
Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. However, as opposed to most books that pull you through solely with plot, I found myself going back and re-reading passages to think about the things MacDonald was saying. To me, this was the best MacDonald book that I've yet read. As with Sir Gibbie the main character is a boy who seems almost too good for this world. However, far from seeming a prig, this innocent ends up bringing the best out of all those around him. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that the imagery, the story, and the very feel of the book will now be one of my definitions of mythopoea. I can see how these MacDonald books would have so strongly influenced Tolkien and Lewis in their future literary works.
So many of the conversations between North Wind and young Diamond are underlined that I have a hard time picking my favorite part of the book. However, I think one of my favorite conversations may have been between these two characters when Diamond is asking North Wind whether she is real or just a dream. I feel that this must have in some way influenced Lewis in his ideas presented in his essay Weight of Glory, and in his idea for Aslan.
Although the end of the book is something that I suspected earlier on in the book, it did not lose any of its impact for this suspicion. To me this was wonderful proof that if a book has true substance behind it, then a suspected end does not ruin the overall story but in fact adds to it due to the sense of realism. Maybe this realism is a good refute to those who dismiss fantasy as escapist?
Once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down. However, as opposed to most books that pull you through solely with plot, I found myself going back and re-reading passages to think about the things MacDonald was saying. To me, this was the best MacDonald book that I've yet read. As with Sir Gibbie the main character is a boy who seems almost too good for this world. However, far from seeming a prig, this innocent ends up bringing the best out of all those around him. Without giving too much away, I'll just say that the imagery, the story, and the very feel of the book will now be one of my definitions of mythopoea. I can see how these MacDonald books would have so strongly influenced Tolkien and Lewis in their future literary works.
So many of the conversations between North Wind and young Diamond are underlined that I have a hard time picking my favorite part of the book. However, I think one of my favorite conversations may have been between these two characters when Diamond is asking North Wind whether she is real or just a dream. I feel that this must have in some way influenced Lewis in his ideas presented in his essay Weight of Glory, and in his idea for Aslan.
Although the end of the book is something that I suspected earlier on in the book, it did not lose any of its impact for this suspicion. To me this was wonderful proof that if a book has true substance behind it, then a suspected end does not ruin the overall story but in fact adds to it due to the sense of realism. Maybe this realism is a good refute to those who dismiss fantasy as escapist?
March 8, 2020
Diamond is a young boy, living in deep poverty with his family in 1860's Great Britain. One night, while trying to stuff rags into holes in the wall, he meets the North Wind, and together they go on a series of adventures. The North Wind does things to help others, but she also does things that seem bad, including sinking a ship.
George MacDonald, I learned, is a respected theologian, and this book is considered his masterpiece. He uses the story to share his thoughts on theodicy, as well as other philosophical and spiritual concepts.
I think we forget that life for children did not always have the social safety nets that we had today. Diamond's family struggles with poverty and hunger, and when Diamond's father falls ill, it is up to this young child to work and bring home enough money to feed the family. Diamond befriends a young girl who begs on the streets for her alcoholic grandmother, a child who has even more difficulties than Diamond.
I wasn't expecting to learn so much about deep theological ideas and social injustice in a children's book.
George MacDonald, I learned, is a respected theologian, and this book is considered his masterpiece. He uses the story to share his thoughts on theodicy, as well as other philosophical and spiritual concepts.
I think we forget that life for children did not always have the social safety nets that we had today. Diamond's family struggles with poverty and hunger, and when Diamond's father falls ill, it is up to this young child to work and bring home enough money to feed the family. Diamond befriends a young girl who begs on the streets for her alcoholic grandmother, a child who has even more difficulties than Diamond.
I wasn't expecting to learn so much about deep theological ideas and social injustice in a children's book.
Want to read
December 6, 2015Free download available at Project Gutenberg.
June 20, 2012
I recently had an intense, life-changing revelation. I nearly went insane and spent over 2 weeks in the hospital, diagnosed with hypermania. I found At The Back Of The North Wind in the hospital (I think left for a purpose), and it described my situation perfectly. I did not die/visit the back of the North Wind, but the North Wind was synonymous, for me, with the voice of God that resonated in my head, providing infinite wisdom. It turned me from a pond into a river, and all my fears and limits became intransigent no longer. This was what happened to Diamond. Diamond the Horse represents Christ, and Diamond the boy the enlightened man. He goes from fearful, timid, and non-communicative to fearless, infinitely courageous, and ultimately communicative.
The room of boards over the stable was his mind. It is oriented in a specific position and cites Orion (I think MacDonald may have meant Cygnus, a star formation seemingly referred to in Egyptian pyramids; the allusion was attributed, until fairly recently, to Orion) and the North Star as landmarks. The garden outside the house is Paradise, the garden of innocence, and his and Her's (The North Wind's) story is that of Adam and Eve told backwards. He hears the voice of God, eats the fruit (choice), and chooses to accept God, with unwavering faith. He comes out of his shelter (like shedding his clothes) and assumes a new dimension. With it comes total enlightenment and benevolence.
*Spoil Alert*
The ending is not in the least sad or regretful, except that Diamond's family doesn't know the truth of heaven and consciousness's affinity for transmutation. Diamond, through his infinite love, inspired and transformed the lives of those around him. He is loved by all that choose to give him a chance, but only understood, perhaps, by the other enlightened character, his writer-benefactor. MacDonald refers to the Ancient Greeks, perhaps the most recent "perfect" civilization on Earth. The Cynics, like Diogenes, strove to achieve one of the aspects of Diamond's enlightenment: total happiness and connection to self and environment.
Today people are basically beasts controlled by riders: We are so out of touch with our senses and selves that it is like riding an animal, much like the drunken boor of a horseman. In the end Diamond sheds his body and becomes one of the frolicking angels. He moved his own rock and went INTO the cave (The reverse of Jesus), but the cave, for him, was HIS heaven or afterlife or rebirth; he found the one that fit and chose to take it, just like the other angels. This writing is sedimentary; an amalgamation of layered meanings that can be appreciated by youngsters and scholars alike. It is extremely beautiful.
The room of boards over the stable was his mind. It is oriented in a specific position and cites Orion (I think MacDonald may have meant Cygnus, a star formation seemingly referred to in Egyptian pyramids; the allusion was attributed, until fairly recently, to Orion) and the North Star as landmarks. The garden outside the house is Paradise, the garden of innocence, and his and Her's (The North Wind's) story is that of Adam and Eve told backwards. He hears the voice of God, eats the fruit (choice), and chooses to accept God, with unwavering faith. He comes out of his shelter (like shedding his clothes) and assumes a new dimension. With it comes total enlightenment and benevolence.
*Spoil Alert*
The ending is not in the least sad or regretful, except that Diamond's family doesn't know the truth of heaven and consciousness's affinity for transmutation. Diamond, through his infinite love, inspired and transformed the lives of those around him. He is loved by all that choose to give him a chance, but only understood, perhaps, by the other enlightened character, his writer-benefactor. MacDonald refers to the Ancient Greeks, perhaps the most recent "perfect" civilization on Earth. The Cynics, like Diogenes, strove to achieve one of the aspects of Diamond's enlightenment: total happiness and connection to self and environment.
Today people are basically beasts controlled by riders: We are so out of touch with our senses and selves that it is like riding an animal, much like the drunken boor of a horseman. In the end Diamond sheds his body and becomes one of the frolicking angels. He moved his own rock and went INTO the cave (The reverse of Jesus), but the cave, for him, was HIS heaven or afterlife or rebirth; he found the one that fit and chose to take it, just like the other angels. This writing is sedimentary; an amalgamation of layered meanings that can be appreciated by youngsters and scholars alike. It is extremely beautiful.
February 26, 2016
I last read this book when I was 9 or 10 years old. I remembered the portrayal of the North Wind as a beautiful, comforting woman, but was not able at that age to appreciate her mystical, spiritual significance. She now seems to me to be the embodiment of the spirit of love. I don't think she is Death, but that she incorporates some of the lovelier, reassuring aspects of death. I appreciate Diamond's gradual understanding of her explanation that she must sometimes do things that seem evil but that have an ultimate outcome that enhances the good in the world. The illustrations by Arthur Hughes in the edition I read reminded me of pre-Raphaelite paintings of women with long, flowing hair. I'm very glad my Vintage Book Circle discussion group chose to read this one! I plan to re-read both The Princess and the Goblin and The Princess and Curdie sometime very soon now that I've remembered how much I like George MacDonald's writing.
July 5, 2024
Stars Juliet Stevenson, Joss Ackland and Tom Fleming.
A Victorian fairy tale that has enchanted readers for more than a hundred years: the magical story of Diamond, the son of a poor coachman, who is swept away by the North Wind -- a radiant, maternal spirit with long, flowing hair -- and whose life is transformed by a brief glimpse of the beautiful country -- at the back of the north wind. It combines a Dickensian regard for the working class of mid-19th-century England with the invention of an ethereal landscape, and is published here alongside Arthur Hughes's handsome illustrations from the original 1871 edition.
A Victorian fairy tale that has enchanted readers for more than a hundred years: the magical story of Diamond, the son of a poor coachman, who is swept away by the North Wind -- a radiant, maternal spirit with long, flowing hair -- and whose life is transformed by a brief glimpse of the beautiful country -- at the back of the north wind. It combines a Dickensian regard for the working class of mid-19th-century England with the invention of an ethereal landscape, and is published here alongside Arthur Hughes's handsome illustrations from the original 1871 edition.
February 14, 2017
It took me awhile to read this...I am a busy mom and it was important for me to find the time to read and savor this in silence (which doesn't always happen for me). I was disappointed when I couldn't take the time to read this book. It is beautifully written. It is a fairy tale for both adults and children. It makes me want to be like Diamond, not fearing anything and living in the moment. Would read it again.
George MacDonald is so descriptive in his writing. At times it seemed as if I was there with Diamond.
George MacDonald is so descriptive in his writing. At times it seemed as if I was there with Diamond.
November 6, 2020
I am indebted to one of my fellow reviewers for my review, whose horrified thoughts on the death of Diamond, prompted me to think more deeply about it myself. For this reader, Diamond’s death was a pointless, disappointing waste, and killing him spoilt the beauty Macdonald’s creation. This reviewer felt that Diamond should have had his happy ending, one where he grew to a happy, successful and accepted adulthood. In saying this, I believe the reviewer has forgotten who the author is and what he intended in writing this novel.
From my perspective, I believe that George Macdonald could have written no other ending. Diamonds' death wasn't pointless at all. In fact it was a vital culmination to all that had gone before. Diamond discovered in the course of his interactions with the North Wind that there was more to this world than what we can see. The longing to see and experience this world beyond clung to him and set him apart from the world of people around him. Throughout At the Back of the North Wind, Macdonald demonstrated to his readers a spiritual world that is beyond what our eyes perceive. However, to have ended there, to only show the unseen world of the living, would have been to truncate and hobble his message. As a man of faith, George Macdonald would not have seen death as a pointless waste, but simply a doorway into the great forever. As such, he needed to show that the unseen extends beyond this life. He could only do this through the death of Diamond and his innocent crossing from this world into the next.
The reviewer is also forgetting the era in which this was written. Modern children in the western world have little occasion to encounter death. It is sanitised and segregated, and given our healthcare, the death of children is not common. This would not have been the case in Victorian England. Death, including child death, was frequent and children would have been familiar with it. Indeed, Macdonald himself experienced much death, having lost his mother as a child, his sister, brother and father as a young man and later four of his own children. In that context, I believe the death of Diamond was intended as a fantastical comfort and encouragement to Macdonald’s readers, and a reminder that there is something better beyond this world.
At the Back of the North Wind is one of those books that take time to digest. It’s been a privilege to encounter it as my introduction to the works of George Macdonald, and I look forward to reading more of his writings in the coming months.
As I note, I really appreciate the hard work Librivox volunteers put into providing public domain audiobooks. In this case, most of the narrators were very good, with just a few that I didn’t enjoy. But I do wish the book could have been read by just one narrator.
From my perspective, I believe that George Macdonald could have written no other ending. Diamonds' death wasn't pointless at all. In fact it was a vital culmination to all that had gone before. Diamond discovered in the course of his interactions with the North Wind that there was more to this world than what we can see. The longing to see and experience this world beyond clung to him and set him apart from the world of people around him. Throughout At the Back of the North Wind, Macdonald demonstrated to his readers a spiritual world that is beyond what our eyes perceive. However, to have ended there, to only show the unseen world of the living, would have been to truncate and hobble his message. As a man of faith, George Macdonald would not have seen death as a pointless waste, but simply a doorway into the great forever. As such, he needed to show that the unseen extends beyond this life. He could only do this through the death of Diamond and his innocent crossing from this world into the next.
The reviewer is also forgetting the era in which this was written. Modern children in the western world have little occasion to encounter death. It is sanitised and segregated, and given our healthcare, the death of children is not common. This would not have been the case in Victorian England. Death, including child death, was frequent and children would have been familiar with it. Indeed, Macdonald himself experienced much death, having lost his mother as a child, his sister, brother and father as a young man and later four of his own children. In that context, I believe the death of Diamond was intended as a fantastical comfort and encouragement to Macdonald’s readers, and a reminder that there is something better beyond this world.
At the Back of the North Wind is one of those books that take time to digest. It’s been a privilege to encounter it as my introduction to the works of George Macdonald, and I look forward to reading more of his writings in the coming months.
As I note, I really appreciate the hard work Librivox volunteers put into providing public domain audiobooks. In this case, most of the narrators were very good, with just a few that I didn’t enjoy. But I do wish the book could have been read by just one narrator.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 25, 2010
If you are the sort of person who only reads the first few sentences of a review, you'd better just look back at my rating to determine my opinion of this book, because I'm going to start out by saying critical things. However, the books I like best, like my favorite people, tend to be those which are beautiful in spite of their flaws.
I never know quite what to say about this story, and so usually I do not talk about it. It is considered a children's book, for such, I believe, the author intended it, but it is the kind of children's book which is better enjoyed by adults than by children. George MacDonald was a Victorian and a Scot, so the tone of the tale is moralistic to the point of preaching and making his young protagonist into an impossible ideal. He was fatalistic, but in the "everything happens for a reason" sense, rather than the gloomy variety. The book is also full of some rather odd poetry, and chunks of time and text in which very little action occurs. The modern reader who cannot look past this work as a product of its time may find all of this off-putting.
But if you can look beyond these peculiarities, there is such beauty and thoughtfulness pressed between the leaves of this story. The descriptions of Diamond's sojourns with the North Wind are worth reading for their imagery and humor, even if you can't make it through what follows. And through the writing comes the conviction that the author was a compassionate and observant man with a great faith in human beings, a quality which, in my opinion, transcends the limitations of era, style, and genre. He also has an ear for dialogue which, though old-fashioned, makes me laugh out loud in its gentle and understated cleverness.
This is, of course, a story about death. But it's a lot more than that. It's about life and how we choose to live it.
I never know quite what to say about this story, and so usually I do not talk about it. It is considered a children's book, for such, I believe, the author intended it, but it is the kind of children's book which is better enjoyed by adults than by children. George MacDonald was a Victorian and a Scot, so the tone of the tale is moralistic to the point of preaching and making his young protagonist into an impossible ideal. He was fatalistic, but in the "everything happens for a reason" sense, rather than the gloomy variety. The book is also full of some rather odd poetry, and chunks of time and text in which very little action occurs. The modern reader who cannot look past this work as a product of its time may find all of this off-putting.
But if you can look beyond these peculiarities, there is such beauty and thoughtfulness pressed between the leaves of this story. The descriptions of Diamond's sojourns with the North Wind are worth reading for their imagery and humor, even if you can't make it through what follows. And through the writing comes the conviction that the author was a compassionate and observant man with a great faith in human beings, a quality which, in my opinion, transcends the limitations of era, style, and genre. He also has an ear for dialogue which, though old-fashioned, makes me laugh out loud in its gentle and understated cleverness.
This is, of course, a story about death. But it's a lot more than that. It's about life and how we choose to live it.
July 8, 2015
I respect the book a great deal for being such a classic, but to me it was bit boring (Is it just me or the North Wind ?). Don't think even as a kid I enjoyed this one that much. Yes, I was yawning all the time. And I was a big fan of Hal and Roger Hunt back then. Anyway, I personally believe the story is too lengthy for a children's book, specially for such a theme. If it had only 200 pages, this would have looked bit more interesting. And I hated North Wind every time she appeared. A very annoying character.
July 14, 2019
Thành thực mà nói, tôi không biết phải đánh giá cuốn này như thế nào nữa. Có những đoạn tôi rất thích nhưng lại có những phần đọc mà thấy lê thê, đôi chút mệt mỏi. Nên tựu chung lại chắc là 3,5/5.
Sau lưng Gió Bấc là truyện kể về Kim Cương, về gia đình, mọi người xung quanh em và cả những chuyến phiêu lưu cùng Gió Bấc nữa. Dù Gió Bấc là một chi tiết tưởng tượng quan trọng trong câu truyện này nhưng không hiểu sao tôi lại ít thích những phân cảnh có Gió Bấc nhất trong cả câu truyện.
Gió Bấc đem đến nhiều bài học, nhiều triết lý qua những chuyến phiêu lưu cùng Kim Cương, qua những đại dương. làng mạc, đồng cỏ, qua xứ sở sau lưng Gió Bấc. Thế nhưng tôi lại thích đọc những đoạn bình dị, không chút tưởng tượng về cuộc sống của gia đình Kim Cương hơn, về cách mà gia đình em vẫn luôn giữ được những phẩm chất tốt đẹp dù có chịu khó khăn, gian khổ.
Cả câu truyện không chỉ đơn giản có những câu truyện về gia đình Kim Cương hay về những cuộc phiêu lưu cùng Gió Bấc mà đó còn là những giấc mơ, những bài hát, bài thơ, những câu truyện đầy trí tưởng tượng của tác giả. Những chi tiết ấy đôi khi hơi dài dòng, buồn ngủ, đôi khi lại khiến tôi rất thích. Đặc biệt là câu truyện và nàng công chúa Nắng Nhỏ, một câu truyện lấy cảm hứng từ câu truyện cô bé ngủ trong rừng (Maleficent, dù tôi không biết chắc là cái nào lấy cảm hứng từ cái nào), đây cũng là chương tôi thích nhất trong cả câu truyện.
Một điều phải khen cuốn sách này đó là dịch giả dịch thơ rất hay, dù rằng tôi không có bản gốc ở đây để mà so sánh nhưng hãy đọc một đoạn thơ ví dụ dưới đây mà xem:
Sau lưng Gió Bấc là truyện kể về Kim Cương, về gia đình, mọi người xung quanh em và cả những chuyến phiêu lưu cùng Gió Bấc nữa. Dù Gió Bấc là một chi tiết tưởng tượng quan trọng trong câu truyện này nhưng không hiểu sao tôi lại ít thích những phân cảnh có Gió Bấc nhất trong cả câu truyện.
Gió Bấc đem đến nhiều bài học, nhiều triết lý qua những chuyến phiêu lưu cùng Kim Cương, qua những đại dương. làng mạc, đồng cỏ, qua xứ sở sau lưng Gió Bấc. Thế nhưng tôi lại thích đọc những đoạn bình dị, không chút tưởng tượng về cuộc sống của gia đình Kim Cương hơn, về cách mà gia đình em vẫn luôn giữ được những phẩm chất tốt đẹp dù có chịu khó khăn, gian khổ.
Cả câu truyện không chỉ đơn giản có những câu truyện về gia đình Kim Cương hay về những cuộc phiêu lưu cùng Gió Bấc mà đó còn là những giấc mơ, những bài hát, bài thơ, những câu truyện đầy trí tưởng tượng của tác giả. Những chi tiết ấy đôi khi hơi dài dòng, buồn ngủ, đôi khi lại khiến tôi rất thích. Đặc biệt là câu truyện và nàng công chúa Nắng Nhỏ, một câu truyện lấy cảm hứng từ câu truyện cô bé ngủ trong rừng (Maleficent, dù tôi không biết chắc là cái nào lấy cảm hứng từ cái nào), đây cũng là chương tôi thích nhất trong cả câu truyện.
Một điều phải khen cuốn sách này đó là dịch giả dịch thơ rất hay, dù rằng tôi không có bản gốc ở đây để mà so sánh nhưng hãy đọc một đoạn thơ ví dụ dưới đây mà xem:
"Mặt trời lặn xuống, trăng lên,
Rồi trăng lại lặn, vươn lên mặt trời.
Hoa cuộn cánh ngủ mất rồi,
Ban mai tỏa sáng tươi cười ngẩng lên.
Hoa đến đông chẳng chết đâu,
Trốn mình khỏi tuyết, cúi đầu sợ sương.
Hè sẽ tới, cả vầng dương,
Bóng đêm, đông giá, chuyện thường thoáng qua."
November 26, 2024
I read the illustrated classic version as a child, and was fascinated by it. I loved coming back this time and reading the unabridged version as an adult. It was bittersweet and beautiful. While I think there are great truths, parallels and philosophical themes hidden in the story, it's a beautiful book to simply enjoy without taking it apart. I wonder how much this book played in my subconsciousness as a child to make me the person I am today. My favorite parts: going out with the North Wind at night, and the moon dream.
January 16, 2021
Finally finished this. It’s a lot longer than the radio theater audio drama... and I’m not sure it needs to be as long as it is?
That being said, what’s so compelling about this book is the fact that it is equal parts dreamy and gritty. The dreaminess is partly due to MacDonald’s tendency to ramble, tell stories within stories, include loooong nursery rhymes, go on for pages and pages about actual dreams, etc. At times I was frustrated by this, but as I was reaching the end of the story I realized that all this is entirely sound and reasonable within a child’s imagination (it is, at the very least, in Diamond’s!).
Diamond’s character is wonderfully sweet, but maybe at times saccharinely so. He truly has no flaws, other than perhaps naïveté, which isn’t considered a flaw in this story—it might actually be a strength. MacDonald’s depiction of Diamond’s character reminded me of Romantic philosophy, which denies original sin and blames the corruption of the human soul on society. I often wondered if these ideas are at play in the book. Not all the children in the book are as perfect as Diamond (Nan seems to have some flaws), but the overall depiction of children tends to be angelic. This seems to me discordant with reality.
I read an Auden quote that said that MacDonald is able, “in all his stories, to create an atmosphere of goodness about which there is nothing phony or moralistic.” I’m not sure I agree. Diamond’s character seems to me too good for this side of heaven. Perhaps this is purposeful and he is truly not meant to seem of this world. Perhaps he is actually an angel. He is, after all, “God’s Baby.”
That being said, what’s so compelling about this book is the fact that it is equal parts dreamy and gritty. The dreaminess is partly due to MacDonald’s tendency to ramble, tell stories within stories, include loooong nursery rhymes, go on for pages and pages about actual dreams, etc. At times I was frustrated by this, but as I was reaching the end of the story I realized that all this is entirely sound and reasonable within a child’s imagination (it is, at the very least, in Diamond’s!).
Diamond’s character is wonderfully sweet, but maybe at times saccharinely so. He truly has no flaws, other than perhaps naïveté, which isn’t considered a flaw in this story—it might actually be a strength. MacDonald’s depiction of Diamond’s character reminded me of Romantic philosophy, which denies original sin and blames the corruption of the human soul on society. I often wondered if these ideas are at play in the book. Not all the children in the book are as perfect as Diamond (Nan seems to have some flaws), but the overall depiction of children tends to be angelic. This seems to me discordant with reality.
I read an Auden quote that said that MacDonald is able, “in all his stories, to create an atmosphere of goodness about which there is nothing phony or moralistic.” I’m not sure I agree. Diamond’s character seems to me too good for this side of heaven. Perhaps this is purposeful and he is truly not meant to seem of this world. Perhaps he is actually an angel. He is, after all, “God’s Baby.”
February 14, 2016
I hate to say this as I love Victorian literature, but this book is boring as hell. I could barely finish it, much to my dismay. I usually kind of enjoy slow paced novels, but this was really rather torturous. sorry to those who enjoyed this, but I disliked it.
December 5, 2023
Fantastic imaginative story, which prompted many deep theological discussions. We listened to this on our summer road trip with our 5 children (2,4,6,8,11) and dreaded having to turn it off when we needed to stop for a bathroom break. Looking forward to reading the book after this drama.
July 7, 2008
I can so see why C.S. Lewis was so deeply affected by Mr. McDonald's works...this is another of those very important fairy tales that every family should read!!
October 20, 2023
I love this book, loved it as a child, love it as an adult. Someday I will pick it up and love it again.
Read
May 1, 2021What a beautiful, beautiful book!
March 5, 2025
Beyond amazing.
George MacDonald is the master!
George MacDonald is the master!
May 28, 2013
This review is specifically for the Young Reader's Christian Library abridged and revised version published by Barbour in 1991, illustrated by Ken Save.
First of all, let's make something clear for all you cotton headed ninny muggins out there. This is a child-friendly edition that has been abridged and updated with contemporary language for young readers. The original "At The Back Of The North Wind" was written for kids and adults...IN THE 19th CENTURY!! That's the 1800's...for all you cotton headed ninny muggins. The original is very laborious, abstruse, and antiquated in much of it's language, much like this sentence. Now, a brilliant mind like mine EATS THAT STUFF FOR BREAKFAST, but cotton headed ninny muggins may balk at such parlance. But this book is amazingly adapted for young minds. I am currenlty 2/3 through this book with my 6-year-old, and we LOVE it! Bedtime reading is a celebration with this book. No seriously, a party. We decorate every single night with streamers, balloons, break out the punch, chips, and cake, and dance to "I got a feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas before reading. But seriously, we love it.
The editors chose to change up the language in just the right ways without detracting from the core. Matter of fact, I was suprised at how close they skated to the edge in parts to preserve MacDonald's language, and yet still masterfully rendered it completely understandable to my 6-yr-old. Wow. They even kept in the dialogue between Diamond and his mom at the beach that some might feel drags on a bit, but I realize it to be the real pith of the story. Even at that part, my daughter was completely absorbed with the story, and we had an excellent discussion and prayer afterwards that made me so thankful for this version.
Oh, and I would be remiss...REMISS I TELL YOU!...if I forgot to mention the illustrations. These brand of books have one illustration per page...PER PAGE!...so any young mind that isn't a cotton headed ninny muggin will love it all the more. Now, to be fair, some of the illustrations were quite comedic in their execution, unintentionally I'm sure, but we had a good time laughing and rolling our eyes over the blunders of an illustrator who may have been working at a feverish speed to finish nearly 100 sketches for a little book that probably didn't sell well in the first place. God bless "Ken Save" wherever he is. We love him for it, and drink to his good health in our pre-reading party-rocks.
Like I told my brother Joel (Hi Joel..how's it going? Good! How's the fam? Good! How's the ellen pipes or whatever that instrument you play is called? Good!), if you're wanting to initiate your child in the world of George MacDonald, then this is the way to go. An excellent treatment of a book that I was beginning to feel was unassailable for young minds in the 21st century. Not anymore. And what's better, the message was not compromised by this 'children's' version of the victorian novel. Which means...all you cotton headed ninny muggins will love it!!
First of all, let's make something clear for all you cotton headed ninny muggins out there. This is a child-friendly edition that has been abridged and updated with contemporary language for young readers. The original "At The Back Of The North Wind" was written for kids and adults...IN THE 19th CENTURY!! That's the 1800's...for all you cotton headed ninny muggins. The original is very laborious, abstruse, and antiquated in much of it's language, much like this sentence. Now, a brilliant mind like mine EATS THAT STUFF FOR BREAKFAST, but cotton headed ninny muggins may balk at such parlance. But this book is amazingly adapted for young minds. I am currenlty 2/3 through this book with my 6-year-old, and we LOVE it! Bedtime reading is a celebration with this book. No seriously, a party. We decorate every single night with streamers, balloons, break out the punch, chips, and cake, and dance to "I got a feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas before reading. But seriously, we love it.
The editors chose to change up the language in just the right ways without detracting from the core. Matter of fact, I was suprised at how close they skated to the edge in parts to preserve MacDonald's language, and yet still masterfully rendered it completely understandable to my 6-yr-old. Wow. They even kept in the dialogue between Diamond and his mom at the beach that some might feel drags on a bit, but I realize it to be the real pith of the story. Even at that part, my daughter was completely absorbed with the story, and we had an excellent discussion and prayer afterwards that made me so thankful for this version.
Oh, and I would be remiss...REMISS I TELL YOU!...if I forgot to mention the illustrations. These brand of books have one illustration per page...PER PAGE!...so any young mind that isn't a cotton headed ninny muggin will love it all the more. Now, to be fair, some of the illustrations were quite comedic in their execution, unintentionally I'm sure, but we had a good time laughing and rolling our eyes over the blunders of an illustrator who may have been working at a feverish speed to finish nearly 100 sketches for a little book that probably didn't sell well in the first place. God bless "Ken Save" wherever he is. We love him for it, and drink to his good health in our pre-reading party-rocks.
Like I told my brother Joel (Hi Joel..how's it going? Good! How's the fam? Good! How's the ellen pipes or whatever that instrument you play is called? Good!), if you're wanting to initiate your child in the world of George MacDonald, then this is the way to go. An excellent treatment of a book that I was beginning to feel was unassailable for young minds in the 21st century. Not anymore. And what's better, the message was not compromised by this 'children's' version of the victorian novel. Which means...all you cotton headed ninny muggins will love it!!
February 20, 2011
MacDonald wrote this story for his children, and it was also the favorite book of Mark Twain's children. However, although this is a children's book, there is so much that adults can get from it. I found myself weeping in several spots, either from the depth of truth being presented, or from the simple childlikeness of little Diamond. Needless to say, when I have children, this will be a favorite in our house.
February 6, 2023
I like George MacDonald's books very much, and this particular one because of its beautiful and dreamlike way to face life. "Some children are profound in metaphysics", he says at some point.
This book contains also the fairy tale "Little Daylight", inspired in the Sleeping Beauty.
My son enjoyed the story while it was happening, but didn't like the ending. He wants Diamond to return again from the Back of the North Wind.
This book contains also the fairy tale "Little Daylight", inspired in the Sleeping Beauty.
My son enjoyed the story while it was happening, but didn't like the ending. He wants Diamond to return again from the Back of the North Wind.
February 17, 2019
I first met little Diamond and the North Wind when I was about ten, and I don’t remember what I thought then of this moralistic Victorian fairytale with its beautiful and frightening visions of life. Read now, the book seems insistently didactic and dated. And despite Diamond’s wonderful adventures with the North Wind, I didn’t care for the manipulative behavior of some supposedly “good” characters.
July 2, 2017
Ko biết viết gì về cuốn sách này. Có lẽ vì mình đoán đc cái kết của nó, Con trời thì phải về trời thôi. Truyện có nhiều tình tiết khá nghiệt ngã nên chắc ko dành cho trẻ em đc, dù cuộc phưu lưu cũng khá hay. Mình cảm giác mạch truyện ko đều, thiếu thiếu cái gì đó. Cũng may đọc truyện này vào giữa hè, hình dung đọc vào giữa lúc gió mùa đông bắc thì rét lắm
December 15, 2023
MacDonald’s fairytales never disappoint. This one has more of a bittersweet element than any others I’ve read, but beautiful, and will supply my mind with quite a bit of imagery to puzzle out in contemplation and rereading.
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