Monday, November 17, 2008

The Wise Woman: A Book Review



I will start the review out admitting my bias. I love fairy tales and I love George MacDonald. The Wise Woman is a parable but still has the feel of a fairy tale. I think it is well worth the short amount of time it takes to read.

The plot follows two young girls, a princess and a peasant, through their experience with The Wise Woman. The Wise Woman is a benevolent god-like figure and recognizes overwhelming pride in both girls. Both sets of parents have spoiled them and lead them to a point of a somewhat divine intervention. Both girls have different circumstances forming different forms of pride so each experiences a different form of creative discipline.

The story is a look at pride, what causes it and how to overcome it. It is written to a younger level of reader which, in my opinion, is MacDonald at his best. The lessons are clear and just as true today as when they were first written with his own hand. This will be one of those books on my shelf that is pulled out to quote, reread and share.

For more of my book reviews visit these posts:
For book reviews from everybody in the Fall Into Reading Challenge visit Callapidder Days.

~Deanna~

2 comments:

katy said...

Deanna!! It was so good to hear from you on my blog! :) It's been at least a year since I've talked to you, I think. I DO read your guys' blog, though, so it helps keep me updated! Are you going to be home for Christmas?? If so, my entire family is going to be there (even little Christian!) so you should stop by if you can. And if you have any pictures from our class reunion, I would love it if you could maybe email me some. :D Anyway, hopefully I'll talk to you soon! p.s. I think I will read this Wise Woman book....it looks interesting. Take care!

Anonymous said...

Hey! I love George MacDonald!!! I bought a compilation book of some of his fairytales. Rachel and I read the one of the Princess ones when I was in first year university. We sat on the empty bed in my room (after Celeste moved out) and read it out loud to each other. It was great fun!!! I will have to check this one out.