I began at my son’s recommendation & felt the first four pages tedious with all the description of nature & barely a character mentioned. I was shortly amazed at the genius of it- a literary means of making the two lives portrayed in the story look insignificant in comparison to the world at large! MacDonald has a genius for presenting deep spiritual truths in understated & a simplistic manner. I loved it! I found its truth psychologically & theologically profound. I felt within my own soul the depths of human depravity & how incurable the curse, though it need not keep us from being transformed if we’re willing to suffer the pain of self awareness & testings. I relished the simplistic way the author could equally portray the beauty & mercy of God that needfully be balanced by the fear of God. I learned that MacDonald was a great inspiration in the life & writings of C.S.Lewis so i wanted to read him. I love C.S. Lewis & his writings challenge me, cause me to think deeper on spiriutal truths, & reflect on the deeper meanings. When i read this first book of George MacDonald i felt bathed in pure simplicity & truth! There was no effort in finding the deeper meanings, they just washed over me & made me want to be cleansed. I feel as if it will continue to magically cause my heart to want cleansing & to not lose its grasp on me.