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A review by kerry_handscomb
Lilith by George MacDonald
3.0
Lilith by George MacDonald was republished in 1969 with a cover by Gervasio Gallardo as the fifth volume in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy Series edited by Lin Carter. The book was first published in 1895, and Carter claims that MacDonald was one of the founders of the fantasy genre.
MacDonald was a Christian minister by vocation, and Lilith reads as a religious allegory. Lilith is actually a figure of Jewish mythology, the wife of Adam before Eve. In MacDonald's interpretation, she is the consort of Satan and the demon Queen of Hell. Other significant characters in Lilith are the biblical Adam and Eve themselves.
The content of the book is faith based, although MacDonald has clothed it in fantastical imagery. Carter's view in the introduction is that the reader can appreciate the fantastic elements without needing to interpret the allegory. I suppose this is possible, but then we are ignoring MacDonald's point. The book is about salvation, and eventual salvation for all. Even the demonic Lilith herself is redeemed.
The book is good for what it does, although it's primary classification should be religious allegory rather than fantasy, in my view. MacDonald was a mentor for Lewis Carroll and encouraged publication of Alice in Wonderland—indeed, for Lilith MaDonald borrowed from Lewis Carroll the device of entering a fantastical world through a mirror. The Alice stories, by contrast to Lilith, are almost pure fantasy without any philosophical baggage, as far as I can tell. Lilith might go well in Sunday School, which is something we cannot say of Alice in Wonderland. Nevertheless, MacDonald is a good writer, and Lilith has some fun elements.
MacDonald was a Christian minister by vocation, and Lilith reads as a religious allegory. Lilith is actually a figure of Jewish mythology, the wife of Adam before Eve. In MacDonald's interpretation, she is the consort of Satan and the demon Queen of Hell. Other significant characters in Lilith are the biblical Adam and Eve themselves.
The content of the book is faith based, although MacDonald has clothed it in fantastical imagery. Carter's view in the introduction is that the reader can appreciate the fantastic elements without needing to interpret the allegory. I suppose this is possible, but then we are ignoring MacDonald's point. The book is about salvation, and eventual salvation for all. Even the demonic Lilith herself is redeemed.
The book is good for what it does, although it's primary classification should be religious allegory rather than fantasy, in my view. MacDonald was a mentor for Lewis Carroll and encouraged publication of Alice in Wonderland—indeed, for Lilith MaDonald borrowed from Lewis Carroll the device of entering a fantastical world through a mirror. The Alice stories, by contrast to Lilith, are almost pure fantasy without any philosophical baggage, as far as I can tell. Lilith might go well in Sunday School, which is something we cannot say of Alice in Wonderland. Nevertheless, MacDonald is a good writer, and Lilith has some fun elements.