Review: The Golden Key
The Golden Key by George MacDonald
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The book tells the account of a little boy and girl who find a golden key in fairy land and follow a trail to the door the key unlocks.
I did like one particular quote immensely. The dialogue is spoken to the little girl who at this time in the story is lost and has come far down in a cave and there she meets ‘The Old Man of the Earth.’
“Then the Old Man of the Earth stooped over the floor of the cave, raised a huge stone from it, and left it leaning. It disclosed a great hole that went plumb-down.
That is the way,” he said.
But there are no stairs.” [said the girl]
You must throw yourself in. There is no other way.”
I liked this quote because I think that’s how faith works. If you want to find out if God is there, you’re going to have to accept the fact that there is no staircase: There aren’t any scientific methods, any dialogues of reason, or any living persons that can give you a sure testimony of Him. In His wisdom, God seems to have designed it that way. He expects us to throw ourselves in, giving up all that we have to Him, even our free will, and trust that He will catch us at the other end.
All that being said, while “The Golden Key” really is full of beautiful imagery, it’s really not much as a story.
The environment and secondary characters (such as the Old Man of the Earth above) by themselves are wonderful, but as a whole there really is no plot, nor do the central characters have any interesting motives. The story ends before anything interesting happens.
If you’re looking to see some poetic imagery, then it’s worth a read. Otherwise, I would recommend one of MacDonald’s other books, such as “The Light Princess.”
Thank you for posting this review. It launch me into a series of fantasy books that I love to read. I really like Tolkien and Lewis, but was kind of stuck in these classics, however great they are. Your review opened the door on more classics that are worth to read. Heck, I even bough a Kobo Reader to be able to download public domain manuscripts in epub format!
I really enjoyed your illustration also. I am an illustrator and as I read a faery tales, nice images comes to mind and I just want to put those visions on paper. I am sure it happens to you too.
I’ll keep my eye on your website because I would like to read “Shadow Mountain” when it comes out. Do you know where it will be available? Will it be illustrated also?
Sincerely,
Réj
Twitter: bryanbeus
says:
Thanks Rèjean. I’m glad. George MacDonald has some other stuff that’s really great. I’d recommend checking out The Princess in the Goblin and, if you like to read Christian-theological works similar to those by Lewis, then I’d recommend you also read “Getting to Know Jesus” by MacDonald. The latter book is quite amazing, and when you read it you’ll see the genesis for a lot of Lewis theological interpretations.
My book is scheduled to come out next Summer (Summer 2013). I haven’t made that announcement yet. For scheduling reasons we needed to set it back. Thank you for your support; I hope you enjoy the book.
Yours…B