At the Back of the North Wind: Complete and Unabridged (Puffin Classics) [Paperback]

George Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Series: Puffin Classics

By the author of "Princess and Goblin", this is the story of Diamond, the coachman's son, and his adventures with the mysterious North Wind. Leaving his hayloft, Diamond sets off with North Wind flying through the night on all sorts of strange, beautiful and sometimes even dangerous missions.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This is a story of a poor stable boy living in Victorian London in which everyday lives are mysteriously enveloped by a power and a glory, personified here as a beautiful woman known as the North Wind. She visits the small boy, Diamond, and takes him with her on her journeys, teaching him about herself. Through the eyes of an innocent and yet perceptive child, MacDonald explores North Wind as a way of exploring the place of death in our lives. He looks squarely at social injustice--he knew poverty and the poor first hand--and yet also sees that the deepest need we have is for love and forgiveness, which are rooted in eternity.

This is a book for children--I've read it to my own daughter more than once--even though they may not understand just who North Wind is until years later. Adults on the other hand will learn that while they thought they knew something about death, there is much to relearn--and probably the most important part. --Doug Thorpe --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap

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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (February 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140367683
• ISBN-13: 978-0140367683
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,210,611 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and poignant, March 11, 2004

By 

Nate Volkerding (Kansas City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Back of the North Wind (Mass Market Paperback)

I've never read anyone who writes quite like MacDonald. When you read him it is not the quality of his writing, but rather his personality (kindly and eccentric, at the same time so quintessentially Scotch)and immensely powerful and original imagination that show on the page. He is more an excellent storyteller than a "proper" author, I think.

In the North Wind, as in much of MacDonald's work, there is a wealth of moral and religous themes and analougies under the surface. In my mid 20's now, I was surprised at the effect that reading MacDonald's childrens books has had on me. It is not that I would have disagreed on an intellectual level with anything in the books before reading them, but rather that McDonald has a talent for gently bringing people to examine what their opinions mean and how they treat other people as a result of them. I've found more than a few chinks in my own armour, in that respect.

As for North Wind in particular, it's quite a breathtaking, display of raw, imaginative brawn. The first third or so of the book is perhaps one of the most chilling and beautiful stories I've ever read. It becomes a little more conventional after that and meanders a little. There is a good bit of amiable nonsense and a fairy tale within it that, though it seems a little tacked on and has nothing to do with the greater story, is still very clever and charming. I think most adults will see the ending coming, but it left me a little shaken up anyway.

Like some of the other reviewers have mentioned, it's a very hard thing to create a character who is absoulutely good. There is a real danger of making the character into a weak, simpering, priggish, goody two shoes. It's a testament to MacDonald, even just that Diamond isn't appallingly annoying, but that he is actually a very likable and smypathetic character. He reminded me very much of a small version of Dostoyevsky's Prince Myshkin.

To close, I feel I can hardly recommend MacDonald in general or North Wind in particular highly enough. Be certain to get an unedited version, there is nothing in the original that you'll want to do without (I read the puffin classics edition with the cover art of Diamond on a glacier). Though the style is somewhat Victorian(not that there's anything in itself wrong with that) and though MacDonald's writing is a little idiosyncratic to begin with, I don't think it would present any serious problems to an older child or young adolescent reading on their own -at least, no more so than a book by Tolkien or Lewis would. It's true that McDonald was a Christian minister and this book is proabably best used, and was most likely originally intended, to be read aloud by parents to their children within a Christian family. That said, I do not think there is anything in it that any person with faith in God, whether they were Christian or otherwise, would find fault with. I think MacDonald is an author who repays an open and thoughtful reading in a way that will work for many people in many stages of their life.

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Diamond in the rough!, September 7, 2001

By 

Frank J O'Connor - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Back of the North Wind (Mass Market Paperback)

This enchanting classic is as lively and moving to read as the day it was written. There is no Victorian stodginess or moralizing here. I remember reading an essay where Simone Weil lamented over the difficulty of portraying goodness in literature--in fiction evil seemed to dominate. Well here in the character of the lad Diamond is one of the most convincing evocations of human goodness and saintliness in literature, childrens' or adult. One is reminded of St. Francis of Assisi when contemplating Diamond; his purity, innocense, and unselfconsciousness float right off the page. I especilly call your attention to the dialogue between Diamond and his mother on the beach as she tries hopelessly to explain to him that now they are poor. His sublimely worldly (and yet otherworldly )responses are both hilarious and deeply moving. One of MacDonald's core beliefs, so often and passionately stated throughout his writings, is here given flesh and blood: goodness is truth.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of Faith, December 16, 2002

By 

Beatrice "Beatrice" (North Ridgeville, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: At the Back of the North Wind (Books of Wonder) (Hardcover)

This children's book has had a profound impact on my faith and spirituality. It is a book I have read and re-read over the years, especially when I am struggling with my faith. The story, Diamond's relationship with the North Wind, satisfies one on an almost mystical level. Its simple, beautiful story leaves one knowing that no matter what happens in the world, God is God; and we can rest assured that He is in control. We can be at peace, in spite of the pain and evil in the world.

Don't look for answers. Simply read the story and let it wash over you. If you have the faith of a child, you will not be unaffected.