Customer Reviews

Robert Falconer (George MacDonald Original Works)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

George MacDonald's "Robert Falconer" is perhaps the best of his works that I have ever read. It deals extensively with a boy's search to know God personally while struggling with the concepts about God presented to him by his extremely strict Calvanist grandmother who raises him. It contains some of the best advice on Christian ministry that I have seen in a novel and I recommend this book highly. If you only want an entertaining book this may not be the best one since it is written in the phonetic Scottish accent, which can be difficult to understand. A few times I had to read it aloud in order to comprehend what he was saying. Still, the content is absolutely excellent, the story is entertaining (if you can get around the accent) and I am going to buy this book for my personal library when I can get some money together.

Robert Falconer should, in my opinion, be required reading for all who profess the faith of Christianity. The plot is simple and straightforward in that it does no more than recount the life and times of one man, Robert Falconer. Yet the lessons taught would be well-heeded by all who proclaim the Son of Man as Lord and Savior of their lives.

The story vividly portrays the misery, despair, confusion, hope, and all-consuming search of one small boy as he makes the arduous journey into manhood-a journey that too few seem either willing or able to make. Robert is forced to put away childish things, to submit to a stronger will and greater power than his own. He learns, not from his pious and orthodox grandmother, but from a bitter battle of endurance between God and self that the Father and Creator of all is also the greatest servant of all. He discovers that it is not through ritual and church service, not through hymns and rote prayers, but through service and obedience that one may know God truly. In order to serve God, one must serve his fellow creatures. There is no other way-"faith without works is dead."

This novel is founded upon a search-Robert's search for his Heavenly Father and his earthly father. While the plot line may not contain the action and intrigue desired of many, it is a perfectly realistic account of the battle that ensues when anyone would truly know God. It is the conflict between life and death. In my opinion, there is no greater battle to chronicle.

I invite you, nay beseech you, to walk alongside Robert Falconer as he begins a pilgrimage to Eternity. You will uncover much you may have forgotten of your own struggles, or you may find that your battle has not yet begun. If you can read this book with no pangs of conscience, no convictions of guilt, no mists of doubt, no desire to search your own heart, no compulsion to seek your Father then you are, indeed, to be commended or damned.