A Landscape With Dragons: The Battle for Your Child's Mind (Paperback)

by Michael O'Brien (Author) "When I was six or seven years old, I was convinced for a time that a monster lived in my bedroom closet..." (more)
Key Phrases: landscape with dragons, neopagan literature, space trilogy, Holy Spirit, That Hideous Strength, New Age (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press; Rev Exp edition (November 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898706785
• ISBN-13: 978-0898706789
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,052 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

96 of 102 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for parents, October 4, 2000

By	David Zampino "21st Century Hobbit" (Delavan, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In this volume, Michael O'Brien has provided both and invaluable service to parents (like myself) who want their children to read, but who are also concerned about much of the reading material currently available. He has analyzed children's literature, concentrating especially in the genre of fantasy and fairy story. He has clearly and cogently demonstrated how neo-paganism has become the dominant worldview of many authors in this genre.

Unlike many Christian authors, O'Brien has not made the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bath water. He does not lump all fantasy literature together in one category and toss it out. He carefully demonstrates the difference between good and bad fantasy literature, or, if you will, authentic and inauthentic fairy stories.

I do have a few points of contention, but they are minor, and detract very little from the overall value of the book.

1) CS Lewis is identified correctly as an Anglican -- a member of the Church of England -- but incorrectly as a member of that church's Evangelical wing. Lewis, in fact, attended a "High Church" parish, and strongly resisted political factions within churches.

2) JRR Tolkien is correctly held up as the model by which modern fantasy and fairy story should be judged. Having said this, very little actual analysis is provided for Tolkien's writings.

3) Similarly, in the book's "blurb", Charles Williams is held up -- but then not analyzed in the text. An analysis of Williams would have made O'Brien's concerns about Lewis' novel "That Hideous Strength" make more sense. (I'd still disagree with O'Brien on this one, but his case would have been stronger and easier to sensibly defend.)

4) O'Brien's analysis of Anne McCaffrey's "Pern" stories needed either to be fully developed, or eliminated entirely. O'Brien is using the image of the dragon as a neo-pagan symbol as one of the cornerstones of his book, and tries to place McCaffrey's "good dragons" within this context. To me, it was unconvincing.

Overall, an excellent book. As a final note to parents, O'Brien has helpfully added a lengthy appendix listing good (and usually available) books for children of all ages, arranged by level of difficulty and author. An extremely helpful resource for homeschooling parents.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every Father Should Read This Book Once A Year, September 8, 2004

By	Maillew (Silicon Valley CA) - See all my reviews

An excellent and inspiring book. I use the word "inspiring" in the old fashioned sense of "it made me take action" not merely "it made me feel good."

I re-read this book every year or so, not only to dip into the wonderful appendix of recommended books, but to rekindle my courage and dedication to raising my sons. O'Brien writes in mythic tones as he recommends mythic literature. The old stories dealt with "powers and principalities" of good and evil, and O'Brien reminds us that it is ever so. Our children become flush-faced and wide-eyed at such stories, but we have allowed ourselves to be diluted and deluded into thinking that gray is the only reality. We lose not only black and white, but the primary colors as well!

O'Brien is a Catholic, a Christian - and is both unapologetic and unobtrusive with his convictions. That is, he makes clear the traditional rationale for his thinking, but the reader neither has to agree nor adopt those convictions to come to the same conclusions.

There are some books which one revisits again and again, and some authors you look forward to meeting and talking with. This book (and his Sojourners novels) and this author are in that category.

50 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars That's not entertainment, November 30, 1998

By A Customer

O'Brien has issued a wake-up call to conscientious parents in his latest book. We cannot take it for granted anymore that the entertainment aimed at our children is worthy of their attention. In fact, it may be harmful. The classic stories which teach us about good and evil (fairy tales, myths, classical literature) are being replaced or modified. The Dragon, the symbol of evil or chaos, is being tamed, leaving our children's souls in danger. O'Brien cites many examples of this in popular books and movies. I found his take on Disney movies very insightful and a little scary. Disney invariably belittles authority and religion, especially Catholicism. Yet this company is the world leader in feeding our children their steady diet of movies and videos. One only has to watch the Esmeralda dance in "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" to question Disney's idea of 'family entertainment.' O'Brien doesn't leave you in the lurch, however, as he helps us discern what is good entertainment for our children. He also provides a comprehensive list of good literature -- and, thankfully, there's a lot of it out there. I hope every parent and educator reads this book. It is too important to be missed.