AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND (Barbour Christian Classics) (Paperback)

~ GEORGE MACDONALD (Author) "I have been asked to tell you about the back of the North Wind..." (more)
Key Phrases: drunken cabman, north wind, tall gentleman, Miss Coleman, Little Boy Blue, Birdie Brown (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

More than a century after it was written, George MacDonald's At the Back of the North Wind continues to intrigue readers with its allegorical treatment of life and death. The story of the young boy Diamond who meets the mysterious and beautiful North Wind explores, in the words of one reviewer, ""the possibility of trusting cooperation with this awesome but benevolent force."" The great Christian writer C. S. Lewis, working a generation later, called MacDonald ""the greatest genius of his kind."" Find out for yourself what so impressed Lewis and countless readers over the last 130 years!

Book Description

More than a century after it was written, MacDonald's classic allegory of life and death continues to intrigue readers with the story of a young boy who meets the mysterious and beautiful North Wind.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Publishing; 1st Thus. edition (February 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593106815
• ISBN-13: 978-1593106812
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #199,059 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Magic of MacDonald's Fairy Tale, July 30, 2006

By	Christopher White (Littleton, CO USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am quite ready to add At the Back of the North Wind to my collection of masterpieces that shall remain close to me, I suspect, my entire life. While a collection of favorite books by C. S. Lewis' site largest on that shelf, At the Back of the North Wind will be the second book by George MacDonald to join them. This seems quite appropriate as Lewis himself held MacDonald in such high esteem, even calling him his `master.' While more childish than Phantastes, At the Back of the North Wind manages to enchant my imagination in the same way that Narnia always has, while upon first inspection the tale may seem to be of little substance to a more mature audience I think there is subtle depth hidden within the deceptively simple child whom the story centers upon.

Diamond is the young boy of a poor coach driver and his wife living in England during the late 1800's. The story begins in the hayloft above the horse stalls where Diamond sleeps, as the wind blows, but it is not a simple wind, it is the North Wind, the romantic and enchanting idea of a grand lady who is the north wind. Diamond, the infinitely innocent and pure child is beckoned into the air and weaved into many journeys with the north wind where he learns goodness, truth and beauty. Throughout the story, other people see him as quietly wise or as one of `God's Babies.' As the story progresses Diamond becomes week and ill and while being taken to the enchanted country at the back of the North Wind he lapses into unconsciousness. Diamond returns, and with what strength he has, blesses everyone whom he meets; helping his family by driving his father's cab while he is ill, saving an orphaned friend off the streets, even quieting the drunken man's baby who lives next to him, whom even mistakes him for an angel. Finally touching the heart of the rich, but generous and altruistic man who looks after Diamond's orphaned friend and gives Diamond's father a job and lodgings in the countryside.

Yet, it is not these heroic acts, if one might call them that, resound so thoroughly, he is not doing good deeds, doing good deeds seems almost insincere when considered next to his genuine good nature. Like Narnia and Phantastes, there is a longing for something we may never fulfill here in our daily lives, a longing for something we have only hints of, Lewis defines this as Joy, for Diamond it is the longing for the country at the back of the North Wind, of which his first journey there is only a hint of the true country. As for me, I too feel this longing and it is an experience likely to be found in a quite forest and in the embrace of this extraordinary book.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "The Meaning Will Come with the Thing Itself...", July 13, 2007

By	R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

George MacDonald wrote hundreds of stories throughout his lifetime (not surprising considering he had eleven kids!), most of which were fantasies that drew on a rich variety of sources: mythology, fairytales and Biblical mysticism. Credited by C.S. Lewis as the main inspiration behind The Chronicles of Narnia Boxed Set, MacDonald's dreamy little tales (especially this one) are a strange blend of frustrating ramblings and sublime imagery. Love it or hate it, "At the Back of the North Wind" encompasses the best and worst about MacDonald, the Victorian Era, and even children's literature itself.

Named after his father's favourite horse, Diamond is the son of a coachman, and lives above the stable in the hayloft. As the story begins, Diamond is visited by a mysterious but beautiful woman who introduces herself as the North Wind. Inviting him to join her on her night-time journeys, Diamond soon becomes intimately acquainted with the being, unraveling certain aspects of her enigmatic characteristics and even visiting the land that exists behind her back - a place that she herself is barred from.

The visit endows Diamond with an unearthly quality of goodness and innocence (MacDonald is constantly defending Diamond's angelic conduct with the fact that he's been to the back of the North Wind), allowing his mere presence to positively improve and enrich the lives of those around him, including his family, his employers, and acquaintances from both the upper and lower classes. Although most tend to think that Diamond is touched in the head, the young boy has utter faith in the North Wind and her claims that everything will eventually turn out for the best. As a Congregationalist minister, MacDonald truly believes in this theology, and ensures that whatever seems like misfortune or tragedy in the plot is eventually revealed to be unexpectedly fortuitous in one way or another.

"At the Back of the North Wind" was originally written in serialized form, with each chapter published periodically in magazines, and so the story can feel a little choppy at times. There is no clear sense of a structured plot or story-arc, instead it is quite episodic - one chapter can be about Diamond's virtuous deeds in London, another can be fully devoted to a fairytale that a character is telling, or a dream that a person has had. At times you can tell that MacDonald is just making it up as he goes along, which makes for a fresh, but sometimes frustrating read. I like to have the sense that an author has a clear sense of where they're going with their plot and characters, and often parts of MacDonald's work can appear random or meaningless.

Of course, this is almost certainly due to the time period in which it is written. MacDonald was a contemporary of Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (Signet Classics), the first children's book to be written for pure entertainment purposes (in fact, it was MacDonald's children who were among the first to read Carroll's manuscript and encourage him to publish it). If there are any kinks in MacDonald's storytelling, it was probably because he was one of the forerunners in writing children's fiction - there were few prototypes on which to model his own work. Understandable, but still a little annoying when slugging through several long and not-very-good poems inserted needlessly into the text (you have my permission to skip them).

There are other aspects of Victorian culture at work in the story: a fascination with the poor and the sick (both encompassed in the character of Nanny, a young sweeper), the growing trend of philanthropy at work amongst the upper-classes (as seen in the frequent visits to the children's hospital), a preference for country life than that of the city, and a sense of mysticism and spirituality throughout. And then of course there's Diamond himself. The Victorians were in love with the idea of the Child as a God-Like Being (witness any one of Wordsworth's poems) and Diamond is no exception. He is, quite simply, perfect. This means that some readers will find him endearing, enlightening and inspirational, and others will find him sanctimonious, irritating and totally unbelievable as a character. For what it's worth, I like Diamond, even when MacDonald takes his character to its inevitable end - Diamond is too good for this earth, and the Victorians loved a good death scene (see Little Nell in Charles Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop (Penguin Classics)).

Although most children will be put off by the strange, dreamy pacing of the novel (better to start them off with MacDonald's most popular children's book The Princess and the Goblin (Puffin Classics - the Essential Collection)), older readers will be fascinated by MacDonald's creation of the North Wind and the theology that he delicately works into the story - a theology that only occasionally slips into preaching. There's plenty here to be intrigued by, certainly enough to make it worth the reading, but be prepared for some randomness, shaky plotlines and Victorian melodrama (though on second thought, that last one just may be a bonus feature!)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT!!!!!!!, November 11, 2007

A Kid's Review

BUY IT you will love it if you have a kid that likes fiction books or you like them yourself you will love it. it does not have a boring part in it the whole thing is so magical and the writer knows his cliff hangers no wonder he inspired C.S. Lewis [who is also one of my favorite writers] and it is a three hundred and seventeen page book that you wish would never end it is probably one of the best books I have ever read and you probably will trust me i really really like this book and you just read read read and LIKE IT!!! buy it trust me.