Pennington, John

English

St. Norbert College

North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald StudiesVolume 31 Article 81-1-2012Hein, Rolland, ed. Through the Year with GeorgeMacDonald: 366 Daily Readings. Foreword byDouglas Gresham. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion,2012.John PenningtonFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.snc.edu/northwindThis Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the English at Digital Commons @ St. Norbert College. It has been accepted forinclusion in North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ St. Norbert College. For moreinformation, please contact sarah.titus@snc.edu.Recommended CitationPennington, John (2012) "Hein, Rolland, ed. Through the Year with George MacDonald: 366 Daily Readings. Foreword by DouglasGresham. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion, 2012.," North Wind: A Journal of George MacDonald Studies: Vol. 31 , Article 8.Available at: http://digitalcommons.snc.edu/northwind/vol31/iss1/8Hein, Rolland, ed. Through the Year with George    MacDonald: 366 Daily Readings. Foreword    by Douglas Gresham.  Hamden, CT: Winged Lion,   2012. John Pennington	 Rolland	Hein	and	Michael	Phillips	are	familiar	names	to	those	interested	in	George	MacDonald.	They	may	have	done	more	to	make	MacDonald	accessible	to	the	general	reader	than	anyone	else	since	C.	S.	Lewis.	In	fact,	both	men	have	played	a	role	similar	to	that	of	C.	S.	Lewis,	who	claimed	in	George MacDonald: An Anthology	(1946)	that	MacDonald	baptized	his	imagination,	which	led	Lewis	to	call	MacDonald	his	“master.”	The	anthology,	Lewis	admits,	“was	designed	not	to	revive	MacDonald’s	literary	reputation	but	to	spread	his	religious	teaching.”	Through the Year with George MacDonald: 366 Daily Readings	and	Hell and Beyond	do	precisely	this—they	showcase	(in	Hein’s	book)	MacDonald’s	spiritual	speculations	and	(in	Phillip’s	novel)	how	MacDonald	has	inspired	many	to	contemplate	the	complex	workings	of	God.	 Hein	has	been	influential	in	the	evolution	of	MacDonald	scholarship.	His The Harmony Within: The Spiritual Vision of George MacDonald	(1982)	positioned	MacDonald	as	an	important	Victorian	writer,	particularly	of	fantasy	and	fairy	tales,	whose	messages	create	a	“‘harmony	within’—how	thoroughly	the	symbolic	terrain	of	his	imaginative	prose	is	shaped	by	his	theological	convictions,	and	hence	by	his	understanding	of	the	Bible.”		Hein’s	scholarly	treatise,	however,	also	had	cross-over	appeal—The Harmony	Within	is	one	of	those	rare	scholarly	books	that	can	be	enjoyed	by	the	general	reader,	those	fans	of	George	MacDonald.	In	that	spirit,	Hein	has	published	other	books	on	MacDonald,	edited	several	volumes	of	MacDonald’s	theological	writings	and,	recently,	has	collaborated	with	Larry	Fink	on	George MacDonald: Images of His World	(2004),	a	coffee-table	book	that	melds	photography	by	Fink	with	Hein’s	prose	descriptions	that	provides	readers	with	a	vivid	portrait	of	MacDonald.	And	there	is	much	more	that	can	be	said	about	Hein’s	contribution	to	MacDonald	studies.	This	paragraph,	alas,	is	quite	insufficient	in	its	overview	of	his	importance	to	MacDonald	studies!	 Through the Year with George MacDonald: 366 Daily Readings,	which	includes	a	Foreword	by	Lewis’s	stepson	Douglas	Gresham,	is	a	North Wind 31 (2012): 101-104direct	descendent	of	Lewis’s	George MacDonald: An Anthology.	In	the	Introduction,	Hein	suggests	that	the	book	can	be	used	in	two	fundamental	ways:	1)	as	a	“handy	tool”	for	discovering	the	power	of	MacDonald’s	spiritual	and	devotional	thinking,	and	2)	as	a	“devotional	calendar”	for	those	desiring	“a	guide	for	daily	meditation.”	On	both	front	Hein	succeeds.	Most	of	Hein’s	selections,	understandably,	come	from	Unspoken Sermons	(3	volumes);	The Hope of the Gospel;	The Miracles of our Lord;	and	his	realistic	novels,	particularly	Robert Falconer;	Thomas Wingfold, Curate;	Paul Faber, Surgeon;	and	What’s Mine’s Mine.	Each	selection	is	given	a	particular	date,	urging	you	to	read	one	selection	each	day	of	the	year,	but	the	collection	also	welcomes	the	reader	to	skip	around	and	randomly	select	a	reading	for	the	day.	Followers	of	MacDonald	will	find	a	feast	in Through the Year with George MacDonald.	 Hein	admits	in	the	Introduction	that	MacDonald’s	“creative	efforts	are	at	their	best	in	his	fairy	tales,	his	fantasies	for	youth,	and	his	fantasies	for	adults,”	but	suggests	that	these	works	do	not	lend	themselves	as	well	to	MacDonald’s	“provocative	handling	of	spiritual	truths.”	Those	truths	are	best	found	in	MacDonald’s	theological	sermons	and	realistic	novels.	Though	Hein	is	correct	in	this	assessment	generally,	one	could	argue	that	part	of	MacDonald’s	spiritual	imagination	is	expressed	in	his	“fantastic	imagination,”	in	the	joy	of	perceiving	the	world	in	a	new	way.	Readers	of	MacDonald’s	fantasy	works	become	like	Anodos	in	Phantastes	or	Mr.	Vane	in	Lilith	as	they	enter	fairyland	or	the	“regions	of	the	seven	dimensions.”		Vane	even	tells	us	that	he	was	“lost	in	a	space	larger	than	imagination	.	.	.	.”	Though	the	fantasies	and	fairy	tales	rarely	depict	characters	discussing	spiritual	matters,	or	show	the	narrator	inserting	his	theological	observations	on	the	action,	these	works	do	demonstrate	the	power	of	this	fantastic	imagination	to	probe	otherworldly	spiritual	concerns.	But	I	quibble	here—the	fact	remains	that	Rolland	Hein	has	once	again	published	a	work	on	MacDonald	that	will	enlighten	readers—at	any	level	of	engagement—of	George	MacDonald.	102 | Pennington 

Hein, Rolland, ed. Through the Year with George MacDonald: 366 Daily Readings. Foreword by Douglas Gresham. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion, 2012.

https://digitalcommons.snc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1196&amp;context=northwind

Hein, Rolland, ed. Through the Year with George MacDonald: 366 Daily Readings. Foreword by Douglas Gresham. Hamden, CT: Winged Lion, 2012.

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