What did Jack read?

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The Princess and the Goblin
by George MacDonald


Have you ever wondered what you favorite author has on his bookshelf? Have you ever thought about what he or she might be reading in their spare time? Have you ever considered whether their reading appitite was similar to your, and whether you would like what they like at all?

One of my favorite authors (if not the favorite) of the 20th century is C.S. Lewis (Jack to his friends). I love reading his work: Mere Christianity, Til We Have Faces, The Great Divorce, and of course, The Chronicles of Narnia. In fact, I did my thesis on The Chronicles, examining how each book proports a specifically image of Jesus and then showing how that image was shadowed in each of the other books. It was in doing research for that paper that I first considered the issue of what Lewis (or 'Jack' to take a little liberality) liked to read.

One of Jack's favorite authors was George MacDonald, who wrote various stories including one called The Princess and the Goblin, originally published in 1871. It's the story of a Princess named Irene, who must learn courage and faith as she endeavors with a miner-boy named Curdie to save the kingdom from vengeful Goblins. It's  fun to read and clever, though the sentences can be long and complicated (rather like reading the Apostle Paul in Greek). Olivia and I are reading it together at night, and I highly recommend it.

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