Death and Fantasy: Essays on Philip Pullman, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald and R. L. Stevenson - Hardcover

William Gray is Reader in Literary History and Hermeneutics at the University of Chichester, UK. He studied literature, philosophy and theology at the Universities of Oxford, Edinburgh and Princeton, and has published widely in these areas. His publications include Fantasy, Myth and the Measure of Truth: Tales of Pullman, Lewis, Tolkien, MacDonald and Hoffmann (Palgrave,2008), Robert Louis Stevenson (Palgrave, 2004), and C.S. Lewis (Northcote, 1998).

âDeath and Fantasy is a concise and welcome gathering of work by William Gray on notable authors of fantasy: Philip Pullman, C. S. Lewis, George MacDonald, and Robert Louis Stevenson. In nine astute and insightful chapters the volume analyses texts ranging from Macdonaldâs Phantastes to Lewisâs Chronicles of Narnia and from Stevensonâs Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to Pullmanâs His Dark Materials. Examining the ways in which death is both dealt with and used in these fantasies, Gray reveals fascinating interconnections between their authors.â Dr Adrienne Gavin, Reader in English Literature, Canterbury Christ Church University âThis book makes a scholarly and very readable contribution to matters of current critical debate in the area of childrenâs fantasy. It displays how much childrenâs literature criticism has to gain from scholars who bring to it a background of knowledge of other disciplines. Supported throughout by useful close reading, Grayâs arguments are well-maintained and display knowledge of a very wide range of psychoanalytic, philosophical and theological sources, all brought to bear in a relevant and convincing manner. Perhaps the most interesting sections are those where Gray displays the affinities between George MacDonald and Philip Pullman. The suggestion that Pullmanâs creative achievement depends on a misreading of C.S.Lewis, just as Lewisâs did on a misreading of MacDonald, is a particularly fertile area for further critical investigation. The book has much to offer to scholars and students alike.â Dr Pat Pinsent, Senior Research Fellow, National Centre for Childrenâs Literature, Roehampton University --Not available