At the back of the North Wind
Ratings7
Average rating3.6
15
Ratings7
Average rating3.6
This book tells the adventures of a little boy, named for his father's favorite horse, as he travels with the beautiful lady North Wind and comes to know the many facets of her protective and violent temper. The book tells the story of a young boy named Diamond. He is a very sweet little boy who makes joy everywhere he goes. He fights despair and gloom and brings peace to his family. One night, as he is trying to sleep, Diamond repeatedly plugs up a hole in the loft (also his bedroom) wall to stop the wind from blowing in. However, he soon finds out that this is stopping the North Wind from seeing through her window. Diamond befriends her, and North Wind lets him ride on her back, taking him on several adventures. Though the North Wind does good deeds and helps people, she also does seemingly terrible things. On one of her assignments, she must sink a ship. Yet everything she does that seems bad leads to something good. The North Wind seems to be a representation of Pain and Death working according to God's will for something good. On their adventures, North Wind brings Diamond to the country she lives in, a country without pain and death. Yet, he is brought only to a shadow of the real country at the back of the North Wind. The real country is open for him only after his death. At the end of the book, Diamond dies, finally able to see the country. - Wikipedia.
Reviews with the most likes.
Diamond is a young boy, living in deep poverty with his family in 1860's Great Britain. One night, while trying to stuff rags into holes in the wall, he meets the North Wind, and together they go on a series of adventures. The North Wind does things to help others, but she also does things that seem bad, including sinking a ship.
George MacDonald, I learned, is a respected theologian, and this book is considered his masterpiece. He uses the story to share his thoughts on theodicy, as well as other philosophical and spiritual concepts.
I think we forget that life for children did not always have the social safety nets that we had today. Diamond's family struggles with poverty and hunger, and when Diamond's father falls ill, it is up to this young child to work and bring home enough money to feed the family. Diamond befriends a young girl who begs on the streets for her alcoholic grandmother, a child who has even more difficulties than Diamond.
I wasn't expecting to learn so much about deep theological ideas and social injustice in a children's book.
