Recommended Reading For Christians - At The Back of the North Wind by George Macdonald - A Review
If you haven't guessed already, At The Back Of The North Wind is one of my favorite books. It tells the tale of a young boy named Diamond. His father named him Diamond after a favorite horse which he groomed. So Diamond the boy was named after Diamond the horse. He was a sickly boy but though he was often sick, he would never get discouraged and often brought happiness to his family even when there were difficult times.
One cold night, when Diamond is ill, he meets the North Wind and she takes him for a journey on her back. It is a great adventure and he becomes great friends with the North Wind. The North Wind comes to him often but sometimes there is a long time in between before he sees her. Diamond is a very kind boy and is merciful and compassionate to all whom he meets but there is something about him which people do not understand and so they mock him.
One day the North Wind takes him to the land which is at the back of the North Wind and there everything is as it should be. The land is a perfect land and all is well in it. Diamond almost forgets the world as he knew it. But North Wind takes him back to it and after that he longs for the land again.
Time passes and Diamond has a little brother whom he adores. He sings songs to him about North Wind and about the land at the back of the North Wind. These songs are so enchanting that no one quite understands how a little boy could make up such stuff. Soon Diamond becomes very ill and sadness comes over his family. But Diamond is not unhappy because the North Wind comes back for him to go to live in that lovely country forever.
Music composed for the radio drama based upon the book. The composer explains the music surrounding the North Wind
An Adventure For Children and Parents Alike
The story is one that can be enjoyed by both parents and children. It is one that is bittersweet but full of hope that there is life after death.Ever since mankind fell there has been death and children often face death as well.
If you like C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series or J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy then you should like At the Back of the North Wind because both authors were inspired by George Macdonald who wrote this great piece of classical literature.
Lewis' characters enter another world through the wardrobe and Diamond enters another world via the North Wind. Tolkien's elves leave to go to the Grey Havens just as Diamond leaves to go to the country that is located at the back of the North Wind. All three authors firmly believed that there is life after death and such a thing as Heaven.
It is also a bit like Hans Christian Anderson's 'The Little Match Girl' in that it introduces empathy and makes you feel what the character feels. It brings sadness but you still feel contentment that there was peace and love at the end.
If you have ever met a child who still manages to be bright and happy, hopeful and kind even when terrible things are happening around him/her then At The Back of the North Wind will make you rememember that child happily and fondly. Perhaps you were that child once upon a time and today life has made you harder than you would like to be. The story reminds us that we can all be like Diamond and have hope and it is also one that reminds us how precious children are.
- In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon - A Review
The story begins with a tramp. One who is struggling but yet his fellow man continues to ignore him. On a bright Sunday morning, he interrupts the church of Raymond with a startling question "What did Jesus mean when He said 'Follow me?'"
- The Witness By Grace Livingston Hill - A Review
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. 1 John 5:10 K.J.V. The Witness is a stirring book to say the least. Written in 1917 it is the story of Paul Courtland an unknowing young man...
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