Lilith - George MacDonald, A

Review--Seek to Lose Your Life

Lilith - George MacDonald
My Rating: A



In this, MacDonald's second dream fantasy, the author weaves a tale of paradox and wonder, beauty, longing, and sweet despair. The main current that flows through the whole work is the deep spiritual truth that "...whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it" (Luke 9:24).

In Lilith, the reader accompanies Mr. Vane, the narrator, through a mystical mirror into a fantastical world of seven dimensions. There, he encounters Mr. Raven, who serves largely as his guide and, in a way, his mentor. Given very little information about his new world, Vane is told in cryptic fashion that to understand where he is, he must first make himself at home in a world where everything is strange, even the laws of nature. When he asks for elaboration, he is told that he must do something--anything--in this land he's in. In this cryptical way, we are reminded that the only way to fail in life when the Spirit of God quickens us is to do nothing with our lives. Stagnation is close kin to Death.

Shortly afterward, Mr. Raven tells him that to get home, he must first "go through" himself. In a way, Raven spends the entirety of his journey figuring out what this means. After he comes to the proverbial "end of his rope," when he is hanging over the flames of self-pity and doubt, he surrenders to Raven's plan and lies down to sleep with the dead. It is through dying that he finds life; and, having passed through the wasteland of his own heart, he finds the One who waits to set him free from himself.

Those of you who have read the book may wonder why I have skipped discussing Lilith, whose name happens to be the title. Perhaps after I read the book a second time and explore the mythology behind the character, I'll understand her role enough to attempt to include her in the review. :)

Readers of Lilith will find great treasures of truth, though they will have to wade through MacDonald's trademark platitude-filled style that is at times over-dedactic. Here are a selection of shining gems:

“Why know the name of a thing when the thing itself you do not know? Whose work is it but your own to open your eyes? But indeed the business of the universe is to make such a fool of you that you will know yourself for one, and so begin to be wise.”

“The life of her face and her whole person was gathered and concentrated in her eyes, where it became light…A whole night-heaven lay condensed in each pupil; all the stars were in its blackness, and flashed; while round it for a horizon lay coiled an iris of eternal twilight…The still face might be a primeval perfection; the live eyes were a continuous creation.”

"The part of philanthropist is indeed a dangerous one; and the man who would do his neighbor good must first study how not to do him evil, and must begin by pulling the beam out of his own eye."

"Self-loathing is not sorrow. Yet it is good, for it marks a step in the way home, and in the father's arms the prodigal forgets the self he abominates."

"When a man dreams his own dream, he is the sport of his dream; when Another gives it him, that Other is able to fulfill it."

This book is listed on my Master Book List.