The fantasy literature of England

Choice-Rezension

In his ninth study of fantasy literature, Manlove (Univ. of Edinburgh) elucidates the unique and "extraordinarily diverse" nature of English fantasy. Accepting the notion of a "fuzzy set," in which a few works are central to the form, he discusses secondary world, metaphysical, emotive, comic, subversive, and children's fantasy. These six categories are not air-tight; for example, Charles Kingsley's The Water-Babies (1863) appears in several chapters. Because he defines fantasy as anything containing the supernatural or the impossible, Manlove discusses a broad array of works, including Romantic poetry. His discussions contain some surprises, such as the classification of D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-Horse Winner" as a ghost story, and some disappointments, notably the weak analysis of Terry Pratchetts comic fantasies. However, most deftly synopsize and apply points he made in The Impulse of Fantasy Literature (CH, Apr'83) and Modern Fantasy (CH, Mar'76). To establish the unique English character of the works, he also frequently contrasts ideas in them with those presented in his Scottish Fantasy Literature (1994). Manlove is best when analyzing figures he previously discussed at length, but this volume's concentrated overviews, especially of children's books, constitute an excellent introduction to both fantasy and his more detailed studies. Undergraduate and graduate collections. R. E. Jones; University of Alberta