Small as a gnat or as large as a mountain, dwelling at the ends of the Earth or within the pages of a magical book, dragons always bring trouble
no matter where or when they turn up. In this collection, the author Edith Nesbit recounts tales of many remarkable dragons and the people who must
deal with them.
Review
With vivid imagination and clever turns of phrase, Nesbit spins a number of charming fairy tales. The characters tend to be flat stereotypes,
especially the girls - which is strange, given that Nesbit herself seemed to be anything but the helpless damsel in distress, though I suppose strong
heroines wouldn't have sold as well in her day. For fairy tales, however, flat characters work fine; they didn't have a chance to outstay their
welcome, unlike those in her longer works. Also, for all the imagination on display here, the author clearly writes for a very specific audience,
that being white English schoolchildren of some wealth. (That was the world she knew, though. I don't suppose it occurred to her that anyone else
would be reading these stories, let alone grown-ups in another country more than a century in the future... reading them on an electronic device that
would've seemed nearly as fantastic to her as the storybook that births live monsters. But, I digress.) Wild adventures are had, and if nobody ever
really came to harm, even after being eaten by a dragon, well, these were written for schoolchildren... and parents, who would've objected to unhappy
endings for their blessed little darlings. All things considered, I gave it the benefit of the doubt with a Good rating.
The three English siblings Gerald, James, and Katherine usually summer with their cousin Betty at the family home in the countryside, where they
can play and explore as proper children, far from the strict society rules of city life and boarding schools. But when Betty comes down with measles,
they find themselves staying at Katherine's boarding school for the summer. With all the other girls gone home, it won't be so bad a summer holiday...
and perhaps they can still find adventures. Their explorations lead them to a hidden cave and the lush gardens of a great castle, which they
immediately declare to be enchanted. A sleeping princess who isn't what she seems, a troublesome magic ring, and a series of ill-worded wishes soon
give the threesome a holiday they'll never forget!
This Wordsworth Classics edition, complete and unabridged, includes the original illustrations by H. R. Millar.
Review
First published in 1907, this centenarian story shows just how far children's literature - and society in general - have come. The over-talkative
narration dithers over, around, and behind the story as it follows three privileged English children more or less frittering away their summer holiday.
There is no urgency, no hardship, no wrong to be made right, no lesson for them to learn or consequences to face, as one would find in more modern
stories. (Okay, I take that back. Once in a while, their adventures make them miss their tea. That's a fairly serious prospect for any child in any era.)
Of course not. They're wealthy English children; they own the world, after all, and the world darned well owes them a pleasantly diverting (yet none too
trying) magical adventure to fill an otherwise dreary summer away from home. In Nesbit's time, I suppose, simply being schoolchildren on holiday provided
sufficient motive power to drive a plot. Anyone of lower classes, lesser education, or (Heavens forfend) less-than-alabaster skin color is brushed aside
with casual backhanded insults and stereotyping. Nesbit's audience likely would have thought as little of the slights and slurs as she herself did - she
clearly never considered the possibility that such individuals might read this book - but to modern eyes they glare. But it's unfair to blame her for
being a product of her society... even if some of the language probably makes this book unfit for modern elementary school libraries. Looking past that,
Nesbit concocts some truly imaginative moments, with a garden full of living statues and hidden wonders within the castle. The girls - Katherine and Mabel,
the erstwhile "sleeping princess" - show a fair bit of pluck for their era, and manage to not be deadweight. I also liked the old-school illustrations by
Millar; there's just something about a nicely-executed ink illustration that adds an extra touch of magic to any story. Considering how long ago this book
was written, I might have been willing to give the story the benefit of the doubt with an Okay rating, but the ending sank that hope. (No spoilers here,
but it somehow managed to make an already-pointless story even more pointless... an astounding feat which probably should be rewarded with a star all on
its own, but won't be.) At the end of the day, The Enchanted Castle is an occasionally whimsical, mostly tedious window into the fictional
expectations of a (thankfully) bygone era.
