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Ranald Bannerman's Boyhood

George MacDonald

Book Overview: 

This story of a young motherless boy growing up with his brothers in a Scottish manse is full of delightful characters. There is Kirsty, an enchanting Highland storyteller, Turkey, the intrepid cowherd, the evil Kelpie, and the lovely Elsie Duff. Throughout the twists and turns of his escapades and adventures Ranald learns from his father the important lessons of courage and integrity.

When Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood came out in 1871 the New York Independent praised it as “full of sweetness, full of boy-life and true goodness”. Perhaps, but it is also a good story, from the master of storytellers.

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Book Excerpt: 
. . .d we darted into the nursery, which was on the ground floor, and catching up my two brothers, I wee Davie, he Allister, we hoisted them on our backs and rushed from the house. It was snowing. It came down in huge flakes, but although it was only half-past four o'clock, they did not show any whiteness, for there was no light to shine upon them. You might have thought there had been mud in the cloud they came from, which had turned them all a dark grey. How the little ones did enjoy it, spurring their horses with suppressed laughter, and urging us on lest the old witch should hear and overtake us! But it was hard work for one of the horses, and that was myself. Turkey scudded away with his load, and made nothing of it; but wee Davie pulled so hard with his little arms round my neck, especially when he was bobbing up and down to urge me on, half in delight, half in terror, that he nearly choked me; while if I went one foot off the scarcely beaten path, I sunk deep in the fr. . . Read More

Community Reviews

George MacDonald, Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood
“For my part, I do not write for children, but for the childlike, whether of five, or fifty, or seventy-five.” (The Fantastic Imagination)
There are few authors who approach Jesus’ valuation of children and the childlike spirit so closely as George MacDonal

This was an interesting portrait of life way back when; if this novel is autobiographical, it kind of made me feel bad for the author, as it sounds like he had a rough life.

This is the story of a boy growing up in rural Scotland. It arcs through Ranald Bannerman's entire boyhood right up to the precise moment he knew it had ended. While the focus is certainly on the life of Ranald himself, and involves many different characters and adventures, I take it primarily as a

An enjoyable, leisure read

The third book by Macdonald I have read and it was a worthwhile read. Unpredictable, yet mellow. A book you can put down and then come back to later without losing anything. Full of profound descriptions scattered through of how a soul and conscience grows up, surrounded by

George MacDonald is the best. How on earth can one man write so many unerringly GOOD stories?

Read this to the kids. It was great because it was an atypical "adventure/coming of age" story looking at the relatively uneventful development of a young boy into a young man in 19th century Scotland. The adventure was just that of a life lived with its small-scale and particularized beauty and com

Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood by George MacDonald. First published in 1871.

My heart always ends up totally immersed in the lives of MacDonald’s characters, causing me to think about them long after the book is over. It was delightful to cavort with Ranald through the fields and lanes of his spirited bo

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