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How long does it take to read Phantastes?

George MacDonald

Phantastes by George MacDonald takes about 3 hours 36 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.

About 3 hours 36 minutes

A weekend read

First published 1850. 196 pages, about 53,900 words.

8 days at 30 minutes a day

Estimate based on 275 words per page.

At other speeds

Slow, 150 words a minute 5 hours 59 minutes
Average, 250 words a minute 3 hours 36 minutes
Fast, 400 words a minute 2 hours 15 minutes

The page count is the median across 472 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.

About the book

One of George MacDonald's most important works, Phantastes is the story of a young man named Anotos and his long dreamlike journey in Fairy Land. It is the fairy tale of deep spiritual insight as Anotos makes his way through moments of uncertainty and peril and mistakes that can have irreversible consequences. This is also his spiritual quest that is destined to end with the supreme surrender of the self. When he finally experiences the hard-won surrender, a wave of joy overwhelms him. His intense personal introspection is honest as he is offered the full range of symbolic choices--great beauty, horrifying ugliness, irritating goblins, nurturing spirits. Each confrontation in Fairy Land allows Anotos to learn many necessary lessons. As he continues on the journey, many shadowy beings threaten his spiritual well-being and compel him to sing. The songs are irresistible to a beautiful White Lady who is freed from inside a statue by the music, and Anotos remains captivated by her for a long time. He sees the world more objectively; his trek invites a natural descent into feelings of pride and egotism. But his losses and sorrows coalesce themselves into things of grace, and these experiences help his spiritual growth. Please Note: This book has been reformatted to be easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. The Microsoft eBook has a contents page linked to the chapter headings for easy navigation. The Adobe eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year. Both versions are text searchable.

Content warnings (AI-checked, may be incomplete)
  • violence

How these are chosen

Subjects: Fairy tales, Scottish Fantasy fiction, Fiction, romance, fantasy, Fiction, science fiction, general, Fiction, fantasy, general, Fantasy

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