Water Babies a fairy story for a land baby

By charles kingsley it is a story about a child who enters a fantasy world under water and makes friends. It has moments that could have come from a Dickens novel and lightheartedness of fairy tales.

I love the satire and the way it looks at death and rebirth so to speak

Anyone know of it or read it?

a reply to: Thisisfun2015

No, but it sounds interesting! I love a good Tale of Fiction!
Reality Sucks, so I go for the off the wall variety Story anymore...
Have you tried some search engines? Perhaps Amazon online has that book? Just some thoughts as I pour coffee into my gullet! Have a Good One!

Syx.

a reply to: SyxPak

Oh yes I've owned it and read it many times, I just thought id ask if anyone here has also read it as I have never met anyone who has read it other than myself and it would be so nice to discuss some of the satire and such.

a reply to: Thisisfun2015

Ok I'll bite. What is the title of said book? Perhaps I'd like to peruse it's pages?
I do a bit of writing myself, every now and then. I love reading as well...
I am working on a story right now in fact. I am writing it in a Poem fashion, but it is telling a tale of a Man who found a ring and blue ribbon. He is searching for the owner.... Silly little Tale really, but one that just popped into My head this morning! LOL!!

Edit: I see the Title to the book in your Thread title. Duh Me. LOL!!! Syx.

a reply to: Thisisfun2015
I hope it doesn't put you off if I point out that it's a nineteenth century version of the Narnia series.
That is, the story is a fable deliberately designed to present Kingsley's understanding of Christian theology.
Though that may be less obvious in modern versions which have been edited down "for children".

syxpak, it is the title of my thread i apologize "water babies, a fairy story for a land baby"


Disreali- no it doesn't put me off a bit since it had nothing to do with the narnia series at all and the stories have nothing to do with each other. Actually it was more an account of his politics of the era than religion. The later versions of water babies were quite dumbed down so to speak and lost the entirety of his messages.

Kingsley was a friend and fan of Darwin and although yes he was a priest, he was also a believer in evolution and the book has many instances that point it to being a scientific and political story for its time.

It has no relation at all to his religious stance but I will give you one thing he did hope it would bring social reform in certain aspects.

a reply to: Thisisfun2015
Kingsley was famous for his "muscular Christianity", as it got nicknamed.
In drawing the analogy with Narnia, I only meant that fable was being used to present a Christian viewpoint.
E.g, right at the end of the book there is the revelation that Mrs Do-as-you-would-be-done-by (who gives rewards) and Mrs Be-done-by-as-you-did (who gives justice) and Mother Carey (who feeds all living things) are all one and the same person underneath. That is, they're all aspects of God.

You will remember that Tom enters the water by being "washed out of his husk and shell"; that is, his physical body. People find it later, take him to be dead. and mourn him. His later adventures are, in effect, the story of his soul, which is "prickly" when he has done bad things, but becomes smooth and nice to cuddle when he reforms.

The social satire is not so much politics as a recognition that Christian moral teaching has social implications.