Through the looking glass, to the yellow brick road
June 12, 2012 9:55 PM Subscribe
What well-known/classic stories involve someone being transported to a magical world, from which point onwards he/she is primarily trying to get home? Important: the main character must meet fantastical characters on the journey, who eventually become his or her allies or guides.
I'm most interested in well-loved stories that work for both kids and adults, in the vein of The Wizard of Oz, Phantom Tollbooth, Alice in Wonderland, etc.
"Labyrinth" somewhat fits the bill but is a bit too recent...
Thanks!
I'm most interested in well-loved stories that work for both kids and adults, in the vein of The Wizard of Oz, Phantom Tollbooth, Alice in Wonderland, etc.
"Labyrinth" somewhat fits the bill but is a bit too recent...
Thanks!
Does Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy count? I'd say outer space is magical, but it's not as old as The Wizard of Oz, etc.
posted by PaulaSchultz at 10:07 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by PaulaSchultz at 10:07 PM on June 12, 2012
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell
posted by Ideefixe at 10:12 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 10:12 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
If movies count, *Spirited Away* is a perfect example of this scenario.
posted by chicainthecity at 10:14 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by chicainthecity at 10:14 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
Stardust
posted by EsotericAlgorithm at 10:15 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by EsotericAlgorithm at 10:15 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
The entire Chronicles of Narnia.
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 10:30 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by AnOrigamiLife at 10:30 PM on June 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
That sounds like "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever" -- but it isn't a classic. (Frankly, it's crap.)
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012
I thought about adding Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell because it was so AWESOME, but I'm not sure it meets the criteria... Oh, wait! Yes. Yes it does!!
posted by jbenben at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by jbenben at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012
Gilligan's Island? Star Trek: Voyager, the Gilligan's Island of Star Trek?
posted by XMLicious at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by XMLicious at 10:32 PM on June 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
Many of Diana Wynne Jones' books deal with this, especially, The Lives of Christopher Chant and The Homeward Bounders.
posted by smoke at 10:39 PM on June 12, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by smoke at 10:39 PM on June 12, 2012 [3 favorites]
Best answer: The Magic Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair, both by Enid Blyton. Some of the lands they visit are good (the Land of Birthdays!) and some are not good at all (The Land of Dame Slap - where you get slapped a lot, obviously). God I loved those books as a kid.
posted by Wantok at 10:56 PM on June 12, 2012
posted by Wantok at 10:56 PM on June 12, 2012
Best answer: Well, depending on how young the kid, "A Wrinkle in Time" by Madeline L'Engle? I think I read it before I was ten, but I was a fast reader. Their magical journey was taken by means of SCIENCE! but hey, what is science but some kinda modern fancymagic anyway?
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 10:58 PM on June 12, 2012 [5 favorites]
posted by Rube R. Nekker at 10:58 PM on June 12, 2012 [5 favorites]
Pullmans second book in the Northern Lights trilogy, The Subtle Knife, might meet your criteria. Unless you don't think 1996 is "classis" enough. (C'mon, it's from the previous millenium!
posted by monocultured at 12:10 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by monocultured at 12:10 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
I came here to second Diana Wynne Jones. A Charmed Life as part of the Chrestomanci series is of my favourite books ever.
posted by moiraine at 1:04 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by moiraine at 1:04 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
How about E.T., if you look at it from E.T.'s perspective....
posted by argonauta at 1:24 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by argonauta at 1:24 AM on June 13, 2012
The Neverending Story by Michael Ende - the second half of the book, which takes place after the end of the movie, is particularly relevant.
posted by guessthis at 2:34 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by guessthis at 2:34 AM on June 13, 2012
Eye In The Sky by Philip K. Dick, wherein (and it's been a while since I read it but here goes) a group touring some kind of science lab (particle accelerator?) is involved in some sort of accident and is subsequently transported to each of the participants inner worlds, in succession. And, of course, they are all trying to get back to "reality," whatever that is.
posted by lordrunningclam at 2:45 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by lordrunningclam at 2:45 AM on June 13, 2012
Dante's Inferno? The Odyssey?
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:22 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Admiral Haddock at 3:22 AM on June 13, 2012 [1 favorite]
Adding to A Wrinkle in Time, Many Waters fits the criteria even more explicitly (where the characters in AWIT depart with the mission of bringing someone else home, the characters in Many Waters get sent thousands of years into the past by accident, and their only desire is to get home).
posted by ocherdraco at 4:20 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by ocherdraco at 4:20 AM on June 13, 2012
And the fantastical creatures are angels (seraphim and nephilim) and unicorns.
posted by ocherdraco at 4:22 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by ocherdraco at 4:22 AM on June 13, 2012
Perelandra, also CS Lewis. Second book in the trilogy that Out of the Silent Planet, suggested by Nicwolff above, starts.
posted by Cocodrillo at 5:36 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by Cocodrillo at 5:36 AM on June 13, 2012
Best answer: The myth of Orpheus's descent into the underworld is an early example.
Gulliver's Travels also springs to mind.
posted by hot soup girl at 5:37 AM on June 13, 2012
Gulliver's Travels also springs to mind.
posted by hot soup girl at 5:37 AM on June 13, 2012
The Covenant books are classics but they sure aren't for kids. The first trilogy is in large part about the protagonist expiating his guilt for doing a Bad Thing by 1970s standards which is a much worse thing by 2012 standards and something a parent might want his kids to think is un-expiatable (or whatever the word for that would be in English).
posted by MattD at 6:55 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by MattD at 6:55 AM on June 13, 2012
The John Carter of Mars/Barsoom novels?
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 7:01 AM on June 13, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by JJtheJetPlane at 7:01 AM on June 13, 2012 [2 favorites]
The Eyes of the Overworld / Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance? Might be a little adult for pre-teens.
Beauty by Robin McKinley?
And more recent than what you want, but ... Farscape.
posted by kyrademon at 7:09 AM on June 13, 2012
Beauty by Robin McKinley?
And more recent than what you want, but ... Farscape.
posted by kyrademon at 7:09 AM on June 13, 2012
Red Moon, Black Mountain by Joy Chant might fit. Pamela Dean's Secret Country books don't fit exactly, but share some characteristics. I was trying to remember if the Kipling books "Puck of Pook's Hill" fit but I don't think so.
posted by PussKillian at 9:39 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by PussKillian at 9:39 AM on June 13, 2012
Not to a magical world, but this classic Heinlein Juvenile meets the rest of your requirements (and is often cited as a good intro to the genre):
Have Space Suit, Will Travel
posted by Rash at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2012
Have Space Suit, Will Travel
posted by Rash at 10:53 AM on June 13, 2012
Martin Scorsese's After Hours might fit the bill in some respects. Not a magical world in the fantasy/sci-fi sense, but it does have some of the elements you're looking for.
posted by Crane Shot at 11:17 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by Crane Shot at 11:17 AM on June 13, 2012
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.
posted by woodvine at 11:24 AM on June 13, 2012
posted by woodvine at 11:24 AM on June 13, 2012
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My gateway drug to great fiction as a way too young for that book kid.
posted by jbenben at 9:58 PM on June 12, 2012 [3 favorites]