The magic country and its environs. Epple N.

Nikolai Epple-philologist and translator, specialist in the history of English literature, laureate of the Enlightener Prize.

Scientific and popular book “The Magic Country and its Curious” is a collection of an essay about English writers XIX-XXI centuries, whose works are customary to attribute to such genres as a fairy tale, a story for children, a fantasy novel. However, here these authors appear before the reader entered into the tradition of the literature of the magical country.

Talking about allusions and reminiscences, revealing the connections between artistic fiction and historical and linguistic reality, Epple considers the English literature “Feiry countries” as a conversation between a narrow circle Well -known people. McDonald, Carroll, Graham, Miln, Chesterton, Williams, Lewis, Tolkien, Pulman, Pratchett, Rowling, Clark - they are all familiar in life or through books, study with each other, “play” and polemize with each other. So, McDonald convinced Carroll to record a fairy tale about Alice; Chesterton was one of the most insightful commentators of Carroll's absurdity, and Tolkien was an attentive reader of McDonald; Miln, Lewis, Pratchett were delighted with the “wind in the willows” of Kenneth Graham; Rowling loved “Narnia” in childhood and considers Tolkien’s books one of her most important readers.

these authors have truly “elven skill” (as Tolkien calls it) to create a secondary world permeated with magic and riddles, from fragments from fragments Primary reality: historical events, phenomena of culture and language, personal meetings and literary impressions. Their fantasy was born by reason, and absurdity is based on logic. Therefore, the so -called “fairy legends” of English masters are by no means a departure from reality and the path to escapism, but, on the contrary, a way to comprehend the true order of things and approach reality.

The publication is decorated with photographs of English writers, illustrations for their works, reproductions of graphics and painting, manuscripts and covers of the first editions.