Sir Gibbie was written in 1879 by a Scottish minister named George MacDonald. George MacDonald was the favorite author of C.S. Lewis and has been well-known for both his theological writing as well as his fiction. I have already reviewed The Princess and the Goblin and Phantasies, which were both written by him. Sir Gibbie is yet another great book by him, and I am growing to be a huge fan of his.
Sir Gibbie follows the life of a young mute boy who grows up in poverty with his drunk father in an unnamed Scottish city. After multiple misfortunes, he ends up alone in the country and is adopted by a Christian family. After even more adventures, he discovers he has inherited a fortune and returns to the city to get the education of a gentleman. As Gibbie becomes a man with his disability, he learns o exert his influence to do good and, while doing so, finds love and happiness.
The story is not an easy or simple one. Gibbie’s disability may be more than just mutism. I would speculate whether he may even have high-functioning autism, but whatever he struggles through, it doesn’t just magically disappear as other writers would have done. Gibbie finds success as he is, and with the gifts, his disability opened up to him. As a mother of a special needs child, I nearly cried over this story. George MacDonald is a master at knowing his characters and conveying the complexities of who they are. Gibbie is fully understood by the author even if those around him misunderstand him.
George MacDonald conveys the complexities of the characters around Gibbie. Even the most villainous characters have logic to what they have done, even if it is flawed. They are treated with grace and love even when they act vile. Each person is so complex that you feel like you could have known them. The element that pulls you through the book is not the suspenseful plot but the amazing characters.
This book is clean and very Christian. There is a little violence and gore when Gibbie witnesses a murder, but most teens read and see much worse than this scene. There is no sex, cussing, or needless violence. The book has an optimistic tone even to the extent that some people accuse Gibbie of being “too good.” I would say that considering the hardship Gibbie goes through, this is almost his superpower. This novel is by no means sappy or trite in the way it deals with the world. Gibbie must overcome much without any deus ex machina style scenes.
I would recommend this book to readers of all ages, but many of the conversations are in Scots, which is hard to read for young teens and perhaps even some adults. If this is the case, I recommend the translation by David Jack that you can find here:
https://amzn.to/2RBIXXM
If you can obtain the translation, I think this book would be great for teens 14 and up. If you can’t get the translation, then this is an adult-level book because of the language only. It isn’t a children’s book in content and maybe a little deep for the less patient teen, but I know that I would have loved this book at that age. I highly recommend this book!
Check out my young adult fantasy fiction novels HERE for something optimistic and fun.
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What do you think?