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Series: Narnia

Title: The Magician’s Nephew (Book 1)
Author: C. S. Lewis
ISBN: 0-00-671667-9
Format: Paperback 171 Pages
Overall Concept 7
Execution 6

Title: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (Book 2)
Author: C. S. Lewis
ISBN: 0-00-671663-6
Format: Paperback 171 Pages
Overall Concept 7
Execution 7

Despite the fact that I am a lover of fantasy, have been reading fantasy since I was 11 (or younger), and have read a lot of the ‘standard’ fantasy series, I have several I still need to read (Narnia, Earthsea, Oz, Wonderland). What finally forced my hand to read the Narnia series was the fact that this past Christmas the most recent movie rendition of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe was released.

Being a bit of a stickler for reading books in their ‘proscribed’ order, I couldn’t read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe without first reading The Magician’s Nephew, as both chronologically and by the box set I have, The Magician’s Nephew is book one.

I had heard many years ago that the order that the books were written is not the one that is normally associated to the box sets, and, in the case of The Magician’s Nephew, it shows. You can tell by the fact that the story isn’t as well laid out and seems a patchwork book, as compared to The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, that this was written sometime later and as an intended prologue to explain some pieces of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (i.e. the lamppost in the middle of the woods and the magic of the wardrobe).

The overall premise of the first novel is that a boy and girl of preteen age are magically transported to magic places and the adventures that ensue, both in those places and back home, because of their travels and interactions with a very nasty witch. This book is nicely written as a fanciful escape from the doldrums of life and has a few morals to impart along the way.

The second book follows the adventures of four siblings that begin their adventures in an English countryside manor during WWII and upon entering a magical wardrobe are plunged into an epic battle between good (Aslan the Lion) and evil (the Ice Queen). As with the first book this is a good fanciful tale with morals interspersed. However, it has often been said that this story is allegorical to the crucifixion of Christ, and having recently read the New Testament of the Bible, I can readily see how this assertion could be made. Mr. C. S. Lewis emphatically denied this claim, but I don’t see why, as he told the story in a beautiful way that can easily be captured by children (a benevolent lion being tortured and slain by a evil witch to save the life of a misguided boy is more digestible to children than Christ being crucified for the sins of the world).

I am quite glad to have read these two books, and most certainly intend to complete the series. I would whole heartedly suggest to anyone who is willing to read Harry Potter or Tolkien, that they should take the time to digest these novels as well.

To quickly touch base on the movie that came out this past Christmas season, I must say I wasn’t all that impressed by it. The visual effects were quite stunning and the movie painted a pretty picture, but it just didn’t seem to capture the overall fanciful nature of the story and too often took liberties with the story (adding or removing scenes). Frankly, I am more a fan of the 1978 cartoon version of the story, as it is seems to hold closer to what I perceive when I read the book(s). My wife has said that she feels the same way about the BBC production that came out recently. Perhaps it could be said that the movie tried too hard and focused away from the spirit of the story in order to be visually spectacular.