Goodreads | The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1)

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Dj rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

02/29/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: Everyone - of all ages

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

The Magician's Nephew tells of how it all started. How Narnia was created. How the first Sons of Adam, and Daughters of Eve "traveled" to Narnia. And, how the wardrobe came to be. A wonderful read, full of magic, wit, adventure, and hope.

Next, Spoiler alert.

I noticed that CS Lewis seemed to point out similarites between Uncle Andrew and his nephew, Digory. That's not a good thing. Uncle Andrew was selfish, un-caring, and really, a blundering fool. While reading, I often found m...more

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AnnaMarie rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

10/21/07

Read in October, 2007

I thought this book was so beautiful.

Favorite quotes/parts:
"He put on a very high, shiny, stiff collar of the sort that made you hold your chin up all the time. He put on a white waistcoat with a pattern on it and arranged his watch chain across the front . . . He took his eye-glass, with the thick black ribbon, and screwed it into his eye; then he looked at himself in the mirror.
Children have one kind of silliness, as you know, and grown-ups have another kind. At this moment Un...more I thought this book was so beautiful.

Favorite quotes/parts:
"He put on a very high, shiny, stiff collar of the sort that made you hold your chin up all the time. He put on a white waistcoat with a pattern on it and arranged his watch chain across the front . . . He took his eye-glass, with the thick black ribbon, and screwed it into his eye; then he looked at himself in the mirror.
Children have one kind of silliness, as you know, and grown-ups have another kind. At this moment Uncle Andrew was beginning to be silly in a very grown-up way. Now that the Witch was no longer in the same room with him he was quickly forgetting how she had frightened him and thinking more and more of her wonderful beauty."

"When the great moment came and the Beasts spoke, he missed the whole point; for a rather interesting reason. When the Lion had first begun singing , long ago when it was still quite dark, he had realized that the noise was a song. And he disliked the song very much. It made him think and feel things he did not want to think and feel. . . . And the longer and more beautiful the Lion sang, the harder Uncle Andrew tried to make himself believe that he could hear nothing but roaring. Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that you very often succeed. Uncle Andrew did."

"'But please, please - won't you - can't you give me something that will cure Mother?' Up till then he had been looking at the Lion's great feet and the huge claws on them; now, in his despair, he looked up at its face. What he saw surprised him as much as anything in his whole life. For the tawny face was bent down near his own and (wonder of wonders) great shining tears stood in the Lion's eyes. They were such big, bright tears compared with Digory's own that for a moment he felt sure as if the Lion must really be sorrier about his Mother than he was himself.
"'My son, my son," said Aslan. "I know. Grief is great. Only you and I in this land know that yet. Let us be good to one another."

"Do not fly too high," said Aslan. "Do not try to go over the tops of the great ice-mountains. . . . There will always be a way through. And now, be gone with my blessing."

"'Oh - Aslan, sir . . . I forgot to tell you. The Witch has already eaten one of those apples.' . . .
'Child,' he replied, 'that is why all the rest are now horror to her. That is what happens to those who pluck and eat fruits at the wrong time and in the wrong way. The fruit is good, but they loathe it ever after.' . . .
'I - I nearly ate one myself, Aslan," said Digory. 'Would I -'
'You would, child,' said Aslan. 'For the fruit always works - it must work - but it does not work happily for any who pluck it at their own will. . . . And the Witch tempted you to do another thing, my son, did she not?' . . .
'Yes, Aslan. She wanted me to take an apple home to Mother.'
'Understand, then, that it would have healed her; but not to your joy or hers. The day would have come when both of you would have looked back and said it would have been better to die in that illness.'
And Digory could say nothing, for tears had choked him and he gave up all hopes of saving his Mother's life; but at the same time he knew that the Lion knew what would have happened, and that there might be things more terrible even then losing someone you love by death. But now Aslan was speaking again, almost in a whisper:
'That is what would have happened, child, with a stolen apple. It is not what will happen now. What I give you now will bring joy. It will not, in your world, give endless life, but it will heal. Go. Pluck her an apple from the Tree.'"...less

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Aaron rated it:

(review of isbn 0060234989)

03/11/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: It's pretty good.

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I think this is how.....

*My review
I decide to pick this book because this is a book almost everyone in Canada has read, from know knowledge. They read this series every since they were in elementary school. And everyone who read this gave a pretty good rating of this book and said it is a good book, so I thought I should try it too! I like the story a lot, but it was hard for me to get into it in the beginning. I don’t usually read books, and I never read anything other then Har...more I think this is how.....

*My review
I decide to pick this book because this is a book almost everyone in Canada has read, from know knowledge. They read this series every since they were in elementary school. And everyone who read this gave a pretty good rating of this book and said it is a good book, so I thought I should try it too! I like the story a lot, but it was hard for me to get into it in the beginning. I don’t usually read books, and I never read anything other then Harry Potter and Pendragon series, but I finished both of them and have nothing to read anymore. I figure that The Magician Nephew is just like one of those books, I finally got another series to read. I did not get into the story until chapter 4 where Polly and Digory met and decided to explore the new world. I like the fact that the author describes the new world really well.

*Summary of the book
The first time Polly and Digory meet each other was at the bottom of the garden, then they decided to explore the roof and ran into Uncle Andrew, Digory’s uncle. He then decided to give Polly a magical ring, which will lead you to another world once you touch it, but Uncle Andrew did not tell her that. He tests it on Polly, Digory’s friend, and Polly disappears right infront of Digory. Digory was stunned and worse than nightmare, he screamed. Later Digory decided to go after Polly and bring her back to London by putting on the ring too. When Polly and Digory are in new world, they meet an evil witch. They tried to go back to London, but the witch grabs onto Digory and comes to the real world together with them and meets with Uncle Andrew who later forces to become a servant of the witch. Polly and Disgory goes home but agree to help the witch as soon as possible. Later on, they helped the witch back to the woods, but now they are lost. They decided to talk to the strangers while both the witch and Uncle Andrew want to steal Poll and Digory’s rings. Digory, Polly, and the Cabbie talk to Strawberry about seeing Aslan, and Strawberry agrees to take Digory to see Aslan, and Polly, and the Cabbie follow along behind him. Digory admits that they are the reason why the witch is there, and Aslan decides that the Cabbie and his Wife would be a good first King and Queen of Narnia. Aslan tells Digory to get an apple, follows by Polly, from the tree over the mountains and don’t eat it. The horse, Strawberry turns into a unicorn and flies them there where they meet the witch. The witch tries to convince Digory to take it for himself, and she almost succeeds, until she says to leave Polly behind. Aslan finally get a change to deal with Uncle Andrew, but all he can do is to put him to sleep, and wait until everything has been solved. After that, Aslan gives the one thing Digory ever wanted ever since they had come into Narnia. When Polly, Digory, and Uncle Andrew arrive back in London, they find out that their trip to Narnia has not taken any time away in the real world. Uncle Andrew also learned from his lesson and decided not to touch magic ever again as long as he lives. At the very end, Digory goes to his mother and gives her the present Aslan has given him.

*Selected quotes
~ “I should be most happy—delighted to be of any service—a p-pleasure, I assure you.” (84).

~ “ ‘And,’ added Digory, ‘if you think I’m such a mean pig as to go off and leave Polly—and the Cabby—and the horse—in a place like this, you’re well mistaken.” (115-116).

~ “Laugh and fear not, creatures. Now that you are no longer dumb and witless, you need not always be gravel For jokes as well as justice come in with speech.” (141).

~ “ ‘A devilish temper she had,’ he would say. ‘But she was a dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman.’ ” (221).
...less

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Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 9780064471)

05/30/08

Read in May, 2008

It's been probably close to twenty-five years or more since I last read the Narnia books. I ended up in a place where I decided it was time to re-read them, especially since the movies are out and I haven't seen them yet but will end up buying them later this year on Blu-ray. So before heading out on vacation, I grabbed the first book. Of course, this wasn't the first book back when I read them years ago, nor was it one that I ever actually read. So I was getting new material regardless and that...more It's been probably close to twenty-five years or more since I last read the Narnia books. I ended up in a place where I decided it was time to re-read them, especially since the movies are out and I haven't seen them yet but will end up buying them later this year on Blu-ray. So before heading out on vacation, I grabbed the first book. Of course, this wasn't the first book back when I read them years ago, nor was it one that I ever actually read. So I was getting new material regardless and that added a bit more interest to it for me.

As a prequel, I have to admit I found it interesting overall. But like many "children's novels" from my youth, they don't hold up well in an adult viewing. Light novels like this just don't appeal to me in general, especially since I've grown to really favor things like hard science fiction novels that spends chapters going over things in heavy detail. But I do like to change my perspective now and then so shifting from a fantasy series to something like this was well worth it, especially as it can be read in such short time. Like sitting in an airport waiting for a delayed flight.

The Magician's Nephew goes back to the beginning of everything and is really the creation book that shows how Narnia came about. That only happens after the path to that world is opened through the silly and awkward adventures of Digory and Polly, two kids who you tend to want to smack for their less than believable antics - in a modern mindset. From its origins it's likely far more believable but that disconnect makes it hard to really work with. The two stumble through some interesting ideas with interdimensional travel before landing in the place where Aslan is working to create his ideal world. This is all very much the whole Christian thing written plainly, enough that I can see it. I do admit that I often miss this kind of obvious subtext in a lot of books because I'm simply not a religious person and I don't associate everything with religion. It's strong and obvious enough here though so I can see it easily enough. It's... amusing in the end.

This book was a fairly pleasant read once it got moving a bit and I liked seeing the origins of the White Witch and Narnia, which will make going into the proper first book a bit more interesting since the history will be there. I don't remember anything from the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe other than fond memories of it. I haven't seen the movies either so that helps to keep them from coloring it a bit as well. I'm looking forward to the next few books, but I think I'm finding myself more interested in revisiting the Lloyd Alexander books......less

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Marlise rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

09/08/08

I've been reading The Magician's Nephew to my son every night for the past two weeks and when we finished I thought it was so charming, I just had to post a review! With two adventurous children, an evil/eccentric uncle, a beautifully vicious queen, and of, course, the founding of Narnia, who wouldn't enjoy this book? C.S. Lewis originally intended it to be Book One of the Chronicles of Narnia and so it explains a few mysteries found in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (why the wardrobe was...more I've been reading The Magician's Nephew to my son every night for the past two weeks and when we finished I thought it was so charming, I just had to post a review! With two adventurous children, an evil/eccentric uncle, a beautifully vicious queen, and of, course, the founding of Narnia, who wouldn't enjoy this book? C.S. Lewis originally intended it to be Book One of the Chronicles of Narnia and so it explains a few mysteries found in The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (why the wardrobe was magical, why there was a lighted lamppost in the the middle of the forest, etc.).

It's a fun, quick read and gets two thumbs up from me!

Here's one of my favorite passages about Uncle Andrew, the so-called "magician."

"...Everyone now thought he must be safely kept somewhere till Aslan had time to come and see him and say what should be done about him. So they made a sort of cage or coop all round him. They then offered him everything they could think of to eat."

"The Donkey collected great piles of thistles and threw them in, but Uncle Andrew didn't seem to care about them. The Squirrels bombarded him with volleys of nuts, but he only covered his head with his hands and tried to keep out of the way. Several birds flew to and fro diligently dropping worms on him. The Bear was especially kind. During the afternoon he found a wild bees' nest and instead of eating it himself (which he would very much like to have done) this worthy creature brought it back to Uncle Andrew. But this was in fact the worst failure of all. The Bear lobbed the whole sticky mass over the top of the enclosure and unfortunately it hit Uncle Andrew slap in the face (not all the bees were dead). The Bear, who would not at all have minded being hit in the face by a honeycomb himself, could not understand why Uncle Andrew staggered back, slipped, and sat down. And it was sheer bad luck that he sat down on the pile of thistles. 'And anyway.' as the Warthog said, 'quite a lot of honey has got into the creature's mouth and that's bound to have done it some good.' They were really getting quite fond of their strange pet and hoped that Aslan would allow them to keep it. The cleverer ones were quite sure by now that at least some of the noises which came out of his mouth had a meaning. They christened him Brandy because he made that noise so often."...less

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Chris rated it:

(review of isbn 0006716679)

02/09/08

bookshelves: fantasy

Read in March, 2006

So I went to see the Narnia movie with The Boyfriend yesterday - it was damn good. Dragged in a few places, but greatly enjoyable, and I think the venerable Mr. Lewis, who apparently was adamantly opposed to the books ever being made into movies, would have enjoyed it.

As we were walking home, though, The Boyfriend was asking questions about the story. Some of them I could answer - like why the Witch didn't lose all her power when her Magic Wand god smashed ("Because she's an ass-kicker....more So I went to see the Narnia movie with The Boyfriend yesterday - it was damn good. Dragged in a few places, but greatly enjoyable, and I think the venerable Mr. Lewis, who apparently was adamantly opposed to the books ever being made into movies, would have enjoyed it.

As we were walking home, though, The Boyfriend was asking questions about the story. Some of them I could answer - like why the Witch didn't lose all her power when her Magic Wand god smashed ("Because she's an ass-kicker. It's probably like breaking a TV remote - you can just go out and get another one.") Some of them, however, I couldn't answer. Like where the Witch came from, and why the Wardrobe was able to transport the kids between worlds. I felt ashamed of this because I have read the books and I usually have a great memory for story details such as those.

So, I dug out the books and started reading book one. And all my questions were answered....

It was a lot better than I remembered. The children, Diggory and Polly, were not quite the irritating little airheads that children so often are in this sort of story. Wicked Uncle Andrew, the man who crafted the magic rings by which we may travel from one world to another, is comedically incompetent. And the Queen.... Let me put it this way: after watching the movie and reading this book, I would watch a movie entirely about the White Witch. She is truly and unreservedly evil, but she's so completely cool....

I've heard that Walden wants to make all seven books into movies, and I have to admit, this one has a lot to draw from. There isn't the visual spectacle of battle, but there is the Creation of Narnia. My only fear is that the movie version wouldn't be nearly close enough to the book. I mean, they've made remarkable strides in fantasy moviemaking since Peter Jackson got his fingers into it, and things have gotten a lot better. But anything less than making me want to weep with joy would fall short. Also, as much as I like Liam Neeson, his voice wasn't nearly.... resonant enough for Aslan, I thought.

So, from here on to book two.......less

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k8lane rated it:

(review of isbn 0060595019)

05/23/07

I grew up on the Narnia books, and -- somewhat amazingly, considering the level of theological discourse in my house -- had no idea about the religious subtext. The books are better when read without the subtext (though, is it possible to do so now that the subtext has become mainstream knowledge?)-- to me, they were marvellous adventure stories.

I'm a firm advocate of reading them in published order rather than in "chronological" order. Douglas Gresham be damned, there is n...more

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Brooke Anderson rated it:

(review of isbn 0590254758)

01/17/08

Read in January, 2008

recommends it for: People who enjoy magic books or finding out how Narnia was created

My Review

Want to read a book so great that it has old worlds ending and new worlds beginning? Well if so, The Magician's Nephew written by C. S. Lewis (the well known author of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wadrobe who was also friends with J. R. R. Tolkien the author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) is the book for you. C. S. Lewis has also won the Carnegie Medal, one of the Highest marks of excellence in children's literature for his last book in The Chronicles of Narnia ...more

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Lauren P rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

04/01/08

Read in March, 2008

recommends it for: April Goodreads Review

This was one of the most amazing books I read. Digory and his mother move to London because Digory's mother is sick. They are staying with Digory's Aunt and Uncle. Everyone thinks Digory's uncle is crazy, and they are right. The adventure begins when Digory and his neighbor, Polly, go exploring in Polly's house. They find a secret passage and find it leads to Digory's uncle's room. Uncle Andrew tricks Polly and digory into putting on magic yellow rings, which takes them to an in between place th...more

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Natalie rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

06/11/08

Read in June, 2008

recommended to Natalie by: Brian

This was the first C.S. Lewis book I've ever read. Since I have heard so many great things about C.S. Lewis, I thought I'd give it a shot. Plus, I really liked The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe movie.

However, these books are not my "type" of books at all, but I was bound and determined to get through this one. It took me far longer than I wanted it to and I would have liked. It was just really hard for me to find the motivation and interest to read this story.

As I went ...more

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Beth rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

11/10/07

Read in April, 2006

This is sort of a “prequel” to the most famous Narnia book, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (now a major motion picture! :wink:). I read that book last December and was pleased to discover that it was: a) much shorter than Tolkein’s acclaimed fantasy books (which I do not care for) and b) much less difficult to read than C.S. Lewis’s other books (Mere Christianity, for one … okay, fine, that’s the only other Lewis book I’ve actually completed! :-P) And, of course, I loved the ...more

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Jeanette rated it:

(review of isbn 0061125261)

03/08/08

bookshelves: 2008, juvenile

Read in March, 2008

I've never read any of the Chronicles of Narnia series, shocking I know. Apparently there is a debate about the order they should be read in, by publication date or chronologically. I decided to go chronologically. I am hoping the series gets better as it goes. Don't get me wrong, I did really enjoy the Magician's Nephew but I guess after hearing so much for so many years I had really high expectations.
I found the story of how Narnia was created to be very interesting. There were some biblical...more

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Bryce rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

10/22/07

recommends it for: Narnia fans, Fantasy readers, children

In all honesty, I found The Magician's Nephew to be the slowest of all the Narnia books. It was enjoyable in its own way, but compared to the great adventures in the rest of the series (Voyage of the Dawn Treader being my favorite), The Magician's Nephew doesn't hold itself up as high.

That said, it is an enjoyable read, and essential to anyone who has read any of the other Narnia books.
The Magician's Nephew chronicles the creation of Narnia, and we get to see and understand the beginning...more

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Mattox rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

07/24/08

This is the first book, Chronologically, in the Chronicles of Narnia, but the second to last in order of publication. I think it's best that the history of a place is written towards the end, because the author's ideas will be more developed by then.

An interesting theme that shows up in this book is the nature of temptation, and how evil people go about justifying themselves. Both the Witch and the evil uncle felt themselves exempt from "rules". The uncle explains this to his neph...more

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Liz rated it:

(review of isbn 0007126085)

06/08/08

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in June, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Woogieomma rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

03/16/08

Read in February, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

First published in 1955, The Magician's Nephew was the sixth book C.S. Lewis wrote about Narnia. It was intended as a prequel to the series, chronicling events that took place before The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The Magician’s Nephew is a brilliant fantasy. It is the story of the beginning of Narnia, how it came to be created, and how the door between this world and that came into being. We meet the creator, Aslan the great Lion, and learn how the wicked White Witch enters the worl...more

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Robert rated it:

(review of isbn 0060764902)

08/19/08

bookshelves: 2008-goal-list, cuy-co-pub-lib, finished

Read in July, 2008

C. S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew (Harper Collins, 1955)

Back when I was a kid, I read what were then considered the first two and a half books of the Chronicles of Narnia; I never did make it through The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Now, with the travesty that was the movie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe hanging in my memory, I felt the need to go back and revisit these, first to see if I could finally finish Dawn Treader, and second to see if the books were as good as I re...more

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Diamond rated it:

(review of isbn 0020442300)

05/18/08

bookshelves: classics, fantasy, youngadults

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Anyone who likes Narnia and fantasy books.

This was a good book, although it seemed a bit slow in places to me. There were times when I had to force myself to continue reading, or else I may have simply set it down and never picked it back up again. Perhaps it is simply because of the nature of the book itself, what with trying to tell the beginning of a story that I had already immersed myself in previously. I notice I have had that same problem with other things of that nature. It could also be because I could not seem to really id...more

The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1)

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