false 1800794 1 Over the years, scholars have labored to show that C. S. Lewis's famed Chronicles of Narnia have an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and the seven books of Spenser's Faerie Queene. None of these explanations has won general acceptance and the nature of Narnia's symbolism has remained a puzzle. Michael Ward has finally solved the mystery. In Planet Narnia, he argues convincingly that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings (including previously unpublished drafts of the Chronicles), Ward shows that the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets--the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn--planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value" and "especially worthwhile in our own generation." Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the Chronicles so that the story-line in each book, countless points of ornamental detail, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality. For instance, in The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader," the sun is the prevailing planetary spirit: magical water turns things to gold, the solar metal; Aslan is seen flying in a sunbeam; and the sun's rising place is actually identified as the destination of the plot: "the very eastern end of the world." Planet Narnia is a ground-breaking study that will provoke a major reassessment not only of the Chronicles, but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook, revealing him to be a much subtler writer and thinker than has previously been recognized. 1799947 15 1 2007 Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis total:54|5:33|4:14|3:6|2:0|1:1| 54 240 164 23 0 0 false false Sat Sep 05 08:13:49 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 26 18:16:37 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 08:13:49 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Sep 14 16:30:37 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 14 16:35:42 -0700 2009
Ward's style is a little jargonistic for ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 13:52:35 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 14:01:01 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 02 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 17:44:52 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 11:29:24 -0700 2009 Planet Narnia is like reading Jim Jordan for C. S. Lewis. Ward shows how the planets, which, as conceived by medieval astrology, had for Lewis “a permanent value as spiritual symbols," are a major driving force behind The Chronicles of Narnia. We have the complet...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 22:02:01 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 09 20:04:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Aug 26 13:50:40 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 12 00:32:27 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jul 10 18:35:47 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 09:18:02 -0700 2008
If you love CS Lewis and his Chronicles of Narnia (deeply, not just casually, but DEEPLY), then you'll find this book very wonderful. Michael Ward, the author, brings in many of Lewis' other works and poetry, to explain his discovery (he says) of the underlying and uni...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Feb 22 07:38:43 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 22 07:46:23 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jul 31 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jun 25 13:02:49 -0700 2008 Thu Aug 14 16:48:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jul 25 15:40:17 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 26 13:36:57 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Dec 08 17:15:28 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 08 17:17:26 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Sun Oct 25 18:46:32 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 18:48:00 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Jul 23 04:37:22 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 23 04:37:48 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jun 29 13:39:43 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 29 13:42:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Jul 02 15:05:11 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 17 10:54:17 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 02 15:05:11 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 12 21:02:47 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 12 21:03:19 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 19 09:47:37 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 19 09:52:06 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Apr 19 22:53:22 -0700 2009 Fri May 01 01:22:52 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 25 10:34:17 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 10 08:11:55 -0800 2008 ]]> 5 0 false false Sat May 16 13:51:26 -0700 2009 Fri Jan 16 10:38:23 -0800 2009 Sat May 16 13:51:26 -0700 2009