The Chronicles of Narnia (Books 1-7) in C. S. Lewis

Jul 05, 2007

Carl rated it:

recommends it for: Fans of Fantasy, Tolkien, and MacDonald

I read this entire series multiple times when I was younger, I think near the end of elementary school or during Jr Hi, and actually got sick of it after too many reads and had to wait to rediscover it later on-- several times, in fact. The books are nice and short, yet each is a quality fantasy story, loaded, of course, with Lewis' exploration-in-fiction of man's relationship to diety and the world. Tolkien was always my favorite, but Lewis has his own particular approach to the fantastic whi...more I read this entire series multiple times when I was younger, I think near the end of elementary school or during Jr Hi, and actually got sick of it after too many reads and had to wait to rediscover it later on-- several times, in fact. The books are nice and short, yet each is a quality fantasy story, loaded, of course, with Lewis' exploration-in-fiction of man's relationship to diety and the world. Tolkien was always my favorite, but Lewis has his own particular approach to the fantastic which is just a beautiful-- it's a shame that Tolkien didn't go for the Narnia books, though I can understand why he didn't. For two such close friends, and with such similar tastes in material, they ended up speaking very different fictional languages. Lewis, of course, was a big fan of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion, but Tolkien was so much more militantly purist that it is no suprise that Lewis would find in Tolkien's work that "joy" which he found in the Norse myths. Lewis' Narnia, however, was more in the service of the fantastic as percieved by moderns, blending and borrowing to create a whole of the present moment, rather than pursuing the more reconstructionsist cohesion of Tolkien. Lewis, of course, remained more faithful to George MacDonald than Tolkien, and that shows: Narnia is a fantasy of the Victorians pulled into the Modern period. If I were to try to recover Tolkien's own perspective on the contrast, I would perhaps say that Narnia and MacDonald's creations were fantasies of a more effeminate, decadent age in which the "horns of Elfland" are a bit more shrill and prettified, in contrast to Middle Earth's masculine hardness and depth-- but typically my own perception of Narnia is much more positive, and I enjoyed these books very much. Maybe not really allegory, though I've heard them described as such (I think by Tolkien), but I can see how one would get that impression-- the world feels much more unabashedly fictional, in comparison to Middle Earth or most "gritty" fantasy that is out there today. This is not necessarily a bad thing, I think-- sometimes the more fictional the context, the brighter the human truths within that fiction.
Out of the series, I would have to say that my favorites are The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (how can you not love such a straightforward title! It spoils nothing, and yet is as pertinent as you can get), the Magician's nephew, and the Last Battle-- the last two because I like beginnings and ends, I think. The structure of the series itself is nice-- first you are pulled in by the plight and plot of children and world in the first book, then this is developed into a love affair with that world in the next few books, with the world itself becoming a character, then, having fallen in love, you behold the birth of your beloved in the Magician's Nephew, and finally, experience her death and redemption in the final book.

Okay, I had at least two or three other paragraphs, but apparently there is a 4000 character limit on these reviews-- which sucks! I'll try and spread out my CS Lewis comments over a few other reviews.(less)

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Jun 26, 2007

Tessa rated it:

(review of isbn 0060847131)

bookshelves: favorites

Read in November, 2005

recommends it for: everyone

Loved this series. I decided to read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before the movie came out, and I really enjoyed it. I then went back to read the Magician's Nephew then jumped forward to finish the rest of the series. Voyage of the Dawn Treader was my favorite. It was very interesting to see how The Last Battle ended. It intrigued me enough to read some of C.S. Lewis's other stuff which has totally reshaped the way I think about my faith. Anyway, I'm planning on reading back through the ...more

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Jan 18, 2008

Erin rated it:

Read in January, 1990

I read these when I was little and don't remember much except that I enjoyed entering that fantasy land, but also that I had a little anxiety for the characters at times too and thought...why don't they just go back. As you can tell, I was never one much for fantasy. Reality was already full of adventure enough...or at least I thought.

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Oct 31, 2008

Shannon rated it:

bookshelves: childhood-favorites, classics, fantasy

I love this series as a whole. I like some of the books better than others, but even in my lesser favorites, there's at least one thing which stands out and makes me think fondly of it.

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