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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The Marsh-wiggle was, in my opinion, the best part of the book.
Can’t live up to Dawn Treader but Puddleglum is a delight
My experience with this little series is very hot-and-cold. Either I love the book (like The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe or Voyage of The Dawn Treader, to some extent Prince Caspian) or I feel very meh about it (The Magician’s Nephew, Horse and His Boy, and now The Silver Chair).
As usual, one of the biggest flaws in this book are its forced Biblical allusions. Constantly pausing the story to mediate on the nature of God or sin just drags everything down and makes it a lot harder to connect to the plot or characters. This also exacerbates the book’s already not-great pacing. The mission our characters are on is supposedly very urgent, but the plot just meanders about with no sense of urgency or drive. By the end, I was getting really annoyed with all the digressions about the giants and the different creatures they encountered and just wanted the story to move on.
The characters in this were okay, although more on the generic side than anything else. Eustace was great, and it was nice to see him reckon with the passage of time in Narnia and his new role within the country. Jill was okay, but felt very similar to Polly and just…not especially unique. Puddleglum suffered the same fate, being really similar to a lot of the other Bumbling But Still Goodhearted characters we’ve met before. Nothing bad, but nothing spectacular either.
As I have said in my other reviews, the fact that I liked Lion, Caspian, and Voyage so much may be due to nostalgia. Those books were all adapted into movies which I watched when I was little, and then subsequently read. The books I’ve liked the least are the ones that I don’t have that pre-existing connection to. I think that is part of why The Silver Chair and Co. just don’t resonate with me. At the same time, I also think there’s a reason THOSE books got made into movies, while the rest of the series was not. They are to some degree, just stronger works.
Overall, even though I didn’t love this book I’ve still enjoyed reading the Narnia series and look forward to finishing it with The Last Battle!
As usual, one of the biggest flaws in this book are its forced Biblical allusions. Constantly pausing the story to mediate on the nature of God or sin just drags everything down and makes it a lot harder to connect to the plot or characters. This also exacerbates the book’s already not-great pacing. The mission our characters are on is supposedly very urgent, but the plot just meanders about with no sense of urgency or drive. By the end, I was getting really annoyed with all the digressions about the giants and the different creatures they encountered and just wanted the story to move on.
The characters in this were okay, although more on the generic side than anything else. Eustace was great, and it was nice to see him reckon with the passage of time in Narnia and his new role within the country. Jill was okay, but felt very similar to Polly and just…not especially unique. Puddleglum suffered the same fate, being really similar to a lot of the other Bumbling But Still Goodhearted characters we’ve met before. Nothing bad, but nothing spectacular either.
As I have said in my other reviews, the fact that I liked Lion, Caspian, and Voyage so much may be due to nostalgia. Those books were all adapted into movies which I watched when I was little, and then subsequently read. The books I’ve liked the least are the ones that I don’t have that pre-existing connection to. I think that is part of why The Silver Chair and Co. just don’t resonate with me. At the same time, I also think there’s a reason THOSE books got made into movies, while the rest of the series was not. They are to some degree, just stronger works.
Overall, even though I didn’t love this book I’ve still enjoyed reading the Narnia series and look forward to finishing it with The Last Battle!
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Da piccolo questo era il mio libro preferito della saga e non saprei neanche perché, forse per Pozzanghera (che mood).
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I mean it was sweet and there were interesting bits about like Narnian lore and geography and stuff, but it was a bit uneventful overall. It kind of felt like Jill and Eustace were simply along if a ride and didn’t do a terrible amount or develop as characters too much. Either way it was a fun adventure but definitely not as good as others in the series so far.
I never liked this one quite as much as some of the other Narnia books...
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes