Reviews

I decided to revist the Narnia series in an extension of charity for Mr. Lewis, who with age I realize more and more is not some curmudgeony old conservative apologist, but a mystic in the truest sense. That's to say, he's been up and down the buffet several different times and can see even the most unassuming stations as, in some way, divine. And that's to say, Lewis is dead set on telling a story that sees God in all things. To that end, he interpolates mythology from multiple traditions (most prominently, of course, his own Judeo-Christian one), but also just really drives home the point that Life in all its forms is Good. If evil was introduced to Narnia via another world, then it holds that evil was also not native to that world but was accidental to its creation also. And so the "seeds" of Lewis' apokastasis comes into view. (I still bristle at the whole enterprise of rationalist apologetics, tho...)

Pretentious philosophical buffoonery aside, this is also just a really sweet and beautiful book. Here's a couple of passages that made me tear up:
-"Then there came a swift flash like fire (but burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children's bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: 'Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.'"

-"'Creatures, I give you yourselves,' said the strong, happy voice of Aslan. 'I give to you forever this land of Narnia. i give you the woods, the fruits, the rivers. I give you the stars and I give you myself.'"

-"'But please, please—won't you—can't you give me something that will cure Mother?' Up until 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 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.'"

-"'Things always work according to their nature. [The Witch] has won her heart's desire; she has unwearying strength and endless days like a goddess. But lenght of days with an evil heart is only length of misery and already she begins to know it."

-"Both children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close... would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well."

At times reads like an advertisement for the previously written books, but then this also could be a fixture of Lewis's pastiche of mythological works.

capickles's review against another edition

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4.5

A nice prequel to Narnia

makwillis00's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

arih's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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