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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The bit about a particular Marshwiggle-related smell had me laughing out loud and the ending had me in tears.
I love this beautiful series so much and it's wonderful to be rereading them.
I love this beautiful series so much and it's wonderful to be rereading them.
will forever love these books; they are so special to me.
“There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant King caused the letters to be cut, and he knew already all things that would come of them; including this”
“There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan; and he was there when the giant King caused the letters to be cut, and he knew already all things that would come of them; including this”
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-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
4.25/5 - I've read The Silver Chair many times, but have actually understood what was happening and remembered the story about 3 times. So, rereading it was a great experience and while its not my favorite and I find the first three to be some of the best, it is still enjoyable. One thing I don't like and this is just semantics is that Eustace is called Scrubb the entire book, well actually most of the characters are referred to by the last name for most of the book. It just rubbed me the wrong way for some reason.
A beautifully written book. Eustace is back and now Jill joins him. The adventure is on point, and the story had twists and turns galore that kept me coming back for more. Narnia has been well-developed by now, but this adds more magic and mystery to it. Can't believe it took me this long to read it!
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This wasn't my favorite of the series, but I still liked it.
By now I can see Lewis' pattern of writing a children's adventure story and then haphazardly weaving in both Christian elements and societal commentary. It helps me understand why people seem to most love these books who read them as children, even though they do contain occasional messages intended to be universal. As with the previous book, I like some of the individual passages more than the story as a whole here, but that may be because I saw most of the plot twists from far away (the woman in the green kirtle was obviously the one Prince Rilian had seen in the forest, the man underground was clearly Prince Rilian enchanted...).
My assorted thoughts as I read this one:
-Lewis was clearly still on a kick about progressive child-rearing fads here, with the continual snide comments about Experiment House. It was a bit heavy-handed to have the school investigated and reformed at the end of the book. Lewis seems to believe that there is no bullying at stricter schools where they use corporal punishment, which... is just not true.
-I'm starting to the think that the best analogy for getting to Narnia is having prayers answered. If you want to get to Narnia, you can't find it, but if you find yourself in a bind — having to hide from disgruntled guardians or escape from school bullies — you'll be whisked away to Narnia. Or if Aslan wants you to come to Narnia, you'll be called there. In the same way, I don't think that prayer works like a vending machine — God hands out whatever you ask for — but I have experienced a few prayers miraculously answered during my life when I was in deep emotional distress over something. And I think sometimes (though of course not always) what may not look like answered prayers ends up being where you were clearly meant to go in the end.
-There's an obvious parallel between Jill being given the signs on the mountain and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. Aslan tells Jill to constantly repeat the signs to herself, and when she forgets to do so she ends up forgetting to do what she was asked to do and causing more problems. However, it's not like she was eternally damned for missing even one sign — once she remembered what she was told and got back on the right track, everything turned out all right in the end.
-As in previous books, Lewis' sensual descriptions of how it feels to experience certain situations are the best part of his writing here. Most people know what it's like to have an experience where you're outside in the cold and the wind and you can think of nothing else but making it to a place where you can get warm again. He does a masterful job of describing what it feels like to be in that kind of situation.
-Lewis seems to be less sure of enforcing gender roles in this book. After the whole "women shouldn't have to use weapons" thing in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there's no comment on Jill having a knife as a weapon, though in the battle scenes she still stands by while the men do the fighting. Most of the women in this book still fall into literary stereotypes — the evil sorceress, the doddering old nanny — but Jill is allowed to have agency and a full range of emotions, and she's neither the gentle young lady Susan nor the pouty little girl Lucy but a plucky, adventuresome young woman in her own right.
-Less admirable: the giant king seems nice because he's thin, and the giant queen seems not as nice because she's fat? Really, Lewis?
-There's another Christian message in this book that comes near the end, which I found to be a clever way of working a philosophy of belief into the plot itself. When the characters are enchanted to think that Narnia was only a dream and the only real world is the one they're in underground, Puddleglum makes a rousing speech — I'll just quote it here:
My assorted thoughts as I read this one:
-Lewis was clearly still on a kick about progressive child-rearing fads here, with the continual snide comments about Experiment House. It was a bit heavy-handed to have the school investigated and reformed at the end of the book. Lewis seems to believe that there is no bullying at stricter schools where they use corporal punishment, which... is just not true.
-I'm starting to the think that the best analogy for getting to Narnia is having prayers answered. If you want to get to Narnia, you can't find it, but if you find yourself in a bind — having to hide from disgruntled guardians or escape from school bullies — you'll be whisked away to Narnia. Or if Aslan wants you to come to Narnia, you'll be called there. In the same way, I don't think that prayer works like a vending machine — God hands out whatever you ask for — but I have experienced a few prayers miraculously answered during my life when I was in deep emotional distress over something. And I think sometimes (though of course not always) what may not look like answered prayers ends up being where you were clearly meant to go in the end.
-There's an obvious parallel between Jill being given the signs on the mountain and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. Aslan tells Jill to constantly repeat the signs to herself, and when she forgets to do so she ends up forgetting to do what she was asked to do and causing more problems. However, it's not like she was eternally damned for missing even one sign — once she remembered what she was told and got back on the right track, everything turned out all right in the end.
-As in previous books, Lewis' sensual descriptions of how it feels to experience certain situations are the best part of his writing here. Most people know what it's like to have an experience where you're outside in the cold and the wind and you can think of nothing else but making it to a place where you can get warm again. He does a masterful job of describing what it feels like to be in that kind of situation.
-Lewis seems to be less sure of enforcing gender roles in this book. After the whole "women shouldn't have to use weapons" thing in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there's no comment on Jill having a knife as a weapon, though in the battle scenes she still stands by while the men do the fighting. Most of the women in this book still fall into literary stereotypes — the evil sorceress, the doddering old nanny — but Jill is allowed to have agency and a full range of emotions, and she's neither the gentle young lady Susan nor the pouty little girl Lucy but a plucky, adventuresome young woman in her own right.
-Less admirable: the giant king seems nice because he's thin, and the giant queen seems not as nice because she's fat? Really, Lewis?
-There's another Christian message in this book that comes near the end, which I found to be a clever way of working a philosophy of belief into the plot itself. When the characters are enchanted to think that Narnia was only a dream and the only real world is the one they're in underground, Puddleglum makes a rousing speech — I'll just quote it here:
Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things—trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan Himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That’s why I’m going to stand by the play world. I’m on Aslan’s side even if there isn’t any Aslan to lead it. I’m going to live like a Narnian even if there isn’t any Narnia.
I'm sure you could break it down theologically or philosophically to show that it isn't necessarily the best sentiment, but emotionally it resonated as how it feels to believe in God and life after death.
-Puddleglum is a pretty great character generally. He's the most pessimistic of all pessimists, and yet he manages to hold onto his core convictions and comes through to save the day.
-I thought Jeremy Northam did an excellent job narrating this book. I'm still not sure why they decided to switch narrators for every audiobook, but they've all been good choices (as far as I can remember).
On to The Horse and His Boy!
-Puddleglum is a pretty great character generally. He's the most pessimistic of all pessimists, and yet he manages to hold onto his core convictions and comes through to save the day.
-I thought Jeremy Northam did an excellent job narrating this book. I'm still not sure why they decided to switch narrators for every audiobook, but they've all been good choices (as far as I can remember).
On to The Horse and His Boy!