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A review by nelsta
The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis
4.0
Out of all the Narnia books, this may be the most controversial. It also spawned the most questions from my six-year old. Despite it all, I liked the story (rushed though it felt) and its easy application to our own lives. While all of C.S. Lewis' books are allegorical, several are considerably more allegorical than the others. This is one of those.
Quasi-religious literature? Controversial? No way! I read countless reviews that lambasted Lewis for his racism, sexism, and more. To be fair, I can understand how those people arrived at those conclusions. However, they are wrong. I can't speak to Lewis' biases or bigotry, but I can speak to the intention behind this book. "The Last Battle" is an allegory intended to explain how the end of the world may seem apocalyptic to those experiencing it, but the people are brought out of the terror and into the light and joy of God. The gorilla isn't an allegory for blacks any more than the donkey, Puzzle, is an allegory for Democrats. Animals--talking animals--are a major part of the world of Narnia. Toward the end of the book, Peter and his siblings explain why their sister Susan didn't accompany them. They state that she is too obsessed with worldly things to worry about Narnia anymore. Is it sexist to obsess over the world? Not so! We are all guilty of that. Gender is not a predictor.
Controversy aside, "The Last Battle" is a great story filled with intrigue. A gorilla hoodwinks a donkey (Puzzle) into masquerading as Aslan, the god of Narnia. They convince nearly all of Narnia that Puzzle is actually Aslan and that they must give their bounty to the gorilla. The gorilla lives in luxury as the good people of Narnia are enslaved by the Calormen (stand-ins for the Ottomans--a group C.S. Lewis was pretty clearly opposed to). As in every book, humans from England swoop in to save the day! This time, however, they don't "save" the day so much as clear the way for Armageddon. When Armageddon arrives, everything ends and the good people of Narnia (and at least one Calormen) are brought to Aslan's Country where they live forever after in happiness.
My son loved this book and wanted to know everything about it. He had me stop the book dozens of times, which is why this book took me over two months to finish. It wasn't my favorite book, but it was definitely better than The Horse and His Boy, which remains my least favorite entry.
Quasi-religious literature? Controversial? No way! I read countless reviews that lambasted Lewis for his racism, sexism, and more. To be fair, I can understand how those people arrived at those conclusions. However, they are wrong. I can't speak to Lewis' biases or bigotry, but I can speak to the intention behind this book. "The Last Battle" is an allegory intended to explain how the end of the world may seem apocalyptic to those experiencing it, but the people are brought out of the terror and into the light and joy of God. The gorilla isn't an allegory for blacks any more than the donkey, Puzzle, is an allegory for Democrats. Animals--talking animals--are a major part of the world of Narnia. Toward the end of the book, Peter and his siblings explain why their sister Susan didn't accompany them. They state that she is too obsessed with worldly things to worry about Narnia anymore. Is it sexist to obsess over the world? Not so! We are all guilty of that. Gender is not a predictor.
Controversy aside, "The Last Battle" is a great story filled with intrigue. A gorilla hoodwinks a donkey (Puzzle) into masquerading as Aslan, the god of Narnia. They convince nearly all of Narnia that Puzzle is actually Aslan and that they must give their bounty to the gorilla. The gorilla lives in luxury as the good people of Narnia are enslaved by the Calormen (stand-ins for the Ottomans--a group C.S. Lewis was pretty clearly opposed to). As in every book, humans from England swoop in to save the day! This time, however, they don't "save" the day so much as clear the way for Armageddon. When Armageddon arrives, everything ends and the good people of Narnia (and at least one Calormen) are brought to Aslan's Country where they live forever after in happiness.
My son loved this book and wanted to know everything about it. He had me stop the book dozens of times, which is why this book took me over two months to finish. It wasn't my favorite book, but it was definitely better than The Horse and His Boy, which remains my least favorite entry.