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A review by anomandrewrake
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This book is a fun adventure. It's light and episodic, and it prominently features the most entertaining character Lewis ever created: Reepicheep. The imagery is really great in this novel, specifically in the last two chapters. I want this book to be much better than I think it is. Unfortunately, I think the characters are less than compelling, the adventure barely motivated, and the Christian elements a little more ham-handed than I know Lewis could be.
Voyage has one of my favorite opening lines: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." Eustace himself is the perfect portrait of an insufferable "prig." In fact, his personality is a primary focus of the story for a while, and part of the book is even told in his own words. Then, halfway through, he gets his comeuppance, changes his ways, and fades to the background for the entirety of the novel's second half. It almost reads like Lewis got sick of writing him and decided to forget it for the rest of the story. He might as well have just been sent back to England before anyone else and the story would have turned out exactly the same way.
As I said, I adore the imagery though. Pitch me a novel by saying that it's about a journey to the edge of the world, and the far country beyond it, and I'll eat it up.
Aslan rules, Reepicheep rules, and Caspian would rule if he had any character conflict before the final chapter. Edmund and Lucy are basically faceless.
All told, this is a good book. Not the best in the Narnia series by a long shot, but good. I'm glad I read it.
Voyage has one of my favorite opening lines: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." Eustace himself is the perfect portrait of an insufferable "prig." In fact, his personality is a primary focus of the story for a while, and part of the book is even told in his own words. Then, halfway through, he gets his comeuppance, changes his ways, and fades to the background for the entirety of the novel's second half. It almost reads like Lewis got sick of writing him and decided to forget it for the rest of the story. He might as well have just been sent back to England before anyone else and the story would have turned out exactly the same way.
As I said, I adore the imagery though. Pitch me a novel by saying that it's about a journey to the edge of the world, and the far country beyond it, and I'll eat it up.
Aslan rules, Reepicheep rules, and Caspian would rule if he had any character conflict before the final chapter. Edmund and Lucy are basically faceless.
All told, this is a good book. Not the best in the Narnia series by a long shot, but good. I'm glad I read it.