Pros: Great for children and even contains valuable moral lessons
Cons: Narrative style makes it a trial to read for adults
The Bottom Line: For children it's and excellent book. Contains much that adults will also enjoy if they can accept the extremely simple narrative style.
captaind's Full Review: C. S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
The Magician’s Nephew is the first book of Narnia. At least, I’m not quite sure if it was chronologically the first, but certainly according to the timeline of the 7 books in the Narnia series it is the first. It does not exclusively deal with the land of Narnia but in the process of the story shows us how Narnia was created and how a gateway came into existence between that land and ours.
The main characters here are Polly and Digary, two children who start exploring near home and end up in a whole new world via the crafty machinations of Digary’s evil Uncle Andrew, who has discovered a magical way of travelling (using rings) that he fails to properly comprehend and has not the nerve to experience himself, though he’s willing to send guinea pigs out – both animal and human… Polly is fooled into putting on one of the rings and immediately vanishes, so of course Digary feels compelled to go after her…
Without going into detail about the rest of the plot, they end up in Narnia, a planet where life is only just being created by an amazing lion called Aslan. On their travels they unwittingly awoke an evil Witch-Queen, who also ends up in Narnia and thus, when the planet is still very young, evil is introduced into it. It is at this point that the story really begins to get interesting.
The parallels between the creation of Narnia and the Biblical account of the creation and the events in the Garden of Eden are obvious to those familiar with the Genesis account, but what Lewis has done is carefully craft some opposite in here as well. So certain events from Genesis are practically turned on their head while the overall moral guidance remains the same. It’s very cleverly done and very interesting to see how the similarities and differences end up blending together so well. But at the same time, it is its own story – it is not trying to copy the Bible or re-write it in a way that’s easier for children to read – it is inspired by Lewis’ Christian convictions but they’re not overpowering. Admittedly some of the things Aslan says are very pointedly condemning those who ignore God but they are still very relevant to the story of the book, they haven’t just been tagged on to give the book religious significance. I’m not an Atheist myself so I couldn’t really comment on if you would find anything about the book objectionable if you were – though you might find some parts of the book slightly condescending / irritating (as I found the long evolutionary spiel in 2001: Space Odyssey). However at the end of the day both books are works of fiction and portray aspects of the author’s beliefs or views, and at the end of the day the author is just putting across his / her point of view, not telling you that you must believe the same thing.
Okay sorry if that seems far too involved for what is, after all, a children’s book – but I’m assuming it will mainly be adults reading this review! The fact that it’s a children’s book does present something of a challenge to me as a reader – the plots and prose are usually too simple for my taste (see my review of The Hobbit, for instance). The Chronicles of Narnia is a series of books I’d been intending to read for quite some time but never got round to it – I’d seen a TV version of it, which was quite good, and read Lewis’ allegorical tale “A Pilgrim’s Regress” (which was quite an interesting read though it lacked the wit and insight of Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels”), but never quite got round to reading the Narnia books till now. To me they’ve always seemed something that a book lover should read. Anyway that’s just to explain why I’m reading this book at the not so tender age of 27 when I don’t even have any kids (long may that state of affairs continue).
After the first pages I admit that I nearly gave up. It is written with quite young children in mind, and the very simple language, chronic over-explanation (to an adult), and the narrative technique of occasionally talking directly to his readers (which I feel is only forgivable when a book is either a comedy or written in the first-person) really put me off. But I persevered, and by about chapter 4 began to be rewarded. For although this style of prose does continue throughout, it is augmented by a sharp wit and delightful turn of phrase. There are tiny little nuances that will completely pass by any children reading it that adults will really enjoy - and they’re all the more effective for their habit of coming completely out of the blue. The little asides for children pointing out how silly adults are also made me laugh. With the afore-mentioned use of Biblical imagery both in familiar and unfamiliar ways, I must say that I really enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the second Chronicle of Narnia – “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”.
Overall it’s a very easy read but also very interesting, even if you’re an adult. For children it’s a very nice book and contains some strong moral messages (not only from its symbiosis with the Bible) along with surprising astute observations about the world. I personally didn’t find it absolutley brilliant throughout, but there were most definitely flashes of genuine genius lighting up section of this book. Highly recommended.
The secret passage to the house next door leads to a fascinating adventure.Narnia. . .where the woods are thick and cool, where Talking Beasts are cal...More at HotBookSale
Digory and Polly discover a secret passage that links their homes, and they are taken into the World of Charn, where they wake up the evil Queen Jadis...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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