Author: C.S. Lewis
Year of Publication: 1955
Official Fan Page
Synopsis: When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory's peculiar Uncle
Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a
lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew's magic
rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined.
Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon
find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one
world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of
London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally
manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and
a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known
as the land of Narnia.
STEPH SAID
Rating:
Review:
Reading The Chronicles of Narnia in the chronological order
is a bit weird, I don’t know why. Before reading this book I hadn’t read or
watched anything that had to do with Narnia. I hadn’t watched any of the movies
because I wanted to wait until I had read the books. I did knew little details
about The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe --which I learned when watching the
movie trailer-- but that was it. Apparently that was more than enough
knowledge about the story; it took the element of surprise from reading this
book. For example, I wasn’t surprised when I read about Aslan or the magical
creatures because I already knew about them, so the kids were scared but I knew the animals weren’t going to harm them.
Overall it was a good book, though I din’t enjoyed it as much
as I thought. Then again, I had to keep reminding myself I was reading a
children’s book not a YA novel. Since it’s a story that children and adults
love alike, I thought it was going to be something like Harry Potter: timeless,
magical, epic, with depth. And it was, but to a lesser degree; like it was
sugar coated. Nothing extremely bad, risky or evil happened. The kids didn’t have
to make impossible decisions and it had a fairytale feeling to it, like
everything was going to be alright at the end.
Being a prequel, it reads as an explanatory
essay. It feels, from the beginning of the story, that everything is leading up
to the creation of Narnia. C.S. Lewis wrote every detail of this book, so it
would fit with what was written in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, not
the other way around. I mean, that’s how
I felt it. Of course the series is called The Chronicles of Narnia; therefore,
the creation of Narnia should be the main event. Beside this event, the book
didn’t have a great deep story. Just what was needed to explain the setting of
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
I did like to learn about the creation of Narnia. Let me
tell you, a great picture was painted in my mind. I loved how it was created
through music, and how everything that was planted at that moment would
germinate. And even though it may not sound like it, I did also liked the happy
ending. I loved that Digory was tested, that he needed to earn Aslan’s help.
That gave an edge to the fairytale feeling. Everything was going to be ok, but
it wasn’t going to be as easy as saying some magic word and voilà. I also love
how Lewis explained the power of The Wardrobe, and how it was created.
What would’ve made this book amazing is the exploration of
other worlds. In the Wood between the Worlds (literally a forest that connect
worlds) there were an infinite number of ponds, each pond leading to a new
world. Digory and Polly only “discovered” two worlds: Charn and Narnia. He had infinite possibilities and Lewis decided to go with just two. It would’ve been wonderful
to meet new worlds and new creatures within them.
Even after finishing this book, many questions were left
unanswered; questions that would arise later as I read the next books of the
series. What happened to the king and queen of Narnia? And why were adults
chosen as rulers? (In Prince Caspian is established that a young human must be
ruler of Narnia) Where did the people from Calormen came from? (The children of
the king and queen were married to dryads and nayades, therefore there were no
true humans) How and why did Queen Jadis put Narnia in an infinite winter? What
happened with the apple tree that was planted in Narnia at the end of this
book? Why would Aslan give Jadis, an evil intruder, any power at all? (In The
Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Jadis says that a traitor’s blood belongs to
her as stipulated in the rules of the beginning of the world) More importantly,
where did Aslan came from? Who gave him his powers?
I still haven’t finished the whole series. I hope these
questions are answered by the time I finish.
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