The Chronicles of Narnia / The Magician's Nephew / The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [Boxset]

C.S. Lewis (Pauline Baynes, C. S. Lewis)

I absolutely adore this series, I have read it over and over through different periods in my life,...more

I absolutely adore this series, I have read it over and over through different periods in my life, and have always found it relevant. However, something upsets me about this popular series: Not everyone has an appreciation for "The Magician's Nephew.” This is the first and most fundamental book of the series. This book, along with “The Horse and His Boy,” is one of the two most commonly skipped books in the series. I can almost forgive skimming over “The Horse and His Boy,” But who could ever skip the first and most relevant book in a series? It can only be attributed to the media’s emphasis put on the second book “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” which on its own makes for a very entertaining and complete storey. Unfortunately, due to this emphasis, a great number of people believe that this book is in fact the first and most important book in the series. In the second book, Narnia reflects a portrait of Earth, where-in both good and evil exist. However, readers are unable to understand that the evil presence in Narnia was created in the first book, when humans were accidentally introduced to this new world during it’s creation. With out “The Magician’s Nephew,” the reader will never learn that Narnia is a new world, or that new worlds are born and old worlds die everyday. With out this crucial first book, the last book in the series has no basis. Although the reader is constantly accepting magical occurrences due to the context of the series; without first reading “The Magician’s Nephew,” the entire storey can never be told. The reader will never fully understand the creation of earth and heaven, and let’s face it; that is what this series really boils down to.    hide

I really enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia. The one thing that stood out for me was the strong...more

I really enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia. The one thing that stood out for me was the strong Christian symbolism in the story. The sacrificing of Aslan’s life in place of Edmund’s treachery is quite similar to the Christian story of Jesus sacrificing his life for our sin. The beating of Aslan as he walked to the alter (the beating of Jesus before the crucifixion), the approach of Susan and Lucy to his body just before dawn (the approach of the woman to Jesus’ tomb just before dawn), the splitting of the stone table (the splitting of the curtain in the Temple as Jesus died?), and the rebirth of Aslan are symbols that represent the story of Jesus. In fact, C.S. Lewis’ decision to represent the character of Aslan as a lion was probably no accident either: in Revelation 5:5, the writer refers to Jesus as the Lion from Judah’s tribe, the root of David. At the end of The Voyage of the Dawntreader, the fifth book in the Narnia series, Aslan appears as a small lamb, and after the lamb slowly changes to his lion form, he says to the children that in their world (i.e., our world), he is known by a different name. A great piece of work.   hide

As an Old Narnian and budding Lewis scholar, I have to clarify a point--the Chronicles are *not*...more

As an Old Narnian and budding Lewis scholar, I have to clarify a point--the Chronicles are *not* allegory. For that, go to The Pilgrim's Regress. Douglas Gresham, Lewis' stepson, calls the Chronicles "suppositional representational fantasy" because their premise is a supposition: Suppose there were a world peopled with talking beasts and mythological creatures. How would Christ appear there, and how would He save that world if/when it fell? For first time readers, I recommend going in publication order (which is also the order in which the movies will appear). After that, read them in whatever order you please. And keep in mind that Lewis was following his own dictum expressed in "On Three Ways of Writing for Children": "Since it is so likely that [children] will meet cruel enemies, let them at least have heard of brave knights and heroic courage…. Let there be wicked kings and beheadings, battles and dungeons, giants and dragons, and let the villains be soundly killed at the end of the book." Our King, gentle though He is, is not a tame lion. Go to Narnia and learn to know Him better.   hide

I loved these books as a child, but I went back as an adult because I had a nagging memory of a...more

I loved these books as a child, but I went back as an adult because I had a nagging memory of a very stereotyped and hardly disguised condemnation of Islam. I looked at the books again and found that it was even worse than I remembered. I actually refrained from sharing this series with my niece and nephews. When my niece began to read them following the release of the movie, I talked to my sister about being sure to have some conversations with her that looked critically at those books in the series that feature this viewpoint. Man, if Lewis had done a similar chop job on the other "faith of the book," Judaism, I don't think we would ever stop hearing about it, and deservedly so. It just goes to show that we have little interest in fairness toward cultures a little further removed from our experience. I still treasure the other books (not so much LWW because the Christian symbolism is too heavyhanded - although I was captivated and comforted by Aslan as a child) but feel saddened by the bigotry when it rears up especially in HHB and TLB (The Last Battle, for some reason not listed here).   hide

One of the best series for children I have read so far. The characters are all very vivid and the...more

One of the best series for children I have read so far. The characters are all very vivid and the stories are filled with delicious bits that are extremely well written with beautifully flowing language. C.S. Lewis was a devoted Christian who also wrote many books on philosophical and religious topics. The seven books of The Chronicles of Narnia are packed with Christian values and lessons. On the other hand, the young "heroes" and "heroines" show characteristics that all humans, despite our religious differences, cherish: courage, kindness, love, and the ability and willingness to change for the better. Let the stories sweep you away to a magical world that is strangely close. A world that is just through a wardrobe or a door in the school's back garden. Complete your Narnia experience with the audio programs presented by The Listening Library: Focusing on the Family Radio Theatre, hosted by Douglas Gresham.   hide