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Re: C.S. Lewis Books

December 12 2005 at 1:06 PM
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Janet J  (no login)


Response to C.S. Lewis Books

Here's more information about all of the books:

The series opens with The Magician's Nephew , which features two children, Digory and Polly (all the books feature children), who are sent, against their will, into the Wood between the Worlds by a cowardly magician. This Wood is filled with pools which lead into other worlds, and the children begin randomly jumping into them to see where they come out. They arrive first in a dark, silent place full of mysterious statues. There they accidentally call up an evil power, and witness a marvelous act of creation. They open the way for future generations of children to go to Narnia.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe skips many years ahead in time and introduces us to arguably the most important and memorable children in the series, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie. These siblings are evacuated from wartime London and sent to the country home of Digory, who is now a middle-aged professor. There they discover that an old wardrobe in a spare room leads to Narnia.

But what a sad, cold Narnia they find! The White Witch has cast a spell on the land so that it is "always winter and never Christmas." She has also sent out a command that anyone who finds two "Sons of Adam" and two "Daughters of Eve" is to bring them to her immediately. There is a prophecy that these humans will bring an end to her reign, and she wants to kill them before that can happen. The creatures of Narnia, including fauns and talking beavers, immediately recognize the Pevensie children as the prophesied redeemers, and take sides for and against them. The book details the struggle of the humans and Narnians to win back their country and their springtime, and describes the wonderful and surprising fate of the Pevensies in Narnia.

The Horse and His Boy takes us to a time many years after the battles of the first book are over. Most of the story is set in a different magical country, and the heroes are not from our world. A poor fisherman's son, Shasta, discovers that his father intends to sell him into slavery, so he runs away, and is presently joined by two talking horses and a young girl, Aravis, who is trying to escape her father's plan to marry her to a man she dislikes.

The four companions decide to make for Narnia, a land they have heard much about. Along the way they have adventures involving evil noblemen, lions, a desert, and a case of mistaken identity, and at the end they witness and participate in an important battles.

In Prince Caspian , the four Pevensies return to Narnia, but to a time hundreds of years after they were there the first time. (Time runs differently in Narnia than it does here.) They discover that the rightful king of Narnia, Caspian, is in danger and must fight to reclaim his crown. Aided by a trusty dwarf, giants, satyrs, and some talking animals, they help him to regain his birthright.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader tells of a sea voyage taken by Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, and their horrid cousin Eustace. This book is especially full of adventures as the ship's company visits uncharted islands while sailing toward the edge of the world. In this book Lewis presents one of his most delightful characters, Reepicheep, an extremely militaristic mouse. The invisible Dufflepuds (invisible because they have been "uglified" and don't want to be seen),are also funny, while an island where dreams come true, an encounter with a sea serpent, and Eustace's meeting with a dragon add suspense and danger to the book.

Eustace returns to Narnia with a classmate, Jill, in The Silver Chair . At the beginning of this adventure Aslan gives Jill four signs to remember as she and Eustace search for Prince Rilian, the missing son of Eustace's old friend King Caspian. Jill forgets the signs, however, and she, Eustace, and Puddleglum (a pessimistic Marsh-wiggle who is another of Lewis's wonderfully vivid characters), wander into danger in a giant's lair, and become trapped in an underground city that doesn't even remember the sun.

The final book is The Last Battle . All the past human visitors to Narnia join with King Tirian in an attempt to save the country from a false Aslan who has become a cruel dictator and is terrorizing the inhabitants with the help of evil citizens of a neighboring country. The series is brought to a startling but ultimately joyful close.

There is no graphic violence in these books, although there are incidents of warfare and death. The characters face dangers such as being eaten by giants, turned into statues, or enslaved, as well as the danger of being killed in battle. There are evil characters such as sea serpents, cruel witches, and even a glimpse of a werewolf, but overall the evil in the books enhances the adventures rather than making them truly terrifying. These stories are not likely to give children nightmares.

There is a great deal of humor in these books. When Lucy comes through the wardrobe into Narnia and tries to explain where she has come from, her listener thinks that she is from "the far land of Spare Oom, where eternal summer reigns around the bright city of War Drobe." A queen's sojourn in our world in The Magician's Nephew is uproariously funny as she conscripts a cabbie and his horse-drawn cart as her royal chariot. Lewis's turns of phrase and dialogue are equally amusing.

 
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