Most people are familiar with C.S. Lewis’ writing one way or the other. Books from one of his most famed works The Chronicles of Narnia have been made into countless movies, stage productions, and merchandise, making this series (or primarily The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe) popular with old and young audiences alike.
I embarked on my quest to wade through all seven of Narnia’s adventures thinking I’d have a similar experience to my journey through Harry Potter or Percy Jackson’s worlds: complete investment in the world building and characters and the desire to never leave that magical land.
Unfortunately, that did not happen this time for me. Lewis’ writing is whimsical and clever, but it is different in style than these other young adult or children’s fantasies I’ve forayed through. As I’ve pondered this, I came to the conclusion that his world doesn’t as much build on itself as it does connect through various plot points in a more subtle way. That’s not to say his style is wrong by comparison to Rowling or Riordan, it’s just different. If you decide to visit Narnia, take that with you: it’s not the same kind of journey, but that doesn’t make it a bad one.
I’ll spare you a summary of the seven stories individually and do my best to summarize briefly the entirety of the series: children are called from our world into the magical land of Narnia to aid the kings, creatures, and fairy-tale characters in their fight against evil, learning lessons along the way and restoring peace to the land. The stories are meant for children (but as you know, we literature ladies think anyone can read a children’s book!), and they truly are whimsical. We meet countless popular fantastical creatures: dwarves, centaurs, et cetera, as well as fantastical creatures of Lewis’ own invention (like his talking animals).
His landscape and world descriptions are beautiful. One story in particular, The Silver Chair, especially stood out to me as a quintessential fantasy adventure – featuring giants and dwarves and a duel with an evil witch. As an adult, you catch the symbolism he weaves into his stories; but reading as a child, it is simply magical. I enjoyed this aspect as well as both his witty little comments and his pithy spiritual or moral lessons he weaves into each tale.
These positives being said, I did struggle to get through all seven books. I just didn’t find myself as invested in the world or the adventures as a whole, so I think reading them all quickly back to back began to drag on for me. The books do connect to each other but also work as individual reads, and I think I’d have enjoyed each one more as a standalone story with some time in between. His allegories are beautiful, and I loved the lessons taught to his readers through the characters’ journeys, even if I did not love being on such a long journey myself.
Meredith
Copyright C.S. Lewis and Scholastic. Image from Amazon.
One thought on “THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA by C.S. Lewis”