Anyone for Narnia?. Review on Chronicles of Narnia - C.S.Lewis

I'm talking about the series that spawned the second ranking movie in Hollywood box-office collections; right above the much hyped Harry Potter! The comparison may be unfair, HP being in the sluggish 5th week and Narnia the enticing third. But you get the drift. But so very few reviews on it? Unfair!

It has forced me into an uncharted territory - Book review. Try it I shall, with no expectations of leeway or mercy.

C. S. Lewis

C. S. Lewis was a contemporary and friend of famed J.R.R. Tolkien, author of 'The Lord of the Rings', 'The Hobbit' and like. Both lived and faced the two World Wars; which some say inspired those great battles of Middle-Earth and Narnia.They were part of a literary group, The Inklings, that got together over a drink and discussed literary ideas and shared thoughts.

Lewis was an admirer of Tolkien's works. The feeling wasn't mutual as Tolkien was critical of Lewis's work for being 'allegorical'. But creative differences never came in the way of their friendship and they continued to be friends despite Tolkien's open criticism. Needless to say, coming from a Tolkien fan, my review will be critical of Lewis carrying over religious convictions into the sphere of storytelling, spoiling a good story to peddle a few morals and dogmas.

What's Narnia?

Narnia is an imaginary world created by writer C.S. Lewis in his books. A world inhabited by the fauns, dryads, merman , dwarves and such delightful creatures of fantasy lore. Also home to the horrifying witches, goblins, hobgoblins, giants, hags and such. Though talking animals form bulk of it's populace, the royal crown is reserved for the Sons of Adams and Daughters of Eve; in plain English - human beings.

Being the humble writer, Lewis passes on the claim - and the blame - for creation of such a world on to Aslan, The Lion. A wonderful Christ-like creature : the friend, guide and guru of the talking beasts of Narnia and their human kings. A word of warning before trotting any further, Lewis's writing is highly allegorical and deeply influenced by Christian belief and the bible. It can even be said that Narnia is holy bible fictionalized for Christian children. It could be a reason for it's diminished popularity. The others could be his literary negation of non-Christian beliefs and efforts to find commonality amongst major religions.

If you could ignore these shortcomings - as an author's literary freedom - Narnia is an amazing world, beautifully described, and written with love for children. Lewis was a bachelor when he wrote these stories. It's amazing how an unmarried man, without his own, could understand the children so well and come up with such magnificent works for them. Reading the article 'On Writing for children' which accompanies as an appendix to the compendium of stories, explains his love for children and writing stories for them.

Chronicles of Narnia

Altogther there are 7 Narnia books, listed in Chronological order (not the same as publication)

The Magician's Nephew - Sixth in the publication order. Deals with how Narnia was created by Aslan : explains the legends, prophecies and characters that play a major role in the second book (L, W & WR). Most likely Lewis wrote it as a closure. To explain how it had begun before writing it's end. Bible reference - book of Genesis.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - First to be published and the best of the Narnia series. Has already been made into a movie (mentioned in the intro). Four kids enter the realm of Narnia through a magical wardrobe that sometimes acts a portal between the worlds. There they fight the evil witch Jadis who has enchanted Narnia through her magic into a neverending winter. Always winter, but never the Christmas (excuse me shouldn't it be 'Asla-mus'!). Aslan and the animals help the kids in their battle to free Narnia from the witch's rule. Bible association - Christmas, Santa Claus, Crucifixion and Resurrection - a story for all Christian holidays!

The Horse and his Boy - Fifth per publication, third best per my liking. Lewis has decided to end Narnia by then. So he introduces the cruel Calormen, the Temple of their horrible god Tash, and their first war with the Narnians. An enslaved Narnian boy Shasta decides to escape to Narnia and freedom with a talking horse. He's joined by a Calor-girl running away from forced marriage to a middle-aged Tarkhan (Calor chieftain). Together they flee to Narnia and save it from Tisroc's son's invasion. Instead of kids from Earth saving the day, for a change, the heroes are Narnian-borns. Bible allegory - book of Moses.

Prince Caspian - Second book, Fourth in preference. Heroes of LW&WR return back to help an orphaned prince (Caspian) reclaim his rightful throne of Narnia, from his scheming uncle - the present King of Narnia. There's a strong allusion to the history of the British Isles - invasion by Normans and Saxons, and King Arthur(?). Can't pinpoint influence of any particular book of bible. But overall moral is - believe in the power and mercy of Christian god. Don't form allegiance with the non-believers for short term gains, even during times of great distress. No surprise in the fundamentalists loving him.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - The Third. It starts greatly influenced by Homer's Odyssey, Prince Caspian trying to explore the boundaries of the Narnian world (which happens to be flat! another dogma?). He's joined by two human kids in an epic voyage across the great ocean, it's islands and the perils that lie there in. What starts as a spell-binding adventure winds down to a boring lecture on spirituality and after-life. Great story killed by the disappointing ending. References - Christian beliefs in afterlife, Christ sacrificed as lamb, raised as the Lion. Beyond the reach for most unindoctrinated young minds.

Silver Chair - Failure and the criticism he received for the third must have chastened him. Fourth book relies on the good old art of story-telling, to sell. Second best book in the series. It tells the story of a prince kidnapped and enthralled by an evil witch , who can turn into a snake at will. Two kids (again) go an adventure to save him from the land of the giants. Moral - don't break Lord's (ten) commandments. If you do, pray to good lord. He's merciful and you will be saved.

The Last Battle - Last book in everyway. Worst in the series in terms of story telling. Deals with too adult issues to be a children's book. A charlatan monkey forces a donkey to wear Lion skin and impersonate Aslan. They form an alliance with Calormen, eager to usurp Narnia, and form the religion of 'Tashlan'. Tash enters Narnia and so does the army of Calormen. Last king of Narnia dies martyred in the battlefield. Aslan angry with Narnians apostacy brings Armageddon over the Narnian world. Believers in Aslan enter Aslan's heaven and believers of Tash go to him. Heavily influenced by the Book of revelations.

A Case for Narnia

There are some really great fantasy stories, can be counted among the very best ones written for children. If you could withstand the unabashed religious bias - hard to do so when it stares you in the face - you'll find Lewis to be one of the best fantasy writers. Of course Christians will love this book as it more or less reflects the teachings of bible. If only Lewis heeded Tolkien's advice and toned down a little, the books would have found a greater audience.