Scan barcode
A review by grrr8_catsby
The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
3.5
It's been nearly two decades since my last adventure in the lands of Narnia, but I was immediately assaulted with nostalgia upon cracking open the well-beaten and creased cover of The Magician's Nephew. Perhaps the single volume of the Chronicles Of Narnia that I have read the most (stubborn enough to constantly try and sift through the series back-to-back in one read-through as a child, and rarely ever succeeding at it), The Magician's Nephew feels like a warm and cozy family book, eliciting the feeling of curling up next to the fire and being read to aloud.
The first half of The Magician's Nephew is by far its strongest, and the contrast of "modern day" London (or at least 1950's London, by author C.S. Lewis's standards) and fantasy settings such as The Wood Between Worlds and the desolate city of Charn gives the story a nice since of purpose and pace. These lands and worlds all have their unique descriptions that I can close my eyes and envision, in a way that I have never actually been able to envision Narnia itself (early Narnia often feels like the Superman of fantasy worlds, overly "perfect" in every way).
I have no complaints about the use of Christian allegory in C.S. Lewis's works, but be prepared for a heavy dose in the latter half of this book. Unfortunately, it does derail the pace and tempo of the story, and its immensely derivative nature actively undermines the originality of the book. Fantasy actively borrows from multiple religions and mythologies, and I have no problem with Christianity being referenced instead of, say, Norse or Greek mythology, but the references are at times so blatant it feels like the individual pages of the book are winking at me, making sure that I understand what is being read.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter what I write here; the Chronicles of Narnia have been around for 70 years and have established themselves as a staple of classic fantasy literature. I neither love nor hate the Magician's Nephew, but I do love the memories of sneaking into the school library to read it during lunch recess in elementary school.
The first half of The Magician's Nephew is by far its strongest, and the contrast of "modern day" London (or at least 1950's London, by author C.S. Lewis's standards) and fantasy settings such as The Wood Between Worlds and the desolate city of Charn gives the story a nice since of purpose and pace. These lands and worlds all have their unique descriptions that I can close my eyes and envision, in a way that I have never actually been able to envision Narnia itself (early Narnia often feels like the Superman of fantasy worlds, overly "perfect" in every way).
I have no complaints about the use of Christian allegory in C.S. Lewis's works, but be prepared for a heavy dose in the latter half of this book. Unfortunately, it does derail the pace and tempo of the story, and its immensely derivative nature actively undermines the originality of the book. Fantasy actively borrows from multiple religions and mythologies, and I have no problem with Christianity being referenced instead of, say, Norse or Greek mythology, but the references are at times so blatant it feels like the individual pages of the book are winking at me, making sure that I understand what is being read.
Ultimately, it doesn't matter what I write here; the Chronicles of Narnia have been around for 70 years and have established themselves as a staple of classic fantasy literature. I neither love nor hate the Magician's Nephew, but I do love the memories of sneaking into the school library to read it during lunch recess in elementary school.