The Horse and His Boy
Ratings366
Average rating3.8
This is not my favorite of the Chronicles of Narnia books. Interestingly, I think it is better developed than the previous ones I've read, but I don't really find Shasta to be a compelling character.
My son loves reading these books together. I find them fascinating to reread from the perspective of more deeply understanding Christianity than I did when I was a kid, and also from the perspective of the hero's journey.
This book definitely feels the most latently Christian to me, with lots of similar feeling to the “footprints” poem so often on the walls of Christian homes. That said, it also felt the most typical in terms of a heroic plot.
3.5 stars, wish that was an option here. Rereading the Chronicles of Narnia has been interesting. My opinions are changing so greatly of each book! I really disliked this installment in the series as a kid, but I enjoyed it so much better now! There were some issues I mentioned earlier. I have mixed feelings about how the Calormen people were written, especially at the beginning of the book.
However, as far as story elements go, I love how you can see C.S. Lewis mature as a writer here! The characters are much more well rounded. They feel like real people. Even Susan, Edmund and Lucy who make a reappearance in this one are much more fleshed out as characters.
Tonally, this book really feels like it is meant for older readers than the previous 2. It's sort of a huge leap forward in language level, even though Prince Caspian that follows it is not. In that way, it feels a little out of place in the middle of the series.
The first half especially I had mixed feelings about, but the second half of the book I loved. Very well done.
This book has never been my favourite installment. However, I love, love the dynamic between Shasta and Aravis and the writing style/ use of words. It's beautiful. The setting is good. I liked the desert vibe this book gave me. It's quite dark for a middle grade book, since it can be a bit graphic (especially during battles), but it still is a good book for their ages. This is the first installment where I never can fully immerse myself in the story in contrary to the other installments in which I am always fully immersed in the stories. (maybe it has to do with my feelings of nostalgia, since I only read a few installments when I was young).
It has some racist tones as expected since the book was originally published in the 1950s. Overall, it wasn't that bad, and I'm glad it had the Pevensies in the book during their reign.
I found this story a little hard to get into. Not sure if it's because you don't read much about Peter, Susan, Edmond and Lucy who you got to know so well in the last book!
Two runaways travel together to escape troubles in their lives. They join with talking horses and discover a plot to go to war with Narnia, and they race to expose the plot before it is too late.
I'm not sure why I didn't review this the first time I read it. I'm not going to do a proper review since I haven't with the rest of the series, but I'll at least put a note or two.
This is definitely my least favorite book from the Narnia series. I don't dislike it, but it is quite slow and often boring. There are parts I love, which is why I'm going with four stars (though initially I had rated it five stars... I'm not sure why). I do adore this universe and it's the first fantasy series that I've wanted to get lost in, this one just drags so much.
Not the greatest book in “The Chronicles of Narnia”, but still worth reading to my son.
Summary: The fifth Chronicles of Narnia book to be published, this book tells the story of Shasta and Avaris’s travels on their talking horses and role they find themselves playing in a conflict between Archenland and Narnia and the opposing Calormenes.
The Chronicles of Narnia series was another one of my likable books reading growing up. I read through this entire series in one month and definitely liked it. There were many things that definitely dragged on about these but overall I liked it but wouldn't say I'm a die hard fan.
2020 reading:
Summary: The only one of the Narian books that is primarily focused on the people of the world where the country of Narnia is located.
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Berbeda dgn buku2 terdahulu, di buku bertempat seluruhnya di Narnia, tanpa portal ajaib atau perjalanan antar dunia. Spt review buku sblmnya, rasanya kok kurang gmn gitu tanpa cerita kakak beradik Pavensie. Karena ini masuk kategori children book pastinya berkahir dgn happily ever after.
The Chronicles of Narnia series is one that I feel needs little introduction. Much like The Lord of the Rings, this series has been a classic amongst fantasy nerds, as it helped to launch the fantasy genre for kids, who eventually became adults who were looking for something more, leading them to LTOR and the like. However, today, I would argue that it does not have the same success as its more famous cousin. With only three of seven books adapted to the big screen and no plans for a streaming series, it looks like this series, for now, is regulated to the dustbin as far as adaptation is concerned.
And I think there are many different reasons for this. One of these would be the different reading orders that could be used with this series. There is the official publication order, versus the Lewis suggested reading order, both of which make for a different reading experience overall. Also, there are the books themselves. While I think Tolkien had his series planned from the start (or at least, it feels that way), Lewis seems to have had one good book in him, followed by several mediocre books at best.
Then there is the fact that the film adaptations were just okay. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe was a good film, but the last two (Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) were so tonally different from the first that it turned me off from any future movie endeavors. It seems to have gone that way with the public as well, with no new films being made anytime soon.
That leads me to The Horse and His Boy. This is, essentially, a side story, featuring a boy who finds out he has been adopted and wants to find out where he belongs, only to discover through his adventures that he actually belongs in Narnia, with the four Kings and Queens that we last met in The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. So he travels there with his special talking Horse and another female character, trying to find his way home.
It is a nice little story, and it is enjoyable for a small kids tale. There is some action that is told well, for a 50's writing style. It is also fun to spot popular characters from the previous books. However, there are a few issues that I could not ignore as I was reading. .
One of which is that there is very little action in this. Perhaps it is my more modern sensibilities showing, but Lewis has never done well writing action scenes, as he finds ways to skip them or downplay them in past books. He does the same here. This leads me to wish that the final battle at the end was written by someone else entirely. After all, what is the point of having a final climatic battle if we are just going to read about it from the minor POV character describing it to us?
Also, and more troubling, there is the issue of how the antagonists are represented. In it, the antagonist kingdom is represented as stereotypically Muslim. Narnia is European, and, of course, is seen in the right. Since this book was written in, you know, the 50's, I guess I shouldn't complain, but still it is somewhat noticeable. Consider this a warning for the reader who may be offended by that sort of thing.
In the end, this book was nice and quick, but a not very memorable side story in the world of Narnia. I give it a two out of five.
El relato avanza un poco lento y es diferente a los actuales, pero sigue siendo hermoso. Se gasta mucho en la descripción, pero la historia en sí es buena.