The Magician's Nephew

The Magician's Nephew is a great setup for the rest of the Narnia books, although on its own, it's not super compelling. I like Polly better as a character (perhaps because she has more common sense), but she ends up sort of relegated to a sidekick for Digory, the titular nephew, and I don't love that. But I really love the way Narnia is sang into being and, of course, the first time we meet Aslan.

This is the first time I started reading the Chronicles of Narnia, and oh boy, I am missing out on A LOT of fun and adventures. The series have very high expectations, according to all of my friends who've read it, and oh my, I know now why this is such a beloved tale among everybody. I would've loved to build up my childhood with these books, but now, I am discovering them. So, there are different opinions on when you should start this book, but according to the set I bought, I started this as the first book, and I think this is a prequel to everything else, personally. But, I really enjoyed the book, because it just sounds like it is a nostalgic tale, but I've never read it, I just have a very good feeling about the books. I can't wait to go on a journey, feeling like a little girl all over again.

I am greatly looking forward to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Have a book day! Umrah

2022 has begun and I have started another reread of this wonderful and magical series.
The Magician's Nephew isn't my favourite installment, but it still holds a special place in my heart. I always like to read about the early days (aka the founding) of Narnia! And Aslan, how we love that lion! The witch is a decent character and I like the biblical references shown.

I always LOVE to reread the Chronicles of Narnia.

This is a classic so it's a pretty hard one to rate. I'm not here to judge whether it's good or bad, it just is and I'm here to observe how it does what it does.

Everyone pretty much knows, to some vague extent, what Narnia is about so I will skip any introductory blurb about it and produce some hot takes.

1. Is Turkish Delight really that delightful that you'd sell your siblings for more?

I've never had any so I can't say. This book certainly makes me want to try some but I gotta say the pictures aren't very appealing and I cannot understand the fervour for it in this book.

2. Edmund is probably the most realistic child in this book, even though he was also the most annoying (maybe the point?)

I remember him being my favourite when I watched the movies as a kid and not remembering any of his annoyingness at all, but I think that's largely because I found the actor cute, and I liked the name Edmund anyway.

Reading this as an adult, though, I can simultaneously tell how biased and hormone-driven my pre-teen self was, but also appreciate Edmund in a different way entirely. Unlike Peter, Susan, and Lucy who all seem pretty idealistic in their own ways, Edmund is snotty and a brat almost all the time - but also the most realistic kid of them all.

Children are wired to act in their own self-interests and don't really develop a sense of empathy until much later on in life, if at all. To me, Peter, Susan, and Lucy represent the model children that always appears in fairy tales and which your teachers and parents tell you to behave more like. Edmund represents the real you, the one who would harbour spiteful thoughts about an older sibling who scolded you, the one who would often make stupid decisions to try and get an advantage over your siblings, friends, or whoever you have a rivalry with, and then afterwards try to justify that you hadn't really meant to be that mean or wish anyone real harm, and also the one that Jesus died for, apparently.

Don't get me wrong, I was annoyed by Edmund in this one too, but in a way I could appreciate how Lewis used him for his agenda (and he definitely had one in this book). He was the mirror through which kids may see themselves, whether or not they admit it out loud to themselves, and which then makes them aspire to be more like the other 3 model siblings. But more importantly, Edmund played an important role as the sinner in the Christian allegory that was the ultimate purpose of this book, and that invited children to insert themselves into that role as well. Sunday school and sermons may be too high-flown for children who aren't typically seen as sinners in the first place, but Lewis kinda brings that Christian story down to a child's level and makes it finally relevant and relatable to a child, through Edmund.

3. It's pretty surreal to have all this very heavy-handed and in-your-face Christian allegory set amidst a conventional fantasy setting that is very much influenced by Celtic beliefs probably native (or at least with a longer history than even Christianity) to England.

Whether or not I agree with Lewis's agenda is secondary here - I'm not here to debate about religion, I just want to see how well an author is able to deliver his message through a good story, and Lewis does do this very well.

However, I couldn't help mulling a bit about the vehicle that Lewis uses. We have magic, forests, witches, talking animals, Deep Magic, and Deeper Magic, and all manners of woodland magical creatures like giants and fauns. I'm not well-versed at all in theology but I'm pretty sure these are not parts of the Christian rhetoric, and would have been at some point in time be seen as pagan symbols since they seem to be more in line with the Celtic beliefs that Christianity drove out of England in the first place. So it's almost a little ironic to me that we have such an influential and famously Christian story basically using that to do its work.

It also called to mind the fiasco in the late 90s to early 00s when Christian communities were calling for the banning of Harry Potter (I have several friends who never read the books because their parents wouldn't let them for religious reasons). It was presumably because they were practising witchcraft and magic which was seen as going against Christianity. But then you have Narnia, which at least seems to be well-accepted in most Christian communities. Sure, witchcraft is villified in this one rather than endorsed like in HP, but there're a lot more magical things happening here than just the White Witch's magic. Even Aslan refers to Deep Magic that governs him and the whole of Narnia.

Anyway - it was a fun, quick, and light read and I look forward to reading the rest of the series this month!

“And soon, very soon, before you are an old man and an old woman, great nations in your world will be ruled by tyrants who care no more for joy and justice and mercy than the Empress Jadis.'' — Well that rings a bell, doesn't it?I liked this prequel a bit more than the [b: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe 100915 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1) C.S. Lewis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1353029077l/100915.SY75.jpg 4790821] because in this one, I think he did a better job of weaving an adult message into a children's story, which for me automatically elevates it to another level. The writing also feels more comfortable and coherent.In conclusion, I think this is a good, self-contained children's story and I'd gladly read it to someone younger.

This was one of those books I remembered fondly while hardly remembering anything at all. After reading Piranesi I got an itch at the back of my brain that led me back to this particular story after decades away. Andrew Ketterly? Why does that sound so familiar... Anyway, It was a very Narnia-esque experience, jumping back into a world I thought I'd left behind and a warm reminder of why these books are so loved by so many people.

I have never actually read all the books in the series so am doing it now. It will also help my reading challenge as will get through the books quite fast as I'm a bit behind at the moment! It was so great to learn where the lamp post and wardrobe came from! So glad I read this book first and not The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe.

It's cool to know how Narnia was created, how the wardrobe, witch, and lamppost came to be, etc., but there's not much of a story here. Might've worked better as a short story. Without having read the rest of the Chronicles apart from Wardrobe, I'm assuming Digory, Polly, and Uncle Andrew are throwaway characters? Here they are merely vehicles to get us to the creation of Narnia.

Polly and Digory meet and become friends, and Digory's crazy magician uncle captures the two children and sends them off to another world with some magic rings. Digory and Polly meet an evil witch who tags along with them and they all end up at the very beginnings of Narnia.

This is probably my third favorite Narnia book after The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I enjoyed seeing how Narnia started and I also loved the chapter where the witch follows the children to our planet.

Short review: It has been a long time since I have read this. Picked it up when it was on sale for kindle recently. It is the creation story of Narnia. So after having read John Walton's Lost World of Genesis One, I think Magician's Nephew would be a good book to use to talk to children or teens about our Christian creation story and how we understand creation, especially if you shared the ideas from John Walton. Lewis is showing a creation myth, in the academic sense of the word myth and Walton is showing that our Genesis 1 creation story is also not meant to convey the physical process of creation, but the purpose of creation (to create earth as God's temple and to set up humans as God's priests and servants). Still my least favorite of the Narnia series, but I think it has some real purpose that I wouldn't have seen if I had read it a year ago.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-magicians-nephew-chronicles-of-narnia-by-cs-lewis/

I enjoyed reading this book. What I liked most was how descriptive Lewis was when describing the different settings and how Narnia itself was created. The writing was very rich and I could see everything vividly and beautifully. The characters are also interesting, and it does an excellent job of setting the stage for the following novels.