The Magician's Nephew

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!