C.
S. Lewis
1898-1963
C. S. Lewis gained
international renown for an impressive array of
beloved works both popular and scholarly: literary criticism,
children's literature, fantasy literature, and numerous books on
theology. Among his most celebrated achievements are Out of the Silent
Planet, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, The Four
Loves, and Surprised by Joy.
I first read the Narnia
Chronicles when I was nine years old. We were travelling down
east, camping all the way . . . and it rained all the way down and most
of the way back. It was quite the miserable vacation. I
wanted my Mom to buy me a couple of Nancy Drew books -- she handed me
the boxed set of the Narnia Chronicles instead. She had bought
them for my brother, Andrew, because his teacher thought
he would find them interesting and improve his reading skills at the
same time (my brother never did read them). I started with "The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and didn't stop until I had
finished "The Last Battle." Then I started reading through them
again in the order as noted below. Andrew wanted to know what
they were about, so did my younger sisters. Second time through,
I was reading them aloud to my siblings. I read 'em over and
over. The next summer we went to my aunt Barb's farm and
when it rained, I read the books to my cousins. When my sister
Linda got ill and had to stay in bed for two weeks, I read them to her
in the evenings. At one point, I think, I almost knew them by
heart.
I don't worry about any "deeper"
meaning. It doesn't matter to me that they're an aligory. I
don't care if they're touted as "Christian." A good story is a
good story. My two favourites are "The Magician's Nephew"
and "The Silver Chair."
Narnia
Mark
Fishman
|
The
Narnia Chronicles
(this is the order I
read them in)
The Magician's Nephew
Leo & Diane Dillon
|
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe
Leo & Diane Dillon
|
The Horse and His Boy
Cliff Nielsen
|
Prince Caspian
Cliff Nielsen
|
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Cliff Nielsen
|
The Silver Chair
Dawn D. Davidson
|
The Last Battle
Dawn D. Davidson
|
The Magician's
Nephew
Polly
and Digory are tricked into travelling by Uncle Andrew's magic
rings to other worlds. They land first in Charn, where Digory's pride
leads him to strike the bell which wakes the despotic Jadis whose
magical command had destroyed the world. They inadvertently bring her
back to London and then to the land of Narnia which is just being
formed. They meet Aslan, whose song brings Narnia to life, and Digory
must resist the witch's temptation to steal the apple which will bring
his mother health.
The Lion,
The Witch and the Wardrobe
The
Pevensie children find a mysterious winterbound land when they step
through a wardrobe in a forgotten room of the house they're evacuated
to. There are no other humans, only talking animals and the cruel
ruler, a white witch. The children are hailed as the saviours of the
world after an ancient prophecy, and discover the world's creator and
ruler, Aslan the Lion. Edmund betrays the others to the White Witch and
Aslan must buy the boy's life back with his own.
The Horse
and
His Boy
Shasta,
an Archenlander (neighbour to Narnia) living among Calormenes, escapes
on Bree, a Narnian
horse. They travel together towards Narnia, falling in with Aravis,
escaping an unattractive marriage prospect, on Hwin, likewise a Narnian
horse. They discover a plot to invade Narnia and must travel a
difficult road to warn the northeners and, incidentally, to discover
Shasta's true identity.
Prince
Caspian
The
Pevensies return to Narnia to discover that 1,000 years have passed
and that they are the stuff of legends, as are the talking animals of
Narnia and Aslan himself. They are found by Trumpkin and travel to
Aslan's How where they must help Caspian and the Old Narnians to
overcome Miraz who unjustly wants the throne for his own son.
Voyage of
the Dawn Treader
Lucy
& Edmund along with Eustace their spoilt and peevish cousin
find themselves on board a Narnian ship with King Caspian, travelling
to the outer reaches of Narnia, encountering new creatures and strange
places. Eustace resents the situation at first, but after a difficult
transformation, realises the error of his ways. At the end, each of the
main characters must find Aslan's country in his own way.
The Silver
Chair
Eustace
returns with Jill to Narnia where they must travel across
little-explored areas of the land to find Prince Rillian, lost for
years.
Guided by Puddleglum, the experienced if dour marshwiggle, they have to
follow the signs Aslan gave Jill, enduring hardships and outfacing
enemies and deceptions along the way.
The Last
Battle
Tirian
is king of Narnia in a time of peace when a plot involving the
Calormenes and a false Aslan threaten the country. Taken captive, he
calls on Aslan for help who sends Eustace and Jill. Events come to a
climax in a final battle on Stable Hill where Aslan appears to herald
the end of Narnia in the Shadowlands.
Additional Cover Art & Illustrations:
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch
and the Wardrobe
The Horse
and his Boy
Prince
Caspian
The Voyage
of the Dawn Treader
The Silver
Chair
The Last Battle
Out of the
Silent Planet
Elwin
Ransome, a Cambridge don on a walking holiday, is looking for
shelter for the night and chances upon two men, one of whom he knew at
school, who drug him and take him with them to Mars in their spaceship.
On arrival, he escapes and lives several months with the Hross, one of
the three intelligent species (Hnau) indigenous to Mars, learning their
language in the process. He meets the eldilic Oyarsa of Mars, an
angelic being who is the guardian of the planet. This being sends the
three humans back to Earth (known the the other inhabitants of the
solar system as the Silent Planet because of a barricade imposed after
the fall of its Oyarsa).
Perelandra
Ransome
is transported by the power of Malacandra, the oyarsa of Mars,
to Venus (Perelandra) where intelligent life is beginning. Professor
Weston, inventor of the spaceship which carried him to Mars also
arrives on the planet. They meet the Eve of that world, and Ransome
must prevent the possessed creature that Weston has become from causing
her to disobey Maledil (God). In the end, he does this only by killing
the Weston creature.
That
Hideous Strength/The
Tortured Planet
The
NICE, a scientific institute, has bought up Bragdon Wood, the land
around a small university, and seems to have unlimited powers and
support. Mark Studdock, a young sociologist lecturer, gets involved
with the institute, which his wife Jane, an unwilling clairvoyant,
turns to help Ransome and his friends. The story turns on the awakening
of Merlin who sleeps under Bragdon Wood. Through Ransome, he receives
power from the planetary Oyeresu, and causes the downfall of the
institute and its directors.
Into the Wardrobe: a C. S. Lewis
Website
C. S. Lewis Foundation
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