Have you ever wondered where the lamp-post in Narnia came from? Or how it got there? For that matter, how did the evil Jadis get there? Her lineage has no roots in Narnia, so how did she find her way there?
All of these questions and more are answered in *The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician's Nephew*. As the story begins, two children in turn of the century (19th to 20th) England, Digory Kirke (who will become the professor Kirke of the previous books/future stories) and his friend Polly Plummer, meet on a summer day in London. Digory is crying and dirty because he is so forlorn due to his mother's terminal illness.
It should be mentioned that it is likely that Mrs. Kirke's illness was likely inspired by, if not outright based upon, the real-life death of Lewis's mother when he was a very little boy. Lewis knew suffering, and that comes out in the character of Digory Kirke. The reader's heart breaks for the small boy, as his pain is so vivid.
Their homes are in a section of housing where the individual houses are connected by these areas that connect at the cellar. The two children go to Polly's "cave" (really a part of the said section of connected houses) and have all sorts of adventures there. Lewis notes that it is an unusually wet summer, so they have to play indoors instead of outside as children prefer. My how times have changed for the worst, in this reviewer's opinion. Going outside is foreign to kids today.
During one of these indoors adventures, they are making their way through the interconnected sections towards an abandoned house, when they wind up in the attic of Digory's *uncle's house*. This is when the plot is set in motion.
I really can not say much more without giving away too much of the plot. As it stands, some of the book covers give away too much as it is. The story is especially lovely when the creation of Narnia occurs. There are similarities in a broad, mythical context to the creation of the cosmos by Eru in *The Silmarillion*, written by Lewis's friend, J. R. R. Tolkien. The beauty and power displayed in the Creation event really does bring across the idea that Aslan (like God in real-life) is both good and terrible. And He is so unbelievably awesome and unbelievably great for it.
The book doesn't really spend as much time on various theological or moral points as the others do. It's more of a broad mythical statement affirming the Biblical concept of Creation in the Bible. The idea of God's Sovereignty and control over His Creation is abundantly clear and obvious, as is the fact that everything goes according to His plan and will. As Aslan says to to the Narnians, He will make sure the He suffers the most at the hands of Witch's evil.
The above is, of course, a reference to the eventual death and resurrection of Aslan the Lion for the sins and betrayal of Edmund Pevensie in *The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe*. Aslan later warns of what the reader knows to be the Nazis in World War II and the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
While not the overt theological lessons as found in the other Narnian Chronicles, it is a necessary theological point, nonetheless. Too often Christians tend to ignore basic Biblical and doctrinal Truths. This is not a recent phenomenon. It was a problem in Lewis's time as well. It is also worth noting that Lewis tended to come across as believing in so-called "theistic evolution" in his earlier writing on Christian Apologetics. He clearly moved away from that to the more Biblical view.
Indeed, another aspect of the book is how science needs moral restraint. Some act like Lewis and Tolkien hated science and technology. They hated the abuses of it. They used technology more often than folks seem to realize, and especially Lewis did. The point about science here is that made in his "adult fairy tale" *That Hideous Strength*. To work well, to make discoveries that genuinely benefit all, and not just a few, indeed, to actually work at all, science needs a moral, Christian basis.
There is very little I can find to critique in this story. Lewis beautifully tells a Creation myth, and teaches good moral, political, and historical lessons at the same time. Plus he relates to the reader what the world was like when he himself was a little boy. Digory is basically the same age that Lewis was, and has many characteristics in common with Lewis. I found myself able to imagine what the locales of London and the life of a turn-of-the-century English child would be like. Marvelous writing.
This book is hard for me to rate in comparison to the other *Chronicles of Narnia*, because so much of it is spent in worlds *other than* Narnia, making it inherently different from the other six books. Nevertheless, I must say that it is a beloved book of mine, and I can't say enough good about it.
Highly Recommended.
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Reviews with images
Wondrous beginning to a beloved world completely brought to life!
While I grew up with this series, I can say I'm more than happy that I'm rediscovering it now that I'm grown up. It seems that, like Lewis, I'm enjoying so-called "children's stories" as an adult more than I did as a child. I'm also happy that I rediscovered this series through these AMAZINGLY done dramatizations of each of the books! They may be 20 years old, but they've aged so incredibly well! Not to mention, having Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis's stepson, give opening and closing comments for each of the episodes was such a great little touch. It was interesting in this particular episode how he showed some of the influences and inspirations for The Magician's Nephew that Lewis got from his own childhood.Synopsis (Non-Spoiler): In late Victorian England, Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer are the best of friends. One day, while exploring, they end up stumbling into a study that's being used by Digory's eccentric, if not mad, Uncle Andrew. He shows the two children a pair of yellow rings and a pair of green rings that he himself has made. And when the kids' curiosity turns against them, it sets them and everyone around them on a journey they will never forget. One in which they learn that magic is real, and that worlds other than our own exist. Not all are benevolent, as proven by a freed queen with an intense hunger for power. But a few lucky individuals will bear witness to the birth of a world more magical than any before.SPOILER WARNING BEYOND THIS POINT!Story: I remember listening to a different audio version of the book years and years ago, so I did kind of know what was going to happen. All that said, it was still such a joy to listen to! The story of Narnia's creation and how certain characters and such came to be was so creatively done, and filled with really likable and memorable characters. For one thing, I really liked the locations in this series. The Wood Between the Worlds is enigmatic yet wondrous, mysterious yet beautiful. Charn and its desolate wasteland of a world is haunting and serves as an ominous warning for us in this world. And of course, Aslan creating Narnia was such a joy to listen to!Moving on, Lewis shows that he really knew how to write kids. While friends, Digory and Polly do argue as kids sometimes do. Digory decides on the fly to explore other worlds, and to ring the bell that awakens Queen Jadis, who, by the way, is such a great villain. Not just because we know she'll become the White Witch, but the way she acts and the things she does in this story are ridiculous to the point where it's kinda hilarious (but in a good way)! I also thought it was really cool that Frank the cab driver and his wife Helen become the first king and queen of Narnia, and that Strawberry is turned into a Pegasus and renamed Fledge by Aslan!I also really liked the part where Jadis tries to tempt Digory into eating the apple that's supposed to go to Aslan. Even if the symbolism in the stories is sometimes obvious, it works for me because we're experiencing it through the characters. I also really liked the resolution, that Digory is allowed to take an apple back home for his sick mother, and when he buries the apple core, it grows into a tree whose wood is eventually made into the wardrobe from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! I thought that was so clever! Not to mention there's another clever detail in the ending that will eventually come to play a big part later on in the series, but I won't discuss it here.So all in all, it might not exactly be a GRAND adventure, but I don't think it was trying to be. I just thought the whole thing was a clever prequel to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe while being a great story on its own!Quality: Let me start this off by saying the quality of each of these dramatizations is UNBELIEVABLE (in a good way)! It really feels like you might as well be watching it as a movie or TV show. The sound design is so crisp and meticulously done. The music really helps to set the mood for each scene. And last but not least, the performances! The performances in each of the dramatizations are borderline perfect. They got some fantastic actors, both kids and adults, to read these roles. Since Aslan is the only character to appear in all seven books, I'll only discuss him once. But…wow, does David Suchet kill it each and every time! Whenever I think of Aslan now, I think of his voice. Suchet gives such gravitas and dignity to Aslan, yet manages to make him approachable and good-natured at the same time.Now, onto the rest of the performances for The Magician's Nephew.Nathaniel Lippiett was fantastic as Digory Kirke. For one thing, he actually sounds like a 12-year-old! He gives so much heart to Digory and voices him in such a way that most of Digory's decisions and the things he says feel completely natural.Jessica Fox as Polly Plummer was fantastic as well. She serves not just as a good friend to Digory Kirke but an outspoken, smart girl who's not afraid to speak her mind. And the interactions between Fox's Polly and Lippiett's Digory again felt natural.Richard Syms as Uncle Andrew was such a joy to listen to! Uncle Andrew I always thought was never so much a villain as he was someone who's a little bit too curious, a mad scientist kinda guy. And man does Syms roll with it! He's having such a great time reading this character and really makes Uncle Andrew sound like this crazy yet somehow likable person.Lastly, Elizabeth Counsell was such amazing as Queen Jadis. She gives Jadis the perfect balance, in my opinion, between being over-the-top and menacing. Like Syms, she's clearly having a ton of fun voicing this power-mad queen. She makes Jadis's interactions with the other characters so good that those other characters kinda get a little bit distracting.Once again, all in all, this series of dramatizations is incredible and definitely worth the $100+ all together! I do recommend you listen to them in chronological order, which is what I did, and I had such a blast from The Magician's Nephew alone!
