The second great fantasy series to
have emerged out of 1950s Britain (the first being Tolkien’s Middle-Earth
stories), C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of
Narnia are a beloved children’s classic based on a rather loose
interpretation of Christian mythology. The first book of the series to be published was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, although canonically is the second book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, and so I will review this one before I - at some point in the distant future - attempt to review the entire series as a whole. To begin, what we have in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a fairly benign, if
slightly dull fairy tale, featuring childhood escapades into a magical world that
can only be accessed through an everyday item of furniture. Beware, this review
may (or may not) contain spoilers, so if you have not read the story, and you
wish to experience it without any prior knowledge, then go off and read it.
There
are four children who, due to the irritation of the Second World War, are
evacuated from London and are sent to live with a kindly eccentric man far out
in the countryside, in a big old house where the only entertainment involves
sprawling games of hide-and-seek. Lucy, the youngest of the siblings, discovers
that a certain chunky old wardrobe is (would you believe it?!) also a gateway
to the magical world of Narnia, a pseudo-medieval fantasy realm held in the
grip of winter by an evil White Witch. After failing to convince her siblings,
Peter, Susan and scumbag Edmund, that it really is real, the four of them wind
up in Narnia regardless. Now the four children must trek through the snowy
woodland, on the run from the Witch’s evil minions, apparently to fulfill a
prophecy in which they have to sit in four magical thrones and undo the Witch’s
spell for all time. Oh yes, and apparently there is a lion king on the move,
who is more than capable of sorting out the Witch on his own but for some
reason is beholden to some supremely arbitrary rules.
The
style is basic. Perhaps one might say simple, almost childish. This means it’s
not difficult to read by any means, but like a certain old-school of children’s
writer, Lewis can be a little patronizing at times. I honestly wish
that writers of children’s stories wouldn’t do this; speaking down to the
reader. Margery Williams was able to go without doing this. Kenneth Graeme
wouldn’t do this. A.A. Milne was incredible in the way he never did this. But
C.S. Lewis, in this supposedly ‘great’ children’s classic, felt that he had to
talk down to the reader.
‘“It’s all right,” [Mr Beaver] was shouting.
“[...] It’s all right! It isn’t Her!”
This was bad grammar of course, but that is how beavers talk when they are
excited; I mean, in Narnia – in our world they usually don’t talk at all.’
[Excerpt, pg. 98]
But
never mind; this is just a minor quibble, and could almost be funny if viewed in a certain light. The style is overall quite simple,
and ought not to be sniffed at too much. What about the story, then? It quite
simply falls into two halves. The first half in which Lucy discovers Narnia and
tries to prove that she’s not lying, and the second in which all the children find
themselves in Narnia, and it occurs to them that they are the rallying-point
for an anti-Witch resistance movement. Yet the two halves bleed seamlessly into
one-another; the transition from the real world to the events of Narnia happens
unnoticed, and the one or two events and character-developments that take place
in the first half of the story continue to have weight and consequences right
through to the later sections. In terms of characters, the four children are
generally not that interesting. Of course, the audience is naturally most
invested in Lucy, but when the character of Peter takes on more of a role in
the second half of the story he does tend to feel a bit dull as a result. This
is nothing to say of Susan, who does not exist really other than to be an extra
voice to the character roster. But for our extra child, Edmund, we must offer
some commendation; to the sneaky back-stabbing brother who ends up defecting to
the Witch’s side, and thereby drives the entire plot inexorably forward. He
seems to be an interesting, well-rounded character who stands as a stark contrast
to the other children, and through whom we see the villainy of the Witch laid
out in all her wickedness. He provokes anger and dislike from the reader, but
is yet handled with sympathy and compassion by Lewis so that one nevertheless
feels sorry for him.
What about Aslan the lion king? What are we to make of our quadrupedal
Jesus-surrogate? And what about the famous scene; the one involving the stone
table? Admittedly, this particular moment in the story almost went and moved
me, and it is by far the most climactic you’ll find within the pages of this
book. It makes sense within the context of the plot, and as I’m feeling lenient
I’ll even go as far as to overlook the incredibly convenient post-hoc
explanation for Aslan’s miraculous return. The allegories that have been drawn
with Christian legends and mythology are difficult to ignore, and the various
symbols found through the story – particularly during THE SCENE – can be quite
satisfactorily tied to such themes. I don’t feel inclined to be too judgmental
on this, because the story isn’t about religion as such. It’s a metaphor for a
metaphor, a story about children wandering in a fantastical imaginary world,
inhabited by a big old lion and some talking animals and mythical creatures.
When I first experienced this story as a child, I had no idea it was meant to
refer to Christian ideology. To me it was just a story. I will reserve my
absolute judgement on C.S. Lewis’ masterpiece until a later time, perhaps until
after I’ve read the entire Chronicles of
Narnia. Until then I can say no more than it is a story that can be enjoyed
in two separate ways: as a children’s fairy tale, or as a minor reworking of
certain Christian myths.
Is
it good enough to read? Well, it’s not long or difficult to get through, and
overall the story isn’t too bad. I enjoyed it as a child, but I certainly
prefer other Fantasy tales and children’s stories to this one. Again I’ll
reserve the right to change my verdict for when I’ve gotten through the entire Chronicles of Narnia series, but at the
moment I’m offering a distinct “Meh” on the whole thing. It’s famous for what
it is, but unlike other children’s classics (and venerated literature in
general) I struggle to see why this deserves as much praise as others. Take it
or leave it, as there’s nothing especially remarkable about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe from what I can see
The Biblion, the Biblitch and
the Bibliodrobe
Lewis, C.S. The
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. HarperCollins: Glasgow. (1998 [First
published 1950])
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