Review - The Magician's Nephew
Nov. 7th, 2009 11:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wilderthanThe Narnia books have always been some of my favourites. There's always been a magic in it for me, even now I'm twenty -- I never got to the age where I was too old for fairytales. That, or I passed through it so quickly I'm already out the other side.
I know that for a lot of people, the magic is spoiled when they find out that Aslan is really Jesus, that this first book is an allegory for Genesis, that the whole thing is full of Christian themes. I nearly always knew, though, and figured it out when I was about seven years old, and it didn't spoil it at all -- just added to the levels of possible meaning, for me. I was a Christian then, though, and I've always found Christian ideals interesting and relevant and close to my heart. So it's not very surprising.
I don't think the allegory detracts from the magic at all. It's wrapped around by wonderful fantasy, and the voice of the narrator is fun -- a storyteller's voice, really: I think I can almost hear the book being read to me, in every line. There are some parts that I think are just beautiful, because they're perfect. The writing is always clear and easy to read (and tastes quite nice, if you're that kind of synaesthete -- in my experience, anyway). The characters feel quite real, imperfect but trying hard -- they're not completely likeable, sometimes, especially Diggory, but in a quite human way.
I'm not very good at criticising this book because it's so full of warmth and nostalgia for me. My children's lit course does make me think about how much this book is really for children, given the references to very adult concerns -- mostly surrounding Uncle Andrew -- but I think it works on that level, and if I have children, I'll give them these books.
I know that for a lot of people, the magic is spoiled when they find out that Aslan is really Jesus, that this first book is an allegory for Genesis, that the whole thing is full of Christian themes. I nearly always knew, though, and figured it out when I was about seven years old, and it didn't spoil it at all -- just added to the levels of possible meaning, for me. I was a Christian then, though, and I've always found Christian ideals interesting and relevant and close to my heart. So it's not very surprising.
I don't think the allegory detracts from the magic at all. It's wrapped around by wonderful fantasy, and the voice of the narrator is fun -- a storyteller's voice, really: I think I can almost hear the book being read to me, in every line. There are some parts that I think are just beautiful, because they're perfect. The writing is always clear and easy to read (and tastes quite nice, if you're that kind of synaesthete -- in my experience, anyway). The characters feel quite real, imperfect but trying hard -- they're not completely likeable, sometimes, especially Diggory, but in a quite human way.
I'm not very good at criticising this book because it's so full of warmth and nostalgia for me. My children's lit course does make me think about how much this book is really for children, given the references to very adult concerns -- mostly surrounding Uncle Andrew -- but I think it works on that level, and if I have children, I'll give them these books.
