- Title: The Complete Chronicles of Narnia
- Author: C. S. Lewis
- File Under: Read-Aloud, Chapter Book, All-Round Greatness
As far as I am concerned, I owe C. S. Lewis my interior life. So don't expect me to be less than exuberantly enthusiastic about Narnia.
Please give your children the gift of imagination, adventure, wit, and wisdom. Here you will find ample scope for practicing your voices and enjoying the grown-up jokes as well as the simple pleasures, because the writing itself (apart from the deep subject matter) is of the highest quality and eminently read-aloud-able.
But I will mention, if only to give you a hint of the riches the Chronicles contain, that of all the books to avoid “teaching,” they are foremost. A glimpse into the piece that Deirdre linked to on Saturday will give you the flavor of what you are dealing with here — something that is nothing less than the highest artistic expression of the mind of a man who was both scholarly genius and spiritual giant.
I am afraid (and I hope I don't sound harsh) that those who seek to reduce the Chronicles to lame retellings of Gospel narratives on the level of some sort of one-to-one correspondence are doomed to expose their own ignorance. Perhaps because the centerpiece of the stories is indeed an imaginative (and successful, insofar as success can be achieved in this endeavor) depiction of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we can be misled into thinking that Lewis' intention was to present, somewhat didactically, Christian truths in fictional form.
One might find credence to this reductive idea in one of his letters:
I did not say to myself ‘Let us represent Jesus as He really is in our world by a Lion in Narnia’: I said ‘Let us suppose that there were a land like Narnia and that the Son of God, as He became a Man in our world, became a Lion there, and then imagine what would have happened.’
Unless we read and ponder the next line:
If you think about it, you will see that it is quite a different thing.
The difference is located precisely where an idea becomes art.
This is not to say that I'd be against investigation into meaning– far from it. The symbolism of Lewis' writings is so rich that you'll be rewarded for sure. I'm just saying, know that until you've studied theology, philosophy (especially Plato and Augustine, but also certainly Aquinas), medieval cosmology, courtly love, all poetry and all prose (epic and otherwise), and all non-Asian ancient languages, you'll be misled by what you think you do know if what you seek to do is tell children what the stories “are about.”
Such was the breadth and depth of his knowledge. Such is the shallowness of thought of those who reduce him, forcing his writings into their narrow categories (seven books? seven sacraments? seven Biblical truths? — very pat, very Procrustean), that they miss the point. It's a mysterious process by which the artist synthesizes his learning and makes it art.
I certainly make no claim to having a grip on any of the above, but neither am I convinced that his packagers do. I get the enthusiasm. I deplore the flatness.
You see, Lewis loved the hierarchical view of the universe and of heaven. His mind was Medieval in its tone. That is to say, he immersed himself in that age of the flowering of Christian thought and art, in the process patterning his own mind to it.
At this point, I hear the restless murmurings of those who think they understand. “Yes, yes, medieval– that means allegorical. His art was allegorical, and allegory is… the lesser of the literary modes.”
Well.
The fashion today is to take Tolkien at his impatient word, and it's Tolkien who foisted that epithet of “allegorical” on him. Now, Tolkien, another of my loves, was a man completely enamored of what Lewis called “Pure Northernness.” Lewis shared that love (for perhaps unknowable reasons, but amongst them that the early medieval mind emerged from that realm), which is one reason that Lewis had a great friendship with Tolkien and a deep sympathy for Tolkien's work — more than sympathy, in fact; you could call it the admiration of disinterested love.
Tolkien's tone of mind was “saga,” and he wrote a work that surely takes its place in the strictly limited canon of what we might call “the Epic” — the handful of truly great sweeping tales that mankind has to offer. (And I would argue that The Lord of the Rings uses the device of allegory on occasion, so there.)
But Tolkien had no reciprocal sympathy for Lewis' interest in and resonance to later medieval cosmology and its texture. He was, possibly, even a bit grouchy about the whole thing. Thus, without a great deal of careful discussion or even close reading, he dismissed Lewis' work as allegorical, and today's critics, I'm sorry to say, lack the perspective to weigh his judgement. They accept it and try to shoehorn Lewis' work into that narrow span. (By the way, most people don't really understand what allegory actually is, reducing it further to symbolism.)
To be sure, Lewis appreciated allegory — and why not? The term is now (in our decidedly flat age) used as a sneer, but a man who first read The Faerie Queene at the age of eight surely knew the subtle uses of this tool. But to leave it at that is to betray that one simply hasn't enjoyed his work as one might, for its own sake. There is symbolism in his work, to be sure — but symbolism per se isn't allegory, nor can a true work of art be reduced to its devices. The sneer is not obligatory.
But there are also narrative depictions of philosophical and theological arguments, in which characters, rising above the emblematic, with lives of their own, enact the clash of ideas just as deftly as in the hands of a master novelist like Austen or Tolstoy, although, of course, in a different mode.
Most of all, Lewis breathes life into his hierarchical (and thus, at once profoundly Christian, classical, and realistic) view of things specific and general. In our modernist age of equality-as-the-highest-thing, it's hard to understand a view of reality that sees each thing in its place, enhancing the whole, undiminished simply by relative location.
Depicting just this vision, however incomprehensible (including to many Christians) it may be today, was Lewis' gift.
For insight (and a grad-school level crash course on the subject) into Lewis' Medieval cosmology, I highly recommend Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis.
If nothing else, you will emerge convinced that you will only subtract from your understanding of Narnia by subjecting it to a conventional study of mere symbolism-as-correspondence: Aslan-stands-for-Jesus, the table-stands-for-the-cross, etc. You will be, among other things, astonished to learn the virtuosity of Lewis' use of words themselves– at his ability to create a complex image in the reader's mind, even if you were unaware of the treatment.
Even this insightful book only handles one aspect of Lewis' work, restricting itself in the main to his love of the image of planetary spheres. I've no doubt that the author, Michael Ward, could have a go at similar investigations in philosophy and theology and linguistics in Lewis' mind. On the other hand, such was the vast horizon of Lewis' knowledge, it may take a few other authors to do it all justice.
(To understand Planet Narnia better, I also recommend first reading Lewis' The Discarded Image (also available on Kindle for not much) and That Hideous Strength.)
What's remarkable about Lewis' achievement in the Chronicles of Narnia (and what he himself would value in a story) is the accessibility of his wisdom on the level of “literature enjoyed.” A tale well told — that is the highest praise of all.
Neva says
Thank you for the Ward recommendation!I look forward to reading it soon. It is hard to express just how deeply those affected my own life and I love being able to share them with my children (who being named after the Pevensie children have a particular affinity for the stories as well)!
Matthew Livermore says
Great post. I read and Lewis before Tolkien at about 8 and would agree that he shaped my inner world as well. I know Tolkien said some things about allegory, but his own attempt at it, Leaf by Niggle, is truly great I think!
Kate says
When I last re-read the series, I was struck by how well Lewis described God’s Father like heart, with all the love and tenderness that Aslan shows his creation, and the children. It was a good reminder of how our Father, no, our Daddy sees us too.
Kimberlee says
While reading this post I declared, “This is why I love Leila!” and showed my girls your line: ‘of all the books to avoid “teaching,” they are foremost.’ And they said, “Yay!” 🙂
Jennie C. says
Love, love, love the Narnia books! I’ve read them aloud to the children probably four or five times in the last 13 years and they never get old. But I’ve never tried to figure them out too much, either. It’s enough for me to just enjoy the stories and love the Lion. 🙂
Catherine says
I love the Chronicles! I have good memories of “playing” Narnia with my siblings, usually with plastic animals. Such fun! I am currently reading them (already on A Horse and His Boy) to four of my youngest and we are all enjoying them so much. I have never tried to dissect them but I am definitely going to check out Planet Narnia. Thank you for sharing!
Joana says
Thank for this wonderful post! I have now decided to read the Chronicles to my older kids. Unfortunately, I’ll have to read them in Portuguese and I shudder thinking what will be lost in translation. 🙂 I’ll read the original myself and hope one day they will be able to enjoy it as in English as well.
I do have a question, however. I just realized when perusing the amazon.uk reviews that there are two different orders in which the books can be read. Do you have an opinion on this?
Thank you so much!
Annalisa says
Oh, do, do do, read them starting with “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe”! The whole of the story told in that order is a much better story. Among other reasons, when read chronologically, starting with “The Magician’s Nephew”, one loses the delight and wonder of realizing, “Oh, that’s why that is that way!”
Leila says
Joana, I do think the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe should be read first. It’s a problem because the separate books that have Pauline Bayne’s illustrations are all in paparback, which I think is a waste — you should get hardback Narnia books!
But the hardback ones all have dumb illustrations. Lewis said that Baynes’ were part of his story.
So the edition I link to is a compromise, having the greatest number of her works. But do start with the LWW first!
Joana says
So you recommend the original publication order (regarding the other six)?
Does the hardback edition you recommend contain only a part of the illustrations? Anyway, thanks for the tip, I was wondering about it. Some newer covers are hideous.
Joy says
This is so good, Leila. I shudder at the thought of trying to “teach” The Chronicles of Narnia. They ought to be read and re-read so many times that their analogies become a part of you in a subconscious sort of way. I’m beginning to think that his space trilogy and Till We Have Faces will be similarly hard to teach. I will look for that book by Ward. I’m hoping it will be helpful to understand Lewis’ That Hideous Strength as well.
JC--Deo Gratias says
Beautifully said, Leila. Neither Lewis nor Tolkien fits neatly into little boxes, and “teaching” anything they write is a good way to spoil it. Quite frankly, I believe teaching spoils great literature more than anything other than neglect.
Charlotte Mason strongly advised teachers to be quiet and and let students interact with the great minds in their books, and I have always found that an effective strategy. Plus, from a readers perspective, it’s just fun to read a great book without feeling that you’re going to have to participate in its vivisection. I look forward to reading the Ward book.
Kimberlee says
Oh, I love this line too: “I believe teaching spoils great literature more than anything other than neglect. ” Fabulous. I’m not that familiar with Charlotte Mason’s ideas, but the ‘being quiet’ is what I have naturally always done. And the wonderful thing is, story and literature becomes part of them and it can’t help but bubble forth is so many natural ways over the years. No ‘teaching’ involved, just living.
Leila says
Kimberlee, I hope you can check out the site http://www.amblesideonline.org. On it, they have summaries of Mason’s works (which can be long-winded — worth reading but also worth reading summaries of for now :).
I posted about it here:
http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2009/09/ask-auntie-leila-how-do-i-educate-my/
The other thing is, if one is going to — not dissect, but inquire into — the Narnia books, one needs to have a reasonable idea of what the allusions, references, and influences are. For this, one needs a good education!
So all the more reason to give children “living books” (as Mason calls them), not “Lewis studies.”
Ashlee Cowles says
Thank you for this wonderful post! I’ve been thinking a lot about how C.S. Lewis’ imagination was “medieval” in many ways, and you have given me many questions to ponder and resources to explore!
Penny Swan says
I really enjoyed reading your post. I had read all Lewis’ works, even the ones I couldn’t then understand, before I left my teens. I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on his theology in Narnia. I lead a service at church last Sunday night that was largely based on The Four Loves. And the first proper conversation I had with my husband was about Narnia – it is our shorthand for so many things!
On your observation about hierarchy and the difficulty people have in understanding it – I think the best illustration I know of how it works it the angel in the waterfall in The Great Divorce – willingly and joyfully pouring itself out for eternity, because that it what it was made to do. (Of course, angels are different from people, but that’s sort of the point)
Anyway, lovely post, lovely blog, I’ll visit again.
PeterWanderwide says
Dear Leila,
I have read all major scholarship on Lewis and Tolkien (and have a PhD in medieval literature): this post is the single best expression of Lewis’ genius I have ever heard! Beautiful. Just curious if you studied with John Senior personally …? That man is so wise.
Leila says
Dear PeterWanderwide, just reading through these comments and somehow missed this one. Thank you very much! That’s high praise!
I didn’t study with John Senior. Wish I had.
Thanks for your comment!
Maya says
I’m hoping someone will see this on an old post 🙂 my 9 year old just finished the narnia series and is longing for more- I understand the feeling, poor boy. I was sad when my husband and I finished listening to the books on CD a few years ago and understand the longing for more. Any recommendations for him? I tried seven day magic but he wouldn’t get into it. I gave him A Book of Dragons by E Nesbit and he is liking that. I don’t have anything beyond that….
Leila says
Try the Treasure Seekers books by E. Nesbit, Half Magic, and then maybe give Seven-Day Magic another try later, or one of Eager’s other books. They do have the same “cozy ordinary with adventure” feel of Narnia, although of course nothing compares.
Soon you could read The Hobbit. I recommend reading it and re-reading it and not rushing on to The Lord of the Rings. Like Narnia, it’s a story that can be finished and then just begun again!
Before reading LOTR, do introduce him to R. L. Stevenson if you haven’t already. Treasure Island (Audible has a great recording of this), Kidnapped. Also Kippling: The Jungle Book.
Don’t forget the Andrew Lang colored fairy tale books http://wp.me/p4jJXg-29G and other old fairy tales. Also the Curdie books. http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/2013/10/just-say-no-to-books-that-build/
If you poke around the Library Project (including the book lists here http://www.likemotherlikedaughter.org/indispensable-book-lists/
you will find good choices.
Maya says
Thank you!!! I will give some of these a try very soon.