THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW

THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW By C.S. Lewis  202 pages 

Reviewed by Rae C.

I’d read several of these when I was kid, but I generally don’t care for stories where a witch is the villain.  I loved Aslan and the childhood magic of Narnia, but I never read passed A Horse And His Boy.  I don’t recall this title being the boxed set I had in the 1970’s.

If you don’t mind the witch being evil (and she’s really more of an otherworldly, magically powered, royal dictator) this is a great book.  In fact, I enjoyed it much more than the other three I'd read.  This is the Narnia creation story, and the origins of the Wardrobe, but it is also a great adventure story in and of itself.  You do not need to have read any of the other books to enjoy it.

Uncle Andrew is the perfect villain- greedy, mediocre, cruel, and selfish, dabbling in powers he couldn’t possible comprehend.  Digory and Polly, both adventurous and fearless, unwittingly become part of his experiment.  And then Digory’s reckless curiosity brings the “witch” out of her world and into ours, and Narnia’s.

The ending is predictable but not unsatisfying.  Lewis is a good writer and there is never a dull moment and all of the characters are well developed. Most of the Christian mythology – or theological symbolism, if you prefer- that would have been well known to children when this was written, is unknown and invisible now.  Anyone who didn’t know this was a Christian themed book- that Aslan is Jesus, and Jadis the Witch is really Lilith- would likely not figure it out.  Especially with all the satyrs and fauns running among gold trees grown from shillings.

I read this because I am a huge fan of Lev Grossman’s Magician’s Trilogy.   Grossman’s Fillory is essentially Narnia, with some modern and pagan changes, and a Hogwarts-style college (Brakebills).  To better understand Fillory, one must revisit Narnia.  And so through the Wardrobe I go….