Home » Book Reviews » CS Lewis » The Magician’s Nephew by CS Lewis
Possible spoilers ahead
I’ve been meaning for a while to read the complete series of The Chronicles of Narnia, starting at the beginning, as I’ve only read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe from the series (though several times, as it’s such a great story). I see though that this isn’t actually the first book the author wrote in this series (as he wrote The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe first), but it is the first chronologically so it seems a good place to start. Grab your copy and let’s read it together!
It is the year 1900 during the summer holidays. Digory Kirke and his mother have just moved to London to live with his aunt and uncle (the Ketterings) in order that his ill mother can be cared for by them as Digory’s father is in India. Digory is very unhappy at both his mother being unwell and at having to live with his aunt and uncle in London, and his neighbour Polly Plummer discovers him crying. They begin to chat and he shares with her that his Uncle Andrew is mad and has a study in the attic which his Aunt Letty says Digory should never go into, and Aunt Letty also tries to prevent Uncle Andrew from talking to Digory but Digory heard a yell coming from the study the other night which confirms his fears that his uncle is mad. The children soon meet every day and look for adventures inside their houses as the weather is bad. They decide to explore their attics, as Polly has already discovered a secret little tunnel in the eaves of her attic where she writes stories and keeps treasures and some apples for snacks and bottles of ginger-beer and some candles. They know that this tunnel extends into other houses’ attics and decide to use this to gain access to an empty house a few doors along, speculating that a gang of desperate criminals might live there and they could receive a reward for bringing them to justice. They open the door into what they think is the attic of the empty house, but find a furnished room with lots of books and writing materials, and a red wooden tray with shiny rings on it, some yellow and some green. Uncle Andrew suddenly turns his high-backed chair around and makes them jump, then he swiftly locks the door they have come through and the other door leading to the rest of the house, saying he needs two children to take part in an experiment. The children are scared and say they have to leave for their dinners. Uncle Andrew agrees they can go, but first offers Polly one of the pretty yellow rings, which Polly notes are making a humming noise. Digory notices Uncle Andrew’s expression and immediately warns the girl against touching the rings, but it is too late as she has already done so. She then disappears. Eeek, she’s disappeared!! Wow, this is quite surprisingly scary for a young children’s book, particularly the descriptions and behaviour of Uncle Andrew, as family members are usually people to be trusted in books like this (though sometimes they are stern, but that’s usually the worst of it), and it’s such a sinister description of Uncle Andrew, ‘showing all his teeth’ and his ‘cunning smile’ and even his ‘long beautifully white fingers’ which sound intimidatingly wolf-like features, very like the wolf in Red Riding Hood, and Digory had previously said he had ‘awful eyes’. However, I’m loving this story already, especially the idea of magic rings, which has obviously been used in some of my other favourite books (such as The Hobbit and The Enchanted Castle), and is such a deliciously enticing idea! And I squealed a little at the start of the book with the mention of Sherlock Holmes, and also the Bastable children from Edith Nesbit’s novels, as I love both these series and liked CS Lewis’ nod to them. I also love the title of this first chapter The Wrong Door, doesn’t that sound so intriguing and very tempting to draw you in?! The family member being in India and the child having to adapt to a new home because of this, reminds me of The Secret Garden too (another of my favourite books). I love the sound of Polly’s secret den in the attic where she writes stories, and ginger-beer reminds me of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books (yet more of my favourites!), as does the adventure of exploring the empty house thinking there might be a criminal gang there! And I also loved the description of Uncle Andrew’s study (even though it was a sinister place to the children) that ‘every bit of the walls was lined with shelves and every bit of the shelves was full of books’, oooh, I’d love a room like that! I was also interested in how both children were a little apprehensive at exploring the empty house but neither were willing to admit this, and I wonder if this reluctance to admit fear or say no to things may be the cause of some of their further adventures.
Digory shouts out loud in shock when Polly disappears and Uncle Andrew silences him with the threat that he could alarm his sick mother if she heard him, though Uncle Andrew concedes that he himself shouted when the guinea pig he first tested the ring on disappeared so Digory realises that this was the yell he had heard the other night. Uncle Andrew says that Polly has gone to another world and displays delight with the success of his experiment, explaining to Digory that his godmother, Mrs Lefay, who had been imprisoned in later life but was released shortly before she died, had told Uncle Andrew that she had fairy blood in her and gave him a box, stored in a secret drawer, telling him to burn it when she was dead, but Uncle Andrew didn’t do this. He tells Digory that the box was very very old, far older than the ancient civilisations of Greece and Egypt and Babylonia and Hittite and China, and he discovered that it came from the lost island of Atlantis and contained dust brought from another world, adding that he was also studying magic at that time and was keen to become a magician, which profession he has now achieved even though it has damaged his health. He said he tried getting the dust into another form so it could then take the person back to that other world, though his experiments on animals often resulted in their deaths, adding that he didn’t want to risk testing it on himself, but he finally managed to contain the dust into the yellow rings, so these take the wearer into another world and the green rings he created then brings the person back again, though he admits he hasn’t thoroughly tested the green rings yet. He then adds that in order to rescue Polly, Digory must wear a yellow ring to travel to the other world and take with him two green rings to bring them both back again, and Digory realises that his uncle planned it like this so Digory would have to go after Polly with the green rings. Digory angrily agrees to do this, knowing that he has no choice as Uncle Andrew would not consider rescuing Polly himself. Uncle Andrew explains that the rings must be touching the person’s skin for them to work, demonstrating that they don’t have an effect when he touches them with gloves on, and that carrying one in a pocket is fine but you have to be careful not to touch it when you put your hand in your pocket. Oooh, I love the little lessons of behaviour to reading children in books like this, such as Digory’s disgust at Uncle Andrew for being ‘a coward’, and Uncle Andrew breaking his promise to destroy his godmother’s secret box which Digory tells him is ‘jolly rotten’ (and I love the old-fashioned term of ‘jolly rotten’ too which again reminds me of something The Famous Five would say!), and I wonder if Uncle Andrew’s mentioning that his magical studies damaged his health and that he had to go through some ‘very disagreeable experiences’, is encouraging us to wonder if it is this which led to Uncle Andrew’s selfish and controlling behaviour, so he’s not perhaps a thoroughly bad man, just one affected by what’s happened to him (though I do view him as bad man for testing on poor animals!). I love that the name of Uncle Andrew’s witch godmother incorporates the word ‘fay’, as isn’t this a term for fairy folk (I’m thinking of Susanna Clarke’s wonderful book The Ladies of Grace Adieu)? I had to look up Hittite though as I’ve never heard of that, and the lost island of Atlantis also sent me on an enjoyable Wikipedia rabbit hole!
Digory puts the yellow ring on and travels through what seems to be water and arrives beside a pool in a wood, though he notes he isn’t wet. There are many more pools there and the wood is very dense with green leaves, and though he can’t see or hear any insects or animals in the wood he is aware that the wood feels very alive. He also begins to forget why he is there, and then notices Polly laying at the foot of a tree, half-asleep, though both children are confused with who the other one is and who they themselves are, as well as when and how they got there, but they suddenly remember everything when they see a guinea-pig wandering past with a yellow ring tied to it. They are about to jump in the pool wearing the green rings in order to go back home, but Digory then suggests they try jumping in one of the other pools first as each pool perhaps leads to a different world, explaining that he thinks where they are now is an in-between place, like the tunnel in the attic which can be used to access different houses. Polly insists that they first test if the green rings work before they venture into further worlds, so they do this by jumping into the original pool whilst wearing the green rings and waiting till they see the faint shapes of London appear and then switching rings to send them back to the wood and pools. Polly says they need to make a mark beside the original pool which takes them home, because every pool looks the same. They jump into another pool with the yellow rings on but nothing happens, but then when they switch to the green rings they enter another world. Oooh, I’m delighted that the ‘inbetween’ place is a wood (which is called The Wood Between The Worlds) as I always adore woods and trees as they seem so very calming and beautiful as well as being slightly magical (particularly when the trees meet over the top of a path to create a tree tunnel which always look so enticing and mysterious). However, the forgetfulness and sleepiness they experience in this wood seems a little dangerous! And I do like Polly for kindly suggesting they take the guinea-pig back with them rather than just leaving it there, bless her (though she decides against this in the end, thinking that Uncle Andrew would just use it in another experiment and reflecting that it seems quite content there in the wood). I love how this Wood Between The Worlds corresponds to the tunnel inbetween the attics, and the different worlds and lives reached by the ponds correspond so neatly to the different attics and lives that can be reached via the attic tunnel, that’s really neat, and I also like the idea that the reason why the wood is a sleepy place is because nothing happens there (like nothing happens in the attic tunnel) as the activity is in the worlds reached beyond there (just like the activity is in the houses reached from the attic tunnel). I do like it when explanations are given and it’s clear the author has thought-out reasons for his creative decisions rather than just deciding something at random and leaving the reader to accept it without question (as too with the explanation that the yellow ring actually takes a person to the wood and the green ring takes a person away from the wood, rather than one taking you away and one taking you back home), as I notice in magical/fairy books there are often no explanations for why things happen the way they do and I’m always then full of questions, so I’m particularly grateful to CS Lewis for giving explanations here! And I’m curious to see if the later books will re-visit this Wood Between The Worlds and if it’s possible for other characters to go into other different worlds. And I must say well done to Polly for overriding Digory’s impulsiveness and insisting they check that the green ring works first and also her insisting that they mark the pool which takes them home, and I hope her cautiousness is a reflection of what will happen when they explore further so she ensures they are safe (though perhaps I’m being a little unjust to Digory by accusing him of being impulsive, as the author describes it more as his desire to know things and which then led to him being a professor when an adult, and I note thankfully that this reference to his later profession also confirms that Digory clearly survives this adventure and arrives home safely to become a professor later in life).
The world the children arrive in has a dull red light in the air with an extremely dark blue/black sky, which reminds them of a forthcoming thunderstorm or eclipse in their own world, and they are standing on a paved surface with ruined buildings all around them. Polly immediately says she doesn’t like it and suggests going home, and they both instinctively speak in whispers though deciding between themselves that no-one seems to live there and that the world seems dead and empty. Digory chides Polly for being scared, so she then agrees to explore further, though insists that they ensure the rings are easily accessible if they need to swiftly leave. They can see it used to be a very grand place with lots of courtyards, and there is an old fountain with a stone monster inside where the water would have spurted out, though they notice there aren’t any insects or plants. They go through two huge gold doors, and see hundreds of very tall people sitting on seats, perfectly still like wax-works but wearing very colourful majestic clothes and crowns. They step closer to the line of people and decide that the ones at the start of the line have kind and wise though solemn faces but further down the line of people the faces become more cruel-looking. The final person is an extremely finely dressed woman who looks fierce and very proud. The children are curious what had happened there, and then spot a little golden bell with a little golden hammer beside it. At first they can’t read the writing near to the bell but then it seems to alter to their own language. It becomes a poem which reads that they can choose to strike the bell and accept the danger, or choose not to strike the bell and accept that they will likely go mad with wondering what would’ve happened. Polly doesn’t want to strike the bell but Digory does and the two children argue about it, getting more and more angry and insulting each other. Polly’s hand moves towards her pocket to touch the ring to send her away from there, but Digory grabs her wrist and twists it away from her pocket and he then quickly strikes the bell. A long note is sounded, gradually getting louder and louder, then the floor begins to shake and walls collapse, and then the note stops. The fierce and proud-looking woman at the end of the line stands and comes over to them, studying Digory and observing that he is not royal or a magician and so must have used someone else’s magic to get there to that land, and he admits the magic was his Uncle Andrew’s. She is far taller than anyone in the children’s world and they feel she must be a queen. She takes them outside, as the building continues to collapse around them, and she uses powerful magic to blow apart the final doors which are closed and barred, telling the children that she can destroy objects and people that stand in her way. Wow, what an alarming woman! Again there is that hint of fear in this book which is slightly surprising for a children’s book like this as I felt lots of foreboding with this dark world full of ruined buildings and was a little fearful who might be there, and was willing them to leave. And I was right that their reluctance to admit fear or say no (which we’d seen earlier in the book) led Polly on to agreeing to explore the place (and perhaps led Diggory on too) when her instinct was that it wasn’t safe. And I think we could all guess which child would want to strike the bell and which wouldn’t, and this beautifully confirms again the earlier hints in the book of the characteristics of the children (Digory being impulsively curious and regardless of consequences, and Polly being wisely cautious to commit to things before fully understanding what could happen), and I imagine these aspects of their characters will be brought again into the book before the end. Though it surprised me a little just how argumentative and insulting the friends became with each other, and it made me wonder if this strange world they were in was perhaps exaggerating their behaviours (or perhaps I’m just being generous there, tee hee!)? I hope we find out more from this (alarming!) woman how it felt to be sitting there immobile, and if she (and therefore the others) had any consciousness of it, and was she (and the others) aware of the children’s arrival and sat there hoping against hope that they would strike the bell, and how many other visitors had been there who took the other option of not striking the bell, as well as how long the people have been immobile for, and why they are immobile, and why only she got up when the bell sounded, and I’m very intrigued by the significance of where the people were sitting in the line with her at one end, is it the older people at the start of the line and she is therefore the youngest at the end of the line (I guess this would also probably reflect the order of their rule too, if indeed the children are correct in guessing that she is a queen), and did the ones at the start of the line begin sitting there as statues when their rule ended (or they died) and the next person took over ruling so the line gradually grew as each person’s rule/life ended, or did they all sit there as statues at the same time in which case was the order decided by how kindly the person was, like does this reflect their order going into heaven perhaps (as there often was a religious theme in these early books for children)? I am hopeful we will get detailed answers, after CS Lewis provided explanations earlier in the book (and I have so many questions, tee hee!), as well as more information about this world and what happened there. I am also very keen to know if all the others can be brought to life again if the bell is struck again and again (one time for each person)? Or is the bell (and indeed the immobile people too, eek!) now destroyed due to the collapsing building? And I’d also like answers about the whole bell thing too and why there is this strange temptation/dilemma for the visitor, as the whole thing seems to be more connected with the visitor and to be a judgement/test about them rather than the statues and whether the visitor will ease their curiosity though knowing they face likely danger or choose the safe option though knowing they will then have the torture of always wondering. And is there a right choice, as neither option seems to be a reward (it’s not like if you choose the safe and sensible non-dangerous option you are rewarded, because you have already been warned that you will be forever tortured by this decision), it seems a very grey choice, rather than the usual black/white or good/bad or sensible/reckless choice offered to children in books like this. Does it all have some other meaning that I’ve missed, what does their choice say about the visitor, what lesson are we being led to learn here? It really does intrigue me! But as an aside, I love that the writing beside the bell altered to their own language (just like as can be achieved by a spell in Harry Potter, and indeed I wonder how many of the more modern magical books I love have been influenced by the wonderful ideas in this book, and do homage to it by repeating/developing it further!)
The children and the woman reach the outside and are standing on a terrace high up looking out over a long distance towards a huge city of temples and pyramids and towers and bridges, but nothing lives there and no water flows under the bridges, and there is a huge red sun and one solitary star in the sky, and Digory has the impression that the sun is near the end of its life. The woman says that this is the world of Charn and she is Queen Jadis, and that she destroyed everything here, explaining that her sister wouldn’t yield the throne to her so they began a war though they had agreed that they wouldn’t use magic but her sister broke this promise so when defeat was almost upon her Queen Jadis spoke the Deplorable Word which destroyed everything in Charn except for her. Digory is shocked at the huge loss of innocent lives but Queen Jadis does not seem to view this as of any importance. She says that she then created other spells which meant that she would sit immobile with her ancestors until the bell was struck and woke her. Hmmm, so we have the answer to a couple of my questions about who the immobile people are (the previous rulers of Charn, as they are Queen Jadis’ ancestors) and how they became immobile (due to Queen Jadis’ spell), but why would she want to sit immobile too and why would she want to be at the mercy of someone ringing the bell, I can’t really see Queen Jadis wanting to relinquish her power like that, or was sitting immobile and powerless the only way to prevent herself from also being destroyed at the time when everything else was? And why have it that the building was destroyed as well when the bell was rung, or is this just to demonstrate the destructive and dangerous force of the magic that has been unleashed? I really can’t help but think that this was an odd spell for Queen Jadis to create, and perhaps her magic isn’t as clever as she thinks it is if this was all she was able to do (by ‘all’ it sounds like I could do better, tee hee, but I just mean it didn’t seem a very wonderful spell, yes she hasn’t died but she also wasn’t really alive as she was just a statue and could have stayed that way for a long time, and how long a time is yet another question!), might her thinking her magical abilities are greater than they actually are come up again in the book? I guess the two magicians we’ve seen so far (Uncle Andrew and Queen Jadis) are both very boastful and arrogant in their abilities and only exercise their skills for their own benefit (rather than being humble and grateful for their skills and keen to share these to benefit others) so could we see pride coming before a fall with Queen Jadis? And I guess this perhaps answers my question of if the other statues could possibly come alive, as with Queen Jadis saying that they are her ancestors then this implies they were already dead (so the next king or queen then takes over), which then leads me to wonder if it was a custom of Charn to create a statue of the previous ruler and have them all sitting in a line? And so then was this perhaps why it occurred to Queen Jadis to join them there, though she hoped to become mobile again one day? And does this mean that one of the statues is her sister, the one possibly sitting next to her in line, and if so I wonder if Queen Jadis was quietly seething at having to sit next to her hated sister all that time, tee hee? In fact, I’m saying ‘all that time’ but do we have any indication of when Queen Jadis destroyed Charn, was it hundreds of years ago or only a few days or weeks ago? Really, I could wish for a whole book about Charn! I am going to hope that one of the other books in the Narnia series does deal with Charn! And again, why that odd judgement/test of the visitor with the chiming of the bell, was this perhaps Queen Jadis trying to ensure that the person standing there when she woke was someone who had certain qualities she admired (such as disregarding danger to themselves and choosing risk over safety) as she intended to rule with this person (or have them serve her as ruler) so this willingness to follow danger and potentially sacrifice themselves in the pursuit of it was a quality she wanted in such a person? I again find it interesting to consider the possible lessons the book is giving children readers, such as again not to break promises (with Queen Jadis and her sister both breaking promises to each other, along with of course Uncle Andrew breaking his promise to his godmother), and perhaps the lesson of how the desire for power can lead us to do terrible things and prevent us from considering others (demonstrated both by Queen Jadis in destroying Charn, and by Uncle Andrew with experimenting on others). And I was also very intrigued by what the Deplorable Word was and I appreciated Digory asking this question himself, though it was annoying that Queen Jadis didn’t answer. Though sadly I think in our modern world now there could be several contenders for this word!
Queen Jadis states that she intends to go to the children’s world in order to rule there, which horrifies them but she has a tight hold of their hands (one child on either side of her) so Polly can’t reach into her pocket with the ring in it. Queen Jadis is also keen to meet Uncle Andrew who she believes must be the king as she says it is only royal people who have magical blood. She briefly lets them go so they quickly touch the rings in their pockets and arrive in the Wood Between The Worlds, but discover to their horror that Queen Jadis has come with them as she was still touching them when they touched their rings (and Uncle Andrew hadn’t realised that anyone touching you when you touch the ring would travel with you). However, she is very weak and diminished and scared in this Wood Between The Worlds. The children quickly touch their home rings and jump into that pool to arrive in Uncle Andrew’s study, but Queen Jadis grabs Digory at the last moment so she comes with them too and is immediately strong and tall and confident again. She studies Uncle Andrew’s face and declares scornfully that he has a sign of magic on him but it is only the kind learnt from books rather than inherited royal magical blood, and tells him that he can be her servant. She orders him to find her some transport so she can get clothes and jewels and slaves, and Uncle Andrew slinks out of his study to call her a hansom cab, and she follows him. Polly tells Digory that she is now going home and he asks for her promise that she will come back to help him with Queen Jadis, but Polly says she will only return if he apologises for ringing the bell, which he does. Yay, well done Polly for insisting that Digory recognises how his impulsive action has brought all this trouble on them, though it was interesting that he was surprised at her request for him to apologise and I guess this perhaps shows that he didn’t deliberately mean harm with what he did. And it was interesting that Queen Jadis initially believed that the children were sent there (by Uncle Andrew, who she thought is their king) in order to take her to their world, so perhaps this explains the bell thing, ie she was only wanting a magical and royal person to ring the bell and wake her (or their servant who might have been sent to do the task). Though it didn’t take magic to ring the bell, did it, the writing on the bell altered to a language they understood which seems like a kind of magic, but it wasn’t the children who created this magic, it just happened so I presume this was part of Queen Jadis’ spell, that the writing altered to the language of the person who stood infront it. I guess it took magic to get to Charn in the first place so this is perhaps the way that Queen Jadis thought she was guaranteeing that it would be a magical royal person (or their servant) who rung the bell, but is it only through using magic and going via The Wood Between The Worlds that you can enter Charn? Perhaps it is (as how else would you access another world, unless you had a spaceship, tee hee?!), though that implies that Queen Jadis knows there are other worlds and must also therefore know that the way to access them is through The Wood Between The Worlds and yet she obviously can’t thrive in The Wood Between The Worlds herself so does this then imply that she hasn’t accessed any other worlds before this point, or that she can access them in another way without the rings or going through The Wood Between The Worlds? It’s also fascinating how she diminished and became weak and scared in The Wood Between The Worlds and yet was strong and powerful both in Charn and in the children’s world, I wonder why, as the children became sleepy and forgetful there but they didn’t feel scared or weakened like she did, hers was a much stronger reaction, so I wonder if your reaction when there reflects your good or bad character or your good or bad intentions, so if you’re a bad person are you effectively weakened so you can’t action these bad intentions. And as an aside, I chuckled at Queen Jadis’ suggestions to Uncle Andrew of suitable transport, such as ‘a chariot or a flying carpet or a well-trained dragon’!
Queen Jadis says the Deplorable Word to Aunt Letty, presuming she will turn to dust, but nothing happens. She then throws Aunt Letty across the room, who thankfully isn’t hurt and proceeds to contact the police, while Queen Jadis leaves the house in a hansom cab with Uncle Andrew. Digory decides he must stop Queen Jadis from taking over their world, and plans when they return to slip on his yellow ring while he is touching Queen Jadis in order to take her back to The Wood Between The Worlds. While he waits for them to return, he begins to wonder if there might be a world where he could get something to cure his mother. Queen Jadis appears, standing on top of the hansom cab and driving the cabhorse along at full speed, with a terrified Uncle Andrew inside. The cab crashes but Queen Jadis leaps onto the horse’s back, and a couple more hansom cabs arrive containing the owner of the cab which she had stolen and the owner of a jewellery store she had taken pearls from and some police officers. Queen Jadis cuts the horse free from the cab, and when challenged by the policemen she angrily wrenches off the top of a nearby lamppost and strikes a policeman with it. Polly appears beside Digory, then holds onto him when he touches Queen Jadis and the three of them, plus Uncle Andrew and the cabman and Strawberry the cabhorse (as well as the piece of the lamppost still in Queen Jadis’ hand), go to the Wood Between The Worlds. Tee hee, I loved how Aunt Letty’s responded to Queen Jadis, judging that she ‘must be someone out of a circus, and she did not approve of bare arms’, and telling her firmly to get out of her house and admonishing her for using strong language, go Aunt Letty! But it’s interesting (yet again, so much interests me in this book!) that although Queen Jadis is strong and powerful in the children’s world (compared to when she was in The Wood Between The Worlds) she doesn’t seem to have her magic there, or at least the Deplorable Word doesn’t work there (thankfully), I wonder why this is? And I noted that when Queen Jadis threatened to do to the children’s world what has been done to Charn (ie, totally destroy everything in it) she also mentioned three other worlds that have been destroyed, Felinda and Sorlois and Bramandin, so did she herself destroy those worlds too or did their sun just die and so the worlds died, and how did she travel to these worlds to know they had been destroyed or to destroy themselves herself (was this through the Wood Between the Worlds or by another method), or did the Charn race used to live in those worlds and then left them when they were destroyed and finally ended up in Charn? I wondered if the names of these worlds might mean anything in other languages, and I see (thanks to google) that Felinda comes from the Latin word of Felix meaning happy or fortunate or blessed, and Sorlois is apparently a place in the King Arthur tales, and I can’t see that Bramandin means anything, though I do see a few suggestions that these places are actually cities of Charn rather than other worlds so perhaps I was wrong presuming they were other worlds. And I guess I have been quite critical of Digory with his impulsive behaviour with the bell, but I was reminded in this section that he is only a young boy trying to deal with the fear of his mother being ill, bless him, and he did bravely rescue Polly when Uncle Andrew first sent her to the Wood Between The Worlds, with no thought for his own safety.
Queen Jadis goes pale and weak again in the Wood Between The Worlds, but Strawberry instantly calms and goes to a nearby pool to drink, so Polly quickly puts her hand on her green ring so they all go through the pool to another world. This world is dark with no stars and the air is cold and dry with no wind, and Queen Jadis says they are in Nothing. They then all hear beautiful singing which seems to come from all directions at once, and then stars appear in the sky above, then the sky grows paler and paler and then a light wind begins and hills are glimpsed in the distance and mountains further away, and a very young-looking sun arises and they see that they are in a valley with a river but no trees or bushes or grass. The singer appears and it is a lion, and as he continues singing grass and plants and flowers and trees grow infront of them. Uncle Andrew and Queen Jadis are fearful of the singing and the singer, and Queen Jadis feels that this is a magic different and stronger than hers, and she throws the lamppost piece (which was still in her hand from the children’s world) at the lion’s head but it bounces off and he doesn’t even pause in his walk towards them, and she runs away. The children and Uncle Andrew notice that a lamppost has grown where the piece hit the ground, and Uncle Andrew gets excited about the possibilities of this world and how it could grow things like battleships from scrap metal which he could then sell and make a fortune from, and also thinks about opening a health spa there to earn him more money as he says he feels younger being there, and it suddenly occurs to Digory that his mother might get well from this world too. Hmmm, why did Polly touch her ring then, as surely she must have realised that as they were all still touching each other Queen Jadis would also go into this other world with them? Was this her intention, and then to try and leave Queen Jadis in this other world? Though it could have been difficult to take everyone else back (ie the cabman and Strawberry, who had also come with them) to the Wood Between The Worlds again without Queen Jadis attaching herself to them, so why not just leave Queen Jadis in the Wood Between The Worlds, particularly as she seems weak there and less likely to do any damage, and then wait until she isn’t touching anyone and then go back to their own world (while holding onto the cabman and Strawberry), or did Polly not know that Queen Jadis was connected to them? And I was interested to note that when Uncle Andrew whispered to Digory to slip the ring on so just the two of them could escape home, Queen Jadis announced that she can hear men’s thoughts, which is very useful to know and I’d love to know how many times she’s used that to her advantage before, and whether it will be featured in the rest of the books in the series (and also is it ‘men’ as in human so including women, or ‘men’ as in male, as this could then be fairly crucial to her potential downfall!). And I also noted that the lion has a leading capital L which is interesting, I remember from the Mary Poppins books that random objects (well, they seemed random to me!) had a leading capital letter too, so I wonder at the significance of this. And Polly’s observation that the different notes of the lion’s singing produced different things is fascinating, with the deep notes creating trees and the lighter notes creating flowers, so I wonder at the thinking of the author behind all this, is it a deeper note for larger objects and a lighter note for smaller objects perhaps? And wow, I nearly clapped my hands with joy when the piece of the lamppost touched the ground and a full lamppost grew, as along with the fun magical possibilities of this (and surely there are many, as Uncle Andrew realised himself, though his was from a money-making point of view), I also seem to remember that in The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe book the young girl that first goes through to Narnia sees a lamppost, so is this then the lamppost she sees? That would be a lovely tie-in with that book.
The lion’s song alters and gives the humans a feeling like they are full of energy, and they then notice that animals begin to grow from the ground. Strawberry, looking much younger and healthier and self-assured, then moves to stand with the other animals. The lion touches noses with two of the same breed of animals, but he doesn’t touch all of the animals. The ones touched leave the other animals and form a circle around the lion, including Strawberry, while the other animals wander away, and then the small animals grow larger and the larger animals grow smaller. The lion breathes on them and the animals sway and a new song seems to come from the stars, then a brief spark of fire appears and the lion says ‘Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak’. The animals can then speak, and other creatures appear such as a river-god and his daughters, gods and goddesses of the wood, and fauns and satyrs and dwarfs. The lion tells them all that he gives this land to them, including the creatures that cannot talk, and urges them to treat those other creatures gently, warning them that they themselves can be returned to being dumb creatures like the others if they don’t keep to this promise, and they all tell him they obey and then call him Aslan. Aslan chooses the chief dwarf and river-god and oak and male owl and two ravens and the male Elephant to join his council, telling them that there is already an evil in their new world. Hmmm, it’s interesting which animals are mentioned in the section of them being grown from the ground at Aslan’s song (moles, dogs, stags, frogs, panthers, leopards, birds, butterflies, bees, and an elephant), I am aware the author can’t mention all of the animals of the world (and presumably all of them were produced) but I just wondered if there was a significance to the ones he did mention. And as an aside, it was amusing with the stags’ antlers appearing first from the ground, tee hee! And then later, is it significant which animals Aslan chooses to have speak (beavers, leopards, deer, rabbits, and moles), and then again too why were the owl and elephant and raven chosen to be part of Aslan’s council (along with a dwarf, a river-god, and an oak), and also why were there two ravens when only one owl and one elephant (or am I getting a bit obsessed with searching for the significance in things, did the author just pick the first few animals that came into his mind, was it just that simple, tee hee?!). I did like the choosing of the oak tree though, as I guess this tree tends to symbolise great age which I presume also indicates great wisdom and endurance (and surely it can’t hurt that it’s the symbol of England too). I liked too that (from the chosen group) the animals become a similar size to each other (the smaller ones growing larger, and the larger ones growing smaller), as I guess this makes them all a bit more equal (and presumably reduces the predator/prey aspect as surely that wouldn’t be appropriate, although this then begs the question of what Aslan eats?!). The fauns remind me of the lovely Wind in the Willows with that chapter where Pan appears, and the dwarves remind me of the Lord of the Rings book (though I’m not sure what satyrs are (I have just looked them up and apparently they are half-man and half-goat!), and I note that all these creatures have a leading capital letter too. I liked Aslan’s guidance to the speaking creatures that they must treat the other non-speaking creatures gently, but his threat is interesting (that they will be returned to dumb creatures again themselves if they break this rule), both that he is willing to administer punishment and also act as judge, and also that the form of punishment is losing the mental cognition of thought and speech which seems quite a cruel punishment once the animal has experienced it, and I also wonder if the animal would remember that they had had thought and speech so the severest part of that punishment would be the recollection of the loss of this? But as an aside, I did chuckle at the jackdaw wanting the claim of making the first joke, as there is a family of jackdaws that live near me and their sound does resemble cackling laughter somewhat!
Digory tells the others that he must speak to Aslan about his mother, but Aslan is walking swiftly away so the cabman asks Strawberry to carry Digory to him, and Polly and the cabman follow. Digory asks Aslan for some magic fruit to make his mother better, but instead Aslan asks him why he brought the evil queen into Narnia. Digory tries to give the bare facts and then some excuses for his actions but Aslan pushes him until he admits that he woke Queen Jadis because he was curious what would happen if he rang the bell. Aslan says that as Digory’s race has caused the evil to enter Narnia then it must be his race who helps heal it, and tells him that a tree will be planted which will keep Queen Jadis away from Narnia for many years as she will not dare to approach this tree, and informs Digory that must get the seed for this tree. He explains the journey that Digory must take to get this seed, saying that the land of Narnia ends where the waterfall is, so the hills and forests and mountains beyond that are in the Western Wild, and after this is a green valley surrounded by icy mountains and in the valley is a blue lake and at the end of lake is a hill with a garden and in the centre of the garden is a tree from which Digory is to pick an apple and bring it to Aslan. Aslan gives Strawberry wings (coloured chestnut and copper) so he can transport Digory and Polly there, and tells him that his name is now Fledge. Aslan then asks the cabman if he likes the land of Narnia and if he would want to stay there, and the cabman says yes but adds that he has a wife in his own world so can’t stay, but Aslan gives a cry and the cabman’s wife appears in Narnia. Aslan tells them both that they are the first King and Queen of Narnia and Archenland, adding that Archenland lies yonder over the Southern Mountains’. Meanwhile, some of the animals are intrigued by what Uncle Andrew is and go towards him, but he runs away in terror as he refuses to believe the animals are talking so just hears growling and barking, etc. The animals catch up with him and ask if he is animal or vegetable or mineral but he doesn’t answer and faints in terror, so they decide he is a tree and plant him in the ground and water him. Oooh, I was interested in the mention of the land of Archenland as this is a place extra to Narnia, and yet it feels like we are likely to just be dealing with Narnia in this book so I wonder if Archenland will feature more in the later books. And I was interested in the (great amount) of detail given to Digory on how to find the seed for the tree that Aslan will plant to keep Queen Jadis away from Narnia, with the waterfall and the hills and forests and mountains and valley and lake, etc, and I wonder firstly if all the detail is relevant in some way (is all this going to be brought into other books too, will all these places be explained further?) or is it just to give the reader an idea of the layout of the land? And I also wonder if Aslan created all these places too, when he created Narnia. I also love that it’s a tree which has been chosen to protect Narnia from Queen Jadis, rather an animal or man-made object, something beautiful and growing rather than something fierce or impersonal, and I think this demonstrates beautifully the power of nature (and also how nature always comes back, no matter what man-made objects may be introduced in its place). And eeek, I’m overjoyed at Strawberry playing such an important role in all this too, and gaining the ability to fly, bless him, but I also liked that Aslan asked for Strawberry’s agreement first before altering him to be able to fly, that seems very respectful, even though what Aslan was offering was wonderful. It was interesting with Uncle Andrew not being able to hear the animals’ speech and I imagine this signifies that someone with a closed mind effectively hears what they want to hear and sees things the way they want to see them, and this is another good life lesson for the child reader, ie a caution against going through life with a closed mind. And it’s an amusing section with the discussion between the animals debating what Uncle Andrew is, tee hee! I noted that Aslan calls Digory ‘Son of Adam’, which seems a very strong link to the bible, and I guess Aslan is seeming quite God-like with him creating Narnia like the bible says God created the world. However, I was intrigued with Aslan effectively interrogating Digory and forcing him to admit that it was his mistake that caused Queen Jadis to wake and then enter Narnia, as it felt like Digory was going to be punished/reprimanded again for acting impulsively and without consideration for consequences, even though he has already accepted the reprimand and punishment from Polly (with her withdrawing from him and demanding he apologises), so I guess a part of me was surprised that he was being punished again for the same fault, but I guess this perhaps signifies Aslan as a superior being (God?) and emphasises the huge consequence that Digory’s error has caused with Queen Jadis now being in Narnia (though Digory didn’t really desire or plan that). And it’s also interesting that Aslan says ‘before the new clean world I gave you is seven hours old’ (when he is referring to Queen Jadis entering Narnia), as the number seven feels like a good choice of number, I think of it as a magical number but I’m sure there’s a religious reference to this number too, wasn’t it seven days that God took to create the world (well, I’ve googled and it was six days to create the world and the seventh day to rest), and I will have to look back in the book but I wonder now if some of the significance I wondered about with the selection of the animals is in fact is to have seven types of animals. I’m also interested in the fact that Aslan can summon someone from another world (ie, the cabman’s wife) without needing to be in the Wood Between The Worlds, and it’s also interesting that the cabman’s wife is presumably the only one of the people from the children’s world who has reached Narnia without going via the Wood Between The Worlds so she is quite unique in this (although she has missed out, I feel, as I love the idea of the Wood Between The Worlds, but perhaps she will see it for some reason later during her life in Narnia) and I wonder if her experiences in Narnia may be different to the others because of this different way of arriving there? And also does this mean that Queen Jadis could possibly enter other worlds without having to access the Wood Between The Worlds too (as I’d wondered before)? And still with the cabman and his wife, I found it interesting that the cabman and his wife are working class people, not of royal or magical heritage, as someone’s class and heritage and education was valued at that time in England and thought to indicate a person’s worth and their likely achievements, and also apparently this was valued too in Charn as Queen Jadis comments that Digory has no royal or magical blood, but clearly that wasn’t the case in Narnia, and is the author therefore commenting on his disapproval of the class/heredity system? Also what quality has Aslan identified in the cabman that would make him a good leader, or is it just that he is the only adult there apart from Uncle Andrew, and if it is kindness or goodness that he has judged the cabman possesses then can he instantly judge these qualities like Queen Jadis can instantly judge people’s royal and magical qualities (and if so, then it’s interesting what both leaders can judge in others, and what this probably says about them too). Oooh, I am aware I’m analysing more and more and more in this short little book, but it’s all so intriguing and fascinating and I feel like there must be reasons for the author’s decisions and that he put lots of thought into these things.
Digory and Polly see the sea on Narnia’s eastern border and see sand to the south when they fly high. They come to land in order to rest and eat and sleep, though the children realise they have no food to eat. Polly remembers she has half a bag of toffees in her pocket so the children plant one of the toffees wondering if it might grow into something, as happened with the piece of lamppost, and in the morning they wake to see a tree growing toffees, which look like dates and are like juicy fruit. When they begin flying again, they see the valley and lake and green hill which Aslan had told them to look out for, and when they land there they see the garden. The garden has golden gates, and there is a notice on the gates saying that those who enter must only take fruit for others and those that climb the walls rather than going through the gates or who steal the fruit ‘shall find their heart’s desire and find despair’. Oooh, the notice on the gates reminds me of the message on the bell in Charn, I think the author must have liked little mysterious poems/messages, and I guess poems are quite magical forms of writing and a clever way to impart information so I can see why this would appeal. The part in the notice on the gate about your heart’s desire and despair is interesting, and I guess this is another life lesson to children, that the gain of doing something naughty (such as stealing) is short-lived because you have attained it in the wrong way so punishment will follow, whether this punishment comes from another person or society or whether your own morals ensure you can’t enjoy what you have gained. But it’s interesting that we are coming back to punishment again (when I was surprised that Aslan had threatened punishment to the talking animals if they didn’t follow his guidance on looking after the other non-talking animals) and Aslan does seem to be comfortable with using punishment (or at least the threat of punishment) for his subjects even though they also have the joy of the wonderful life in Narnia, but I guess his punishments are for breaking rules and he must feel (as I suspect the author felt) that a healthy society can only be healthy if rules are followed. And as an aside, I wonder what Digory’s and Polly’s heart’s desires would be. I also found it interesting to learn what Digory and Polly saw from their flight, as I like to imagine the geography around Narnia, so it sounds like Narnia is bordered by Western World and mountains to the west, by sea to the east, by sand to the south, and by moors and hills to the north (at least, I think). I love the humour in this book too and the lovely ideas like a toffee tree growing, and how much this would appeal to children, and it’s also a wise idea to have the toffees look like dates which are quite toffee-ish in flavour and consistency.
Digory enters the garden and sees a bird ‘larger than an eagle, its breast saffron, its head crested with scarlet, and its tail purple’. He picks the apple but is then struck with an almost overwhelming desire to eat an apple. He then sees Queen Jadis, and she is throwing away the core of an apple she has just eaten, and Digory guesses she must have climbed the wall to enter the garden. Queen Jadis sees him and tells him that she knows of his wish to help his mother as she heard them talking about it when they rested the previous night as she was following them, and she says the apple is the apple of youth and life but that Aslan will take the apple from Digory and eat it himself. She says eating the apple has made her feel that she will never grow old or die and she urges him to eat it too so they can be king and queen together of any land. She also suggests that he uses the ring to go directly back to his mother and give the fruit to her rather than returning to Aslan and giving it to him, taunting him by saying he will be acting like Aslan’s slave if he goes back to Aslan, and further taunting him by saying he will be acting heartlessly towards his mother is he chooses Aslan over his mother. Queen Jadis goes further, suggesting that he could easily leave Polly behind there, but it is this comment which finally makes up Digory’s mind not to listen further to her as he considers it the ultimate in meanness to leave his friend behind so this demonstrates to him how wicked and false Queen Jadis is, and Digory and Polly immediately leave on Fledge. Arrrgh, what terrible emotionally charged words Queen Jadis uses to try and convince Digory not to give the apple to Aslan, saying he will be being heartless towards his mother, bless him, he’s only a child who loves his mother, it seems really tough for him to be put in this position of trying to decide which is the best way to act. Or now I think about this further, is this Aslan’s aim, to ensure that Digory has to think about how best to act and to look at both sides of the argument and to weigh up the different options even though there isn’t a simple clear answer and it seems a heart-rending decision? Hmmm, I imagine it is, and that this is another life lesson for the children reading this. But bless him, how sweet that he thinks about what his mother would want him to do and remembers that she believes it is important to humour promises (and back to that life lesson again of honouring promises, as we were shown by Uncle Andrew not honouring the promise to his grandmother about not opening the box, and again by Queen Jadis and her sister not honoring the promise about refraining from using magic). And then bless him again with the honour amongst friends thing when he is horrified at the thought of leaving Polly behind, and obviously Polly has also demonstrated this honour too as she had the chance to leave Digory when they first returned to Uncle Andrew’s attic (and indeed threatened to do so when she was angry at him) but thought better of it and came back to help Digory, and again when they had nothing to eat the night before and Digory suggested to her that she use her ring to go home but she didn’t. But I feel that Digory is really coming into his own here and him valuing these qualities are being used to demonstrate his goodness of character because perhaps his goodness was in more doubt than Polly’s goodness was as he had acted impulsively and had been tempted to act selfishly and had made mistakes (though he was never very bad, and always seemed to live by the kind of code that good children live by) so seeing him come through all that and kind of prove himself to the reader is lovely, bless him. And as an aside, I note that Queen Jadis heads northward when Digory and Polly fly away, and looking back at the notes on geography I took earlier then I think it was moors and hills to the north, and I wonder if this is where she will stay until she comes back again. And as another aside, the bird that Digory sees reminds me of the phoenix in Edith Nesbit’s wonderful The Phoenix and The Carpet book. And I’d wondered what Queen Jadis’ heart’s desire would be too (when I was speculating about Digory’s and Polly’s hearts’ desires) but I guess it is that she never grows old and dies (as this is what she gains when she eats the apple), and I had presumed that Digory’s heart’s desire was to have his mother well again but it’s interesting that Queen Jadis offers him power (to be the king of any land, ruling alongside her) so is power actually his heart’s desire or does it more demonstrate Queen Jadis’ guess of what his heart’s desire would be (and demonstrate therefore that she is very very wrong in this guess)? And Digory’s urge to eat the apple is very Adam and Eve, isn’t it, this book seems to have so many similarities to the bible. And I’m getting a little confused with what to call Queen Jadis now, as she seems in Narnia to be referred to as the Witch, but (as I like consistency, tee hee!) I think I will stick with what I originally called her, ie Queen Jadis, and perhaps if she is more commonly referred to by another name in later books (and I think she is referred to as The White Witch in The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe) then I will alter to that then.
The children arrive back to Aslan, and Digory hands him the apple and follows Aslan’s instructions to throw it towards the river bank. Aslan praises him for what he has done, and Digory realises he then feels content and untroubled. Aslan asks for Uncle Andrew to be brought to him, who is retrieved from a kind of cage of tree branches that the animals had made to keep him in, but Aslan realises that Uncle Andrew wouldn’t be comforted by his words so the only comfort he can arrange for him is to sleep, which he does. Aslan announces that the coronation of the cabman and his wife as King and Queen of Narnia (as well as the Isles and Archenland) will now take place. The dwarves make a crown from the golden leaves and branches of trees which had grown from the coins that fell out of Uncle Andrew’s pocket when he was tipped upside-down, and the moles offer precious stones they have dug from the earth to set in the crowns. They then all notice that a tree has grown where Digory threw the apple, and the tree has silver apples and an overwhelming smell which reminds them of joy and life and health. Aslan tells the Narnians to guard the tree, saying that it is their shield against Queen Jadis as she will never enter Narnia while it flourishes as she cannot come within 100 miles of the tree as its smell will remind her of death and horror and despair, which has been caused by her eating an apple that she stole, even though her eating the apple has also brought her great strength and endless youth but Aslan adds that endless youth while having an evil heart will cause her misery. He says that the same would have happened to Digory if he had stolen an apple and eaten it, and also to Digory’s mother as well if he had given a stolen apple to her, and adds that if Digory had planted an apple in Narnia which he had taken in the wrong way then it would have created a cruel Narnia instead of a kind one. Aslan says that he gives Digory permission to pick one of the apples from the new tree and give it to his mother, explaining that it will not create eternal youth but it will heal and bring joy. After he has picked an apple Digory asks to go home, and they are then back in the Wood Between The Worlds with Aslan and a sleeping Uncle Andrew. Aslan points out that the pool that led to Charn has now dried up, and warns them that their world could become like Charn if they discovered a secret as evil as the Deplorable Word and used it to destroy everything. He also commands them to take all the magic rings from Uncle Andrew once they arrive home and bury them so they cannot be used again. Oooh, I wonder if the warning to the children that their world could become like Charn is a reference to the possibility of war and the atomic bomb being used again, as Aslan’s words included ‘great nations…will be ruled by tyrants’, and I think I saw on Wikipedia that there is an idea that the Deplorable Word is the atomic bomb, and as the book was published in 1955 then the atomic bomb would still be fresh in everyone’s mind. And I loved the beautiful line that when parting from Aslan the children felt he was always to be ‘quite close, just round some corner or just behind some door…and made them sure, deep down inside, that all was well’, awww, that gave me a little lump in my throat, to be honest, thinking it could be applied to anyone we have loved and lost. And I chuckled at the scenes with Uncle Andrew and the animals again, with him being brought back to consciousness when they watered him, and him trying to escape and the elephant catching him by looping his trunk around his waist, and them trying to feed him with all of their favourite foods such as the donkey offering thistles and the squirrel offering nuts and the birds offering worms and the bear offering a bees’ nest, and them viewing him like a pet, and also them naming him Brandy as he most often says that word (as he is keen for a drink of brandy!), tee hee, it’s just brilliant! And it was so clever with the coins falling from Uncle Andrew’s pockets and creating trees with golden and silver leaves and branches, I just love this author’s imagination! I also loved that the little moles were involved in the crowning of the cabman and his wife, with them offering precious stones they had dug up, and again this reminds me of Mole in The Wind in the Willows book! And I like that the qualities urged on the new king and queen were to be ‘just and merciful and brave’, that bodes well for their future ruling of Narnia, and the order of these words is interesting too, implying that being just and merciful (presumably to their subjects) is more important than being brave (presumably in battle). And Queen Jadis’ heart’s desire was actually to have great strength and endless youth, and it was also interesting that even though this has been granted to her it will not be pleasant as the days will seem endless because she has an evil heart (so this was obviously the ‘despair’ part of the notice on the gates to the secret garden), so more life lessons to children readers that what you think you want might not actually be as pleasant as you imagine, and that if you have done bad things then this taints anything pleasant that might happen to you. But wow, there were a lot of consequences pointed out to Digory if he had eaten an apple he had taken without permission (with his mother suffering the same misery as Queen Jadis for endless days, as well as Digory himself, and that it could have created a cruel Narnia instead of a kind one), it really seems a lot to have put on the shoulders of a small boy, particularly without him knowing the consequences beforehand, but I guess Aslan felt a person should know right from wrong anyway rather than only following right because of the fear of the consequences that have been threatened for following wrong, and I guess it demonstrates also how Aslan trusted Digory to make the right choice (and thank goodness he did!).
The children and Uncle Andrew arrive back in London, just at the time and place they left it beside the policemen and the broken lamppost and the cab and just outside Digory’s house. The three of them go swiftly into the house, and Polly rushes to collect all the magic rings from the attic while Digory goes to see his mother. He gives her the apple, noting that its colour makes everything else in the room look faded and how powerful the smell of it is. She eats it and falls into a gentle restorative sleep, and Digory buries the core in the garden. The following day the doctor comes to see Digory’s mother and declares she is improving and it is like a miracle. Digory and Polly go to bury the magic rings she had collected, deciding to bury these where Digory had buried the apple core, and see that a tree has already begun to grow there. A month later, Digory’s mother is back to normal health and playing the piano and playing games with the children. A few weeks later, she receives a letter from her husband in India stating that he has inherited money from a relative so is retiring from his job in India and coming back to England and they can all live in their large house again in the countryside. The children stay in touch after Digory moves back home, often staying there during the holidays. Narnia continues peaceful and joyful with no sign of Queen Jadis, and the cabman’s children have married nymphs and wood-gods and river-gods and one son became King of Archenland, and the lamppost shines all the time and the area is known as Lantern Waste. In the future, the tree that grew from Digory’s apple core continued to grow and gave beautiful healthy apples, though not magical ones, and the tree also seemed to move mysteriously in the wind when there was no wind in London but presumably it was windy in Narnia, and when the tree blew down in a storm Digory used the wood to make a wardrobe in his country house (and it is stated that someone else later discovered the magic of that wardrobe). Digory became a professor and traveller when he grew up, and Uncle Andrew became a kinder and less selfish old man and never did any magic again, though he often talked about the fine lady he had once met. Oooh, so that’s the end of the book! I squealed at the mention of the wardrobe that Digory made out of the tree, as obviously it’s through a wardrobe that the children in the later book entered Narnia so I loved this link to that book! And it was interesting that no time had passed at all when the children and Uncle Andrew had been in Narnia (as they arrived back to the street they had left with the same things going on and the same people there) as this so often happens in time travel books, that no time passes in the ‘real’ world while the characters are in the ‘other’ world.
This was such a charming book and full of wonderfully imaginative ideas, though I couldn’t help wishing I could have read it when it was first published as it must have been so fresh and imaginative at that time, whereas now the Narnia books are so famous that although it still feels magical to read the magic is lessened slightly by the familiarity of it all. I think my favourite ideas in the book were the talking beasts (especially Strawberry/Fledge with his adorable astonishment and enthusiasm for everything and yet still keeping his normal character), and when the talking beasts’ speculated about what kind of animal or object Uncle Andrew was (planting him in the ground like a tree and watering him, tee hee!), and of course how trees grew from items planted in the ground (especially the toffee tree!). The author’s description at the start of the book that ‘this is a very important story’ definitely feels very accurate!
I do wish that more explanations about Charn and the thinking behind Queen Jadis’ decisions could have been provided (although obviously this would make it a much larger book, and I still have my hope that this is dealt with in a later book), and what the Deplorable Word was (!), and I also wondered at it seeming to be that Narnia was created just at the very moment that the children arrived there to witness its creation, so would it not have been created if they had not gone there? It’s interesting to then go one step further with this and consider that their arrival in Charn and their ringing of the bell effectively ended the world of Charn and their arrival in Narnia effectively began that world so whether the children’s presence prompted both of these events, and also if both events were linked so if Charn hadn’t been ended then would Narnia not have been created, is it one world out then one world in, there’s only space for a certain number of worlds so one has to end to provide space for another to begin?! Oooh, I think I am getting very deep into all these questions, probably far far deeper than CS Lewis ever intended, tee hee!
I was also slightly surprised at the extremely religious tone of the book too, with Aslan being a God-like figure and creating the world and the children being named by him as Adam and Eve and their temptation with the apple, which all seems very similar to the bible. I’m aware that earlier books for children often had a religious theme, aiming to guide children into behaving better (and I noticed this with Edith Nesbit’s The Enchanted Castle, and indeed more recently with the Harry Potter series, particularly with the final book) but it didn’t seem quite so obvious as it was in this book and more like an undercurrent that you could be aware of or not, but in this book it felt very much like many parts of the bible were being repeated and referred to and the reader was being made very aware of this. Though when I’ve read up about the Narnia series on Wikipedia, it says that CS Lewis was a religious man so that then makes sense that he wanted to bring something so important to him into his books, but interestingly Wikipedia also points out several ways that The Magician’s Nephew differs from the bible including that humans are not created in the land of Narnia whereas they are in the bible (funnily enough, I’d not really registered that but of course the only humans there come via another means, it is only indeed animals and plants and natural features that Aslan creates), and also that in Narnia trees and animals have souls whereas in the bible it is stated that they don’t have souls like humans do. And realising the strong religious theme throughout this book, I am wondering more now about the possible religious significance of The Wood Between The Worlds and if it represents waiting at the gates of Heaven and Hell where your behaviour in life is judged and it is decided which you go into, so does this then explain the different reactions of the children and Queen Jadis there, ie the children were good and had good intentions so they just experienced sleepiness and forgetfulness, but Queen Jadis was bad and had done bad things and had bad intentions so she experienced a much stronger reaction which resulted in weakening her and therefore weakening her ability to act on her bad intentions?
Obviously I’m keen to continue with this series, so will soon re-read The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, and I am sure gain more from it now I have read this prequel to it. But I’m also very tempted to re-read some books with similar themes to this book, such as JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit, and Edith Nesbit’s The Enchanted Castle, as both have magic rings, and there are several other Nesbit books I must now read as a result of reading this book as CS Lewis mentioned the Bastable children and I see they featured in The Story of The Treasure Seekers so I’d like to read that, and I saw on google that CS Lewis was apparently also influenced by her books Five Children and It, and The Phoenix and the Carpet so it would be good to read those too. I also saw on google that George MacDonald’s book The Princess and the Goblin also influenced CS Lewis, so this would be a good book to read too (and also what a great title it has!). I was also reminded when reading The Magician’s Nephew of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s wonderful book The Secret Garden (with a family member being in India) and it’s always a joy to re-read that, as it is to re-read any of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five books (with my memory of them from the ginger-beer that Polly drinks in her secret den in the attic, and the children’s idea of intercepting criminal gangs). Really though, it’s just delightful to be in a children’s fantasy world courtesy of any of these wonderful authors, I think it’s one of my favourite happy places to be!
The Magician’s Nephew by CS Lewis available on Amazon
