The Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis, Pauline Baynes
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Book Summary Information
Author: C.S. Lewis, Pauline BaynesBrand: HarperCollins
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-10-26
ISBN: 0060598247
Number of pages: 784
Publisher: HarperCollins
Book Reviews of The Chronicles of Narnia
Book Review: Ian Myles Slater on: All Seven at One Blow?
Summary: 5 Stars
In a review of Paul F. Ford's "Companion to Narnia," I described the "Chronicles" as the seven fantasy novels into which Lewis poured vividly recreated borrowings from the literature he himself loved. There are Talking Animals (non-human intelligences fascinated him from childhood, and contributed to his interest in science fiction). There are elements from Classical and Norse Myths, Medieval Romances, and Renaissance Epics. There are themes from Victorian and Edwardian writers, like William Morris and E. Nesbit (both socialists; so much for any notion of Lewis the arch-reactionary), and scenes from H. Rider Haggard's Lost-World adventures (and perhaps glimpses of his soul-devouring immortal beauties), concepts from George MacDonald's Fairy Tales for Adults and Children, and images from Arthur Rackham's illustrations of Wagner. "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" seems to combine William Morris with the medieval Irish "The Voyage of St. Brendan," containing a mixture of idealized politics, vivid realistic details, and moral explications of strange events on increasingly exotic islands.
It is a world in which Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm would have had to invent Oral History instead of Folklore: the adventures of "The Brave Little Tailor" ("Das tapfere Schneiderlein") of the grand boast (see title of review) *almost* might have taken place in some forgotten Narnian borderland. A world in which Bacchus is somehow a (probably tipsy) ally of Father Christmas; and, as Lewis first intended, it is perfectly natural for a Faun to be walking through the winter woods with an armload of brown-paper parcels, carrying an umbrella, wearing a woolen muffler, and trying to keep his tail out of the snow.
And, oh yes, charging in as if on its own, a version of basic Christian stories and doctrines, mostly in the form of Aslan the Lion, Son of the Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. (Or "over the Sea," and further variants -- Lewis was not overly concerned about consistent nomenclature, or hyphenation, among other lapses in method to which his old friend Tolkien took exception.) You can call it allegory or symbolism; but the books are not *strict* allegories, in the "Pilgrim's Progress" mode. (Well, except for a few sections which *can* be read that way; again, consistency isn't the strongest point.)
It is Aslan who looks out from the jacket of this HarperCollins one-volume edition of all seven (at one blow, so to speak). To the exclusion of a dense cast of humans ("Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve"), Talking Beasts, Centaurs and Nymphs, Dwarfs and Underland Gnomes, surface-visiting Mer-People and deep-dwelling Sea People, Dragons, Giants, Dryads, Maenads, and many others. Plus some less immediately recognizable (but memorable) beings, Lewis's own creations, notably the Marshwiggles. (Or should that be "Marsh-wiggles"?
{Note; the Aslan cover was also used for the trade paperback version of this omnibus, so I didn't make a distinction on first reviewing the volume; I have since noticed that recent printings of the trade paperback have a movie-tie-in cover, with the White Witch -- attractive, but rather less appropriate for the whole series.}
Narnia is only one of the lands visited in the course of the stories, although it has a central place, and, with its neighbor and ally Archenland, is the only region for which we are given anything approaching a history to be in a Chronicle. One running all the way from Creation (actually before!) to Apocalypse -- "Urzeit und Endzeit," in the German phrase -- especially in the "official," rather than the publication, order of the books.
The author wrote the seven novels in short chapters, suitable for reading aloud (he compared it to the discipline of writing sonnets), and many younger children have encountered them in this way; but the books themselves were also intended to be looked at. Indeed, Lewis insisted on picking the illustrator, settling on the young woman who had brilliantly illuminated Tolkien's "Farmer Giles of Ham" a few years before. (And, despite a pose as a crusty old bachelor, he soon found himself too enchanted by her to raise objections to her work when he really wanted to; he didn't like her excessively plain children, or, worse, her lions...)
However, many tween- and teenagers, and a lot of adults, have found Narnia enjoyable reading on their own. The Christian element is so unobtrusive that many readers have failed to notice it until it was pointed out, although I continue to be surprised by the fact. Even if "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" didn't contain enough clues from the Gospels, surely "The Magician's Nephew" had enough from Genesis (if not so much from Milton, who dominated Lewis' 1943 science fiction novel, "Perelandra") to set off alarms. Then again, how many people really, really noticed, or above all cared, that "The Lion King" is "Hamlet with Animals"?
Well, I recognized the doctrinal side early on, although I didn't think much about it for years. Not until I encountered some of the theology that Lewis was drawing on, buried in R.W. Southern's "The Making of the Middle Ages," and recognized with a start that the odd soteriology in Narnia might be pre-Anselmian, not Lewis's original simplification-for-children. (A matter worth attention only to those who don't need it explained, I assure you!) I will return below to a consideration of the contents, and what issues, if any, they pose.
As for packaging, alongside single volumes in hardcover, mass-market, and trade paperbacks, and boxed sets of these, there seem to be two omnibus editions of the "Chronicles of Narnia" currently available. One is this 778-page monolith (including an essay by the author) from 2004, and the other is "The Complete Chronicles of Narnia" published in 1998, which is a "mere" 528 pages. And I am not quite sure which of the possible markets for the stories either of the omnibuses is aimed at; although having seven titles neatly bundled together does sound good, and one thick book probably looks far less "childish" -- indeed, without the jacket, the 2004 edition looks more like a college history text, and a rather dull one at that. Which perhaps goes along with the present "Editorial Review" description of this edition as "for adults" -- in a sense of "adult" (very concerned with being thought "grown up") of which Lewis disapproved!
The 2004 version is mainly a straightforward compilation of the currently standard texts, established in 1994 on the basis of the Geoffrey Bles editions of the 1950s, unfortunately discarding the revisions that Lewis had made for the early American editions, along with their poorly-rendered art and some typographical errors. Black-and-white art includes full-page frontispieces or illustrated title pages, maps, and small chapter head illustrations; those illustrations by Pauline Baynes which are included are restored to their original clarity.
Baynes' own color art for the stories, in the form of dust-jackets, is omitted, which is understandable. More serious is the silent disappearance of the great many Baynes illustrations from *within* the chapters; with no reason (good or bad) offered. (Presumably it is to save space.) For those who like Baynes' work (at least on the whole -- Lewis was right about it having strengths and weaknesses) this is a minus. It would have been nice (not to say more truthful) if the omission was more clearly acknowledged, if only for those who don't know that they exist. Of course, some who know them may not miss them!
The 1998 "Complete" version, based on the same state of the text, achieved its compression of the apparent length by the use of double columns. Colored borders, and colored renditions of ALL of Pauline Baynes' original black-and-white illustrations, make that edition visually attractive. I am not sure that the eye-appeal would stand up well to prolonged reading. And, frankly, I am not sure than even the 1998 volume is small enough to be child-friendly. Of course, that is assuming that someone wants to let a younger child handle its bright (others might say gaudy) pages.
If one insists on "colorized" art, it is available in other, "deluxe" editions of the individual titles, as well, some with Pauline Baynes' own dust-jacket art used for the covers, and no sign of textbook-ish columns of type. These seem to me to be more truly "user-friendly." And there are editions with the black-and-white art left as it was (although rather badly reproduced in some instances). I got the 1970s printings of the Puffin (Penguin) paperbacks partly for the relatively clean reproduction of the art, and have returned to them many times over the years. Comparing editions may be the only safe test.
The adult planning on reading aloud to one or more younger children from either of these omnibus editions may also want to ponder the difficulty of making clear that there are seven distinct stories, and that one of them has been completed, even though there is a lot of the book left. In addition, whether one is reading silently or aloud, the option of following the original order instead of the chronological one is a bit more difficult when the latter is almost imposed by the binding. (They are here ordered as: "The Magician's Nephew" [1955]; "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" [1950]; "The Horse and His Boy" [1954] "Prince Caspian" (1951]; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" [1952]; "The Silver Chair" [1953]; and "The Last Battle" [1956]. "The Horse and His Boy" was actually written just before "The Silver Chair," and, not surprisingly, they share some shifts in Lewis' point of view; also with "Magician's Nephew" and "Last Battle," which themselves share information not found in the now intervening books, where it would have been relevant.)
Of course, if you are considering it for children, the first thing to consider at all is whether to embark on such a reading.
Now, leaving aside those who just don't enjoy them, there are rival choruses of hostility to the Narnia books: from those who object to ANY injection of Christianity, and from those who find its Christian message too lukewarm, disguised, and horribly ecumenical. And then there are those who think that it is actively pagan, or Satanic; proving, I suppose, that some things really are in the eyes and hearts of readers. (Those seriously interested in disputing Lewis as a theologian -- a legitimate concern -- focus their attention on his explicit statements in readily-available books like "Mere Christianity," although even there his striving to be "Broad Church," and his consciousness of history, make him an easy target for those who want narrower definitions.)
One odd note among the objections is the claim that Lewis celebrated war and violence in the stories. A veteran of World War I in the trenches (and almost all of his friends were dead by the end of it), Lewis makes it clear enough he thinks fighting a grim and unpleasant business, but -- writing post-1945, after making a first attempt in 1939 -- sometimes a necessary one.
More plausible is the charge of sexism -- which in fact is there, although it moderates in the course of the series. (Particularly if one follows the writing-and-publication order, rather than the internal chronology; "The Silver Chair," "The Horse and His Boy," "The Magician's Nephew," and "The Last Battle" are rather different on this point from the earlier-written volumes among which they have been dispersed.) And the charge could be applied to almost all the literature of the past. In Narnia it is subtle enough that I doubt any child is going to be indoctrinated by it -- particularly since Lewis made an effort to portray overtly sexist males (not that he would have called them that!) as either foolish or unpleasant, and usually both. Many of his unconscious assumptions and expressions seem a bit archaic, but anyone wanting a book that teaches girls to be properly "girlish" had better look elsewhere!
Some regard Lewis's portrayal of the Calormene Empire, the Kingdom of Narnia's hostile neighbor, as racist, or anti-Muslim, or both. This deserves an essay in itself; suffice it to say that he went to some lengths to make it as pagan (rather than Muslim) as possible, although it does seem to reflect old European fears of the Ottoman Empire. Of course, if one insists on the resemblance, it should be said that two of Lewis's most attractive human characters are Calormenes; in a series in which human beings are only one of a multitude of rational species, and respect for intelligent beings of *any* shape is a primary lesson.
Summary of The Chronicles of Narnia
Journeys to the end of the world, fantastic creatures, and epic battles between good and evil -- what more could any reader ask for in one book? The book that has it all is the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, written in 1949 by C. S. Lewis. But Lewis did not stop there. Six more books followed, and together they became known as The Chronicles of Narnia.
For the past fifty years, The Chronicles of Narnia have transcended the fantasy genre to become part of the canon of classic literature. Each of the seven books is a masterpiece, drawing the reader into a world where magic meets reality, and the result is a fictional world whose scope has fascinated generations.
This edition presents all seven books -- unabridged -- in one impressive volume. The books are presented here according to Lewis's preferred order, each chapter graced with an illustration by the original artist, Pauline Baynes. This edition also contains C. S. Lewis's essay "On Three Ways of Writing for Children," in which he explains precisely how the magic of Narnia and the realm of fantasy appeal not only to children but to discerning readers of all ages. Deceptively simple and direct, The Chronicles of Narnia continue to captivate fans with adventures, characters, and truths that speak to all readers, even fifty years after the books were first published.
Narnia is the land of enchantment, glory, nobility--home to the magnificent Aslan, cruel Jadis (the White Queen), heroic Reepicheep, and kind Mr. Tumnus. All the magic of C.S. Lewis's Narnia, bewitching readers for almost 50 years, is captured for the first time in this splendid deluxe edition, including The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Horse and His Boy, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, and The Last Battle, with fabulous illustrations hand-colored by the original Narnia artist Pauline Baynes and an insightful introduction by Narnia authority Brian Sibley.
Lewis's work has cast a spell over countless readers over the years, so that once we pick up The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we don't want to stop until we've read the whole series. The Complete Chronicles makes it even easier to keep reading! The seven beloved stories have been arranged in the chronological order in which Lewis intended them to be read. Begin at the beginning, as Digory and Polly are tricked into a strange other world, which becomes, even as they watch, the great Narnia. Return again and again with four other children--Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy--who are to play such a vital role in Narnia's history. Finally, enter the whimsical land one last time to witness the end of Time, and the beginning of something new: "world within world, Narnia within Narnia." This gorgeous volume is absolutely a must-have for current and future Narnia lovers. (All ages) --Emilie Coulter
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