.: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe
Category:Home / Culture and Society / Books / Reviews
It has taken me decades – literally – to finally pick up another C.S. Lewis book and read it. In high school I read Lewis’ book, “That Hideous Strength” and completely missed Lewis’ message. One decade later I read Lewis’ “Mere Christianity” and fully understood what Lewis was saying. With The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, part of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series, the gospel message is clearly made evident in an allegorical/mystical style. Lewis used the Narnia series to explain Christ’s love for humankind to children, who are the series’ principal readers.
This first novel in a series of seven books is currently a major motion picture now completing a successful run on theatre screens across the U.S. I have yet to see the movie, a Disney production, but I understand that it holds very true to Lewis’ storyline. I expect to see the movie before it leaves theatres later this month; it will become available on DVD this April.
Back to the story! The theme of “The Lion” centers around four children, the Pevensie siblings, who get caught up in a land of magic. Entering “Narnia” through a wardrobe [a tall cabinet that holds clothes] — located in a home where they are boarding — the children enter a land where it is always winter, but never Christmas. Under the spell of the White Witch, Narnia is forever in the grip of evil. The land is occupied by talking animals [beavers, for one], spirits, goblins, sprites, but no humans. That is until Lucy Pevensie shows up followed by her brother Edmund and, later, Susan and Peter.
Quite obviously the White Witch a/k/a the Queen of Narnia is most interested in humans so she resorts to all sorts of magic and trickery to lure them in. Edmund, the most impressionable of the siblings, is quickly captivated by the White Witch and then sets out to betray the others.
Without giving away the storyline, the theme of Narnia clearly reflects the captivity of this present world under Satan, but its past and future deliverance through Jesus Christ. In the form of a lion, Aslan, Lewis brings a savior to Narnia who eventually releases the land from its winter grip and vanquishes the White Witch.
For those unfamiliar with the gospel message, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe may be hard to follow. However, Lewis wrote the book in 1950 immediately after the horrors of Word War II and with the Nazi air battle for London fresh in the minds of British citizenry. Lewis may have been responding to a strong spiritual hunger of his time when he wrote the series as “Narnia” successfully points seekers to Aslan, much as the Bible points readers to Jesus Christ.
I am not sure if I will read the remaining six books in this series, but I am definitely interested in exploring several other writings of Lewis.
C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams were contemporaries who were a part of a group of writers and intellectuals known as The Inklings who met during the 1930s and 1940s at a public house in Oxford. Tolkien, like Lewis, used Christian allegory in many of his writings including, The Lord of the Rings, another series of books that was recently released as a major motion picture.
Clearly, the renewed interest in C.S. Lewis’ works is a positive step especially for a generation of children not familiar with the gospel message. Disney, for their part, is interested in developing the remaining six books of the series into individual movies. So, expect Narniamania – as some have called it – to continue unabated for many years to come.
Article keywords: C.S. Lewis, Chronicles of Narnia, That Hideous Strength, Pilgrim's Progress, Tolkien, allegory, edit
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Copyright 2006 – For additional information regarding Matt Keegan, The Article Writer, please visit his blog for wit, quips, and freelance writing tips.
.: New Reviews Articles
1). The Alchemist Lurking In The Audio Book
When you get into this story you will be hooked on Alchemist and the adventures of the central figure in it
2). Al Jazeera - the novel?
Profile, Interview and Review - new literary quartet published this year by award-winning Al Jazeera and BBC Today Programme journalist, Afshin Rattansi.
3). The revival of the audio book.
A short history of the audio book
In 1920 the Royal National Institute for the Blind in England was allready doing research on how to create audio books for the blind. At that time there were a lot of ex World War 1 soldiers who had gone blind as a result of the fighting. In 1926 the RNIB started to use LP’s to record audio books which could be played on record players (the kind with the big horn, you had to swing a handel a couple of times befor it would play).
4). Proof Evident - Book Review
Proof Evident is a newly released crime fiction novel by lawyer and controversial psychologist, John Dicke. The story line is based around a criminal case for Judge Avery Jackson who coldly murdered Sheriff Hardacre during his speech to 150 city officials. The problem is, Mr. Jackson has no memory of the event at all…
Jack Maine leaves the public service and starts up a private practice with the assistance of his talented wife while taking on this difficult and seemingly doomed case.
5). Book Review - Marley and Me : Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
Looking for a heartwarming frolic through the life of a dog? John Grogan new bestselling book Marley & Me : Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog delivers. This story of a young family making their way through life with the help of a neurotic dog will have you laughing out loud one moment, and then wiping a tear the next.
Maybe your thinking "I don't like dogs.
6). Rich Dad Poor Dad
A lot of people have read Robert Kiyosaki's books (and he has a lot of them), but this is the one that started them all.
I think what endears people to Rich Dad Poor Dad is the story. It seems to me that whenever a non-fiction book teaches with stories, it does very well. So, if you're going to write a non-fiction book, weave your info into a story.
7). Book Review - Net Entrepreneurs Only
Everyone loves to read other peoples success stories. It provides us with evidence that amazing things do happen to normal people. By learning what they did to succeed we come one step closer to success ourselves. Such is the case with the ten stories told in Net Entrepreneurs Only – 10 Entrepreneurs Tell the Stories of their Success by Gregory K. Ericksen and Ernst & Young.
.: Top Reviews Articles
1). Playing The Game: Review of Neil Strauss' "The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists"
A story about a guy who knows next to nothing about girls, then not only meets a secret society of pick-up artists who teach him how to score loads of beautiful women, but also becomes THE master pick-up artist himself, who both his students and his teachers go to for tips on how to deal and score with women. Sounds great, doesn’t it? The best part about it is, It’s true, and documented in Neil Strauss’ excellent book, “The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pick-up Artists.
2). Ebook Review: An Interview with Sara Brown
EBOOK DETAILS
File Size: 455kb Zipped, 513kb Unzipped.
Number of Pages: 36
Format: Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Subject: Interview Ebook with Sara Brown (see about the author for more details)
Other Information: Also comes with "Internet Marketing Success: Off the Record" - An interview with Tony Shepherd" who is author of 'The One Month Magnate.' This interview ebook is 18 pages long.
3). Book Review - Marley and Me : Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
Looking for a heartwarming frolic through the life of a dog? John Grogan new bestselling book Marley & Me : Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog delivers. This story of a young family making their way through life with the help of a neurotic dog will have you laughing out loud one moment, and then wiping a tear the next.
Maybe your thinking "I don't like dogs.
4). The Jewish Pilgrimage - Book Review
The Jewish Pilgrimage – An Exploration of Reality, Mainly in Verse
The Jewish Pilgrimage by Geoffrey Hoffman is clearly written to inspire philosophical discussion. This book depicts the author’s personal journey to find some form of understanding about man, our various versions of God and how this effects society and the use of its knowledge. He debates moral issues and provokes deep thinking in several areas that will never leave my mind as I travel along my own road.
5). Book Review - Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss
"No wonder it's so hard to lose weight- our bodies are designed to keep weight on at all costs; it's a matter of survival. It's embedded in our DNA." In essence, we are designed to gain weight, expounds Mark Hyman, M.D. in his new bestselling book Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss. This books follows on the heels of his previous bestseller, UltraPrevention: The 6-Week Plan that Will Make You Healthy for Life that he coauthored and proves to be every bit as informative.
6). The Plight of Queen Bee - Book Review
This is a children’s book that will keep readers glued to the pages right to the end. The Plight of Queen Bee by Simone Fairchild entails forty pages of gorgeous, bright fun illustrations with vivid detail and glorious lilac flowers in full bloom.
Illustrator Pamela Marie Key masterfully creates real-life illusions right down to the bark on the lilac tree.
7). Silent Lies - Book Review
Silent Lies is an action romance saga, that takes the reader through decades of a tumultuous time between the end of World War I and the beginnings of World War II. Excellent and intelligent use of actual historical events makes this piece both educational and entertaining.
Leo, a young Hungarian boy who sees too many horrors and deceit, barely survives while family and friends are slaughtered.