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The Magician's Nephew (The Chronicles of Narnia) (Mass Market Paperback) (Paperback)
by C. S. Lewis
| Category:
Narnia, Adventure, Fiction, Ages 4-8, Children's book |
| Market price: ¥ 98.00
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| MSL Pointer Review:
Four children open a magic wardrobe door and fall into another world - A tale of awakening, hilarious, beautiful, frightening, and wise. |
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Author: C. S. Lewis
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Pub. in: March, 2002
ISBN: 0064471101
Pages: 240
Measurements: 7.0 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
Origin of product: USA
Order code: BC00095
Other information: Reprint edition
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- MSL Picks -
Digory and Polly are exploring a passageway between their houses one summer morning when they stumble into Digory's uncle's study. Uncle Andrew dapples in magic, and tricks Polly into taking one of his magic rings. Digory goes after her, and they find themselves in a magic wood, a passageway to different worlds. Exploring further, they find evil as well as a land about to be created.
This is a different story in the Narnia tales. First, we don't arrive at Narnia until after half way through the book. Second, this is the only book where actions in the fantasy worlds have direct impact on events in our world. For these reasons, it's a fun change in the series. The story in Narnia is simpler then the others, but it makes watching a new world take shape no less thrilling. And there are some important lessons on doing the right thing at the right time and getting out of life exactly what you expect.
Target readers:
Kids aged up 4
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C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954 when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. His major contributions in literary criticism, children's literature, fantasy literature, and popular theology brought him international renown and acclaim. He wrote more than thirty books, allowing him to reach a vast audience, and his works continue to attract thousands of new readers every year. His most distinguished and popular accomplishments include The Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.
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When Digory and Polly are tricked by Digory's peculiar Uncle Andrew into becoming part of an experiment, they set off on the adventure of a lifetime. What happens to the children when they touch Uncle Andrew's magic rings is far beyond anything even the old magician could have imagined.
Hurtled into the Wood between the Worlds, the children soon find that they can enter many worlds through the mysterious pools there. In one world they encounter the evil Queen Jadis, who wreaks havoc in the streets of London when she is accidentally brought back with them. When they finally manage to pull her out of London, unintentionally taking along Uncle Andrew and a coachman with his horse, they find themselves in what will come to be known as the land of Narnia.
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Chapter One
The Wrong Door
Polly had discovered long ago that if you opened a certain little door in the box-room attic of her house you would find the cistern and a dark place behind it which you could get into by a little careful climbing. The dark place was like a long tunnel with brick wall on one side and sloping roof on the other. In the roof there were little chunks of light between the slates. There was no floor in this tunnel: you had to step from rafter to rafter, and between them there was only plaster. If you stepped on this you would find yourself falling through the ceiling of the room below. Polly had used the bit of the tunnel just beside the cistern as a smugglers' cave. She had brought up bits of old packing cases and the seats of broken kitchen chairs and things of that sort, and spread them across from rafter to rafter so as to make a bit of floor. Here she kept a cash-box containing various treasures, and a story she was writing and usually a few apples. She had often drunk a quiet bottle of ginger-beer in there: the old bottles made it look more like a smugglers' cave.
Digory quite liked the cave (she wouldn't let him see the story) but he was more interested in exploring.
"Look here," he said. "How long does this tunnel go on for? I mean, does it stop where your house ends?"
"No," said Polly. "The walls don't go out to the roof. It goes on. I don't know how far."
"Then we could get the length of the whole row of houses."
"So we could," said Polly. "And oh, I say!"
"What?"
"We could get into the other houses."
"Yes, and get taken up for burglars! No thanks."
"Don't be so jolly clever. I was thinking of the house beyond yours."
"What about it?"
"Why, it's the empty one. Daddy says it's always been empty since we came here."
"I suppose we ought to have a look at it then," said Digory. He was a good deal more excited than you'd have thought from the way he spoke. For of course he was thinking, just as you would have been, of all the reasons why the house might have been empty so long. So was Polly. Neither of them said the word "haunted". And both felt that once the thing had been suggested, it would be feeble not to do it.
"Shall we go and try it now?" said Digory.
"All right," said Polly.
"Don't if you'd rather not," said Digory.
"I'm game if you are," said she.
"How are we to know we're in the next house but one?"
They decided they would have to go out into the box-room and walk across it taking steps as long as the steps from one rafter to the next. That would give them an idea of how many rafters went to a room. Then they would allow about four more for the passage between the two attics in Polly's house, and then the same number for the maid's bedroom as for the box-room. That would give them the length of the house. When they had done that distance twice they would be at the end of Digory's house; any door they came to after that would let them into an attic of the empty house.
"But I don't expect it's really empty at all," said Digory.
"What do you expect?"
"I expect someone lives there in secret, only coming in and out at night, with a dark lantern. We shall probably discover a gang of desperate criminals and get a reward. It's all rot to say a house would be empty all those years unless there was some mystery."
"Daddy thought it must be the drains," said Polly.
"Pooh! Grown-ups are always thinking of uninteresting explanations," said Digory. Now that they were talking by daylight in the attic instead of by candlelight in the Smugglers' Cave it seemed much less likely that the empty house would be haunted.
When they had measured the attic they had to get a pencil and do a sum. They both got different answers to it at first, and even when they agreed I am not sure they got it right. They were in a hurry to start on the exploration.
"We mustn't make a sound," said Polly as they climbed in again behind the cistern. Because it was such an important occasion they took a candle each (Polly had a good store of them in her cave).
It was very dark and dusty and draughty and they stepped from rafter to rafter without a word except when they whispered to one another, "We're opposite your attic now", or "This must be halfway through our house". And neither of them stumbled and the candles didn't go out, and at last they came to where they could see a little door in the brick wall on their right. There was no bolt or handle on this side of it, of course, for the door had been made for getting in, not for getting out; but there was a catch (as there often is on the inside of a cupboard door) which they felt sure they would be able to turn.
"Shall I?" said Digory.
"I'm game if you are," said Polly, just as she had said before. Both felt that it was becoming very serious, but neither would draw back. Digory pushed round the catch with some difficulty. The door swung open and the sudden daylight made them blink. Then, with a great shock, they saw that they were looking, not into a deserted attic, but into a furnished room. But it seemed empty enough. It was dead silent. Polly's curiosity got the better of her. She blew out her candle and stepped out into the strange room, making no more noise than a mouse.
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| View all 5 comments |
Amanda Richards (MSL quote), Georgetown, Guyana
<2006-12-30 00:00>
Whether you read these books chronologically (Narnian time):
The Magicians Nephew
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
or in the order they were published:
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magicians Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)
is entirely up to you.
Beginning at the beginning has always sounded like a good approach to me, hence this first review of the Narnia series.
Though written in simple style to be appreciated by young scholars, this book seems to echo with subtle and not so subtle references to the bible. A background check on the late great C. S. Lewis will reveal that he became a theist in 1929, a Christian in 1931, and later was awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity by the University of St. Andrews in 1946.
His belief in the existence of one God, viewed as the creative source of man and the world, who transcends yet is immanent in the world, provides the foundation for the series, especially in this book and the magnificent classic "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe." (Note: definition courtesy of Merriam-Webster)
The Magician's Nephew tells of the creation of Narnia by the great and powerful Aslan, and the temptation of a son of Adam, by a deceiver, with an apple from a forbidden tree.
This is the story of Digory and Polly, two friends who, upon an accidental meeting with Magician wanna-be Uncle Andrew, find themselves in a head spinning adventure involving other worlds, magical rings, an evil sorceress, a cabby and his horse, talking animals, and a collection of fauns, satyrs, dwarves and naiads.
We learn about the first King and Queen of Narnia, a heroic quest, a miraculous cure, and the planting of a tree and a lamp post, both of which we will need to move on with the series.
Even though a slim volume, The Magician's Nephew is deceptively deep and compelling.
WARNING: Reading this book leads to the compulsive reading of at least six other books.
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Bridgette Bailen (MSL quote), New York
<2006-12-30 00:00>
This is probably the one of the best books of the Chronicles of Narnia. Those of you who have a familiarity with the other books, such as The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and the book of Genesis in the Bible will find yourself saying "Oh, I get it" through most of the story. The book explains how Narina came about, who Jadis really is, the childhood of the Professor, and how the Wardrobe became a portal to Narnia. It also details the creation of Narnia, and goes into events with the characters that are incredibly similar to the bible stories in the book of Genesis. As C.S. Lewis was a Christian writer, it is easy to see the evidence of it in this book. Even for an adult, this is an excellent book that keeps you reading just to see what happens next. I would recommend this to both people who are familiar with the stories of Narnia and people who have not had any experience with the books at all. Before you go see the new movie of the second book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe which will be released on December 9, 2005, pick up this book and you will be able to enjoy the movie and the other books even more. |
Jonathan Fesmire (MSL quote), Santa Cruz, CA USA
<2006-12-30 00:00>
While the Narnia books are based on Christian cosmology, whatever your religious beliefs, these books promote ethics that should be important to everyone: love, kindness, and doing the right thing. Also, there is a healthy dose of more ancient belief systems in them. For example, in The Magician's Nephew, Aslan brings into Narnia all sorts of Pagan creatures, including some called "gods," and these are all good beings who belong there!
The Magician's Nephew starts off this wonderful series. If you've only seen the new movie, start with this one. You'll learn who the professor is and what he has to do with Narnia. You'll get to see how Narnia was created by Aslan himself, and how the White Witch came into the picture. One of the coolest things was how the lamppost came to exist in Narnia, and how the wardrobe of the second book came to be built, and contained enough magic to send four children between worlds.
I am a young adult fantasy author myself, and I think this is a fantastic book. While written for children, it's an awesome experience for adults as well. It's easy to see why Lewis was one of the early masters of the fantasy genre.
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A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2006-12-30 00:00>
The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis is set in Victorian London, and concerns the adventures of two children - Digory and his neighbor Polly. Digory lives in a house that belongs to his peculiar, unkempt and reclusive Uncle Andrew and his aunt, Miss Ketterley. Digory's father is in India, and his mother is a bed-bound invalid.
Polly and Digory's adventures begin when they decide to explore an attic tunnel. Their curiosity leads them to Uncle Andrew's "forbidden study." To their surprise, Uncle Andrew isn't angry at the children's sudden intrusion-in fact he appears to welcome their visit. It seems that Uncle Andrew is dabbling in magic, and he needs two human children to conduct the last stage of his experiment. He possesses rings that allow the bearer to travel to worlds "that could be reached only be magic." The problem is that Uncle Andrew doesn't want to travel to those other worlds himself-he wants other people to do it for him-and that's where the children fit into his dastardly plan.
The children discover "the wood between the worlds," "the Deplorable Word", and an ancient kingdom full of proud kings and Queens whose war like tendencies finally succeeded in destroying civilization. The children learn that it is possible to travel by magic to one world and return with a very nasty souvenir. And it is in The Magician's Nephew that C.S. Lewis introduces the creation of Narnia, and the beginning of the battles between good and evil. When readers discover the Narnia series, many read The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe first. The Magician's Nephew (the 6th book published in the 7 book series) sets the stage and provides the early history of Narnia.
If you haven't read the Narnia books, and you love stories about magic, I highly recommend this series. C.S. Lewis was an extremely intelligent man who had a firm grounding in mythology, and his knowledge and talent is evident in the Narnia series-some of the best children's books ever written.
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