10.6.07

The Magician's Nephew response by CS Lewis

After a long hiatus in my novel reading life, I decided to read the Narnia series for a second time. The reason I decided to do so was because the series is easily engaging. After reading The Magician's Nephew (the first book), I also re-found out that the series is really magical and full of amazingly well put meaning. Because it's magical, I think it tells a greater truth about Creation and our Universe than pure facts can tell (as tends to be the point in stories of all kinds). It really took me beyond the mere pages of the book.

(spoiler alert for this paragraph) The Magician's Nephew starts off as an unsuspecting story concerning two curious little children who stumble off into their uncle's study. While the children are in the study, the magician uncle half-manipulates both children into going to this world which isn't really a world but is rather a portal into many other worlds. The children travel to a world named Charn and awaken an evil and powerful magician. That's the beginning of the story.

What really struck me throughout the whole story of The Magician's Nephew was how full of life it was. Two parts that stuck out for me were when the children were discovering the world of Charn and when they were witnessing the Creation of Narnia. It's hard to describe just how and why it was so full of life, but I think it's really something you have to experience for yourself. I likened it to a tapping of the Holy Spirit. Witnessing those moments through the book gave me a glimpse of God's Spirit and Ultimate Narrative (Story). As Aslan created the grass, the creatures, the sky and the bumpy hills in Narnia, I could just feel the life he was creating. It's a contagious sort of life.

It's pretty clear to see that Aslan is the main Christ-figure in the series. He has a deep love for the life he has created. I'm guessing that reading the stuff about Aslan which was so exciting gave me a glimpse of what it would have been like to be with Christ. It also parallels the stronger experiences of God I've had in my life, like being in community and having my life centered around it.

I really liked Lewis' writing style in The Magician's Nephew. It was pretty simple but got the story across very well. The language didn't provide a barrier to the message, but maybe enhanced it because instead of focusing energy on understanding the text, I could spend more energy using my imagination to live inside the world Lewis gave me.

Overall, I'm super happy that I'm starting the Narnia series again. If you haven't read them, I'd definitely recommend it to you. I'd rate it a 8.84932871839249999194124 out of 10.

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