C(live) S(taples) Lewis- 1898-1963

Ever since the first of the seven Narnia books appeared in 1950, C.S. Lewis has been perhaps the best-liked post-war "quality" writer for children in Britain. It has been the very presence of "new stuff"--specifically, the Harry Potter books, which have encouraged young readers to seek out other fantasy literature--that has increased sales of the classic Narnia series by "20 percent annually."

His Life:

Lewis led two equally successful careers as a writer. One was as the author of scholarly works. In 1954 he was appointed professor of medieval and Renaissance literature at Cambridge University. The other was as a writer of fantasy and science fiction literature. In a science-fiction trilogy Out of the Silent Planet (1938), Perelandra (1943), and That Hideous Strength (1945) he placed the idea of Christian pilgrimage in a cosmic setting. His most brilliant work of Christian literature is perhaps The Screwtape Letters (1942), in which a seasoned old servant of the Devil instructs an apprentice in the art of capturing souls. Lewis also achieved success with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950) and his other children's stories constituting The Chronicles of Narnia.

"I wrote," he declared characteristically, "the books I should have liked to read. That's always been my reason for writing...no rot about `self-expression.'" He had two older brothers and was born and brought up in Northern Ireland where he lost his mother at age nine. "I am a product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms, upstair indoor silences, attics explored in solitude, distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes, and the noise of wind under the tiles. Also of endless books."

Andersen's Snow Queen was one of his favorite stories. At 12 he was caught by the spell of "Northernness"--Norse myths. At 16, he read Homer.'s "Iliad"...and then the "Odyssey". These and many other early-read tales go to the making of Narnia.

"In a certain sense," wrote Lewis, "I have never actually `made' a story...I see pictures. Some of these pictures have a common flavour...which groups them together. Keep quiet and watch and they will begin joining themselves up.... I have no idea whether this is the usual way of writing stories.... It is the only one I know; images always come first." Where there are gaps, he added, some conscious inventing must at last be done.

His Books:

The first book in the series contains one of the great moments in children's fiction when an empty room of an old vast rambling country house a wardrobe leads to a snowy forest, and the White Witch. The secret passageway in the wardrobe leads them to an imaginary land called Narnia. Here the four young children meet a few interesting characters: Tumnus the Faun, a half-goat/half-man that befriends Lucy when she's lost; the Beaver family who help the children elude the White Witch and her dangerous allies; and, lastly, the White Witch herself, who has laid claim over Narnia with her year-round winter spell and her self-proclaimed title: "Queen of Narnia". She is also the one who lures Edmund to her side with endless supplies of Turkish Delight and subtle hints of him becoming King. During their adventures, the four children ultimately meet Aslan, the rightful king of Narnia who has returned, at last, to reclaim his land from the evil queen. Together they--along with the help of several other mystical beings--aim to defeat the White Witch and return Narnia to its original state and ownership.

The children in The Magician's Nephew, live in late-Victorian London, when "Mr. Sherlock Holmes was still living in Baker Street. They are Digory (father in India, mother ill) and Polly who lives next door. Uncle Andrew, who dabbles in magic, propels the two into the Other Place, where Narnia is soon (in this book, indeed) to be created. Unfortunately through inquisitiveness (or scientific interest) Digory releases Jadis, a beautiful evil witch, from a prisoning spell; she returns with the pair to London and (symbolically) inserts herself into the new-born Narnia. Aslan sends Digory forth to collect the magic apple whose tree may help to keep her power at bay. A cabdriver and his horse join the return to Narnia and are given high roles in the kingdom.

The Horse and His Boy, which could seem at first glance a witty vivacious Arabian Nights kind of story, provides a new pair of human children. A fair-haired fisherman's boy in dark Calormen (in fact a foundling, cast ashore as an infant) escapes being sold into slavery and, helped by a Talking Horse called Bree and joined by a fearless runaway girl called Aravis, makes the long perilous journey to Narnia--dungeons, mountains, haunted deserts--where in fact his own identity lies.

In Prince Caspian the four Pevensie children, already met in the first book, are drawn back, by a magic horn, to the aid of Caspian, in danger of death from his evil uncle Miraz who has usurped the throne. Advised of this by his half-dwarf tutor, Dr. Cornelius, Caspian escapes and goes (with the human children) to rally supporters and to restore the land to its original honour. Among his followers are the Old People, centaurs, fauns, squirrels, ravens, "a small but genuine giant, Wimbleweather, of Deadman's Hill," even Silenus and Bacchus. ("I wouldn't have felt very safe with Bacchus and all his wild girls if we'd met them without Aslan," murmurs Susan. "I should think not," says Lucy.) In the culminating battle, Peter fights with style. He "swung to face Sopespian, slashed his legs from under him, and with the back-cut of the same stroke, walloped off his head." Lewis never fails in describing such expertise.

The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader seems the most intoxicating (or, one might say, intoxicated) of the Narnian books. The abiding influence throughout is Homeric, clearly going back to young Lewis's "glorious" race through the "Odyssey". Edmund, Lucy, and their unloved cousin Eustace Scrubb enter a picture. It is of an ancient dragon-prowed vessel in towering waves--and there they are on board, with young King Caspian, carrying out his vow to search for the seven loyal lords whom Miraz despatched "to the unknown Eastern Seas, beyond the Lone Islands." Eustace becomes a dragon (but recovers and mends his ways); a Sea Serpent nearly crushes the boat in its coils; and they reach the edge of the World's End, and look into Aslan's country

As sheer fairytale, The Silver Chair should take top place of the seven. Jill and Eustace, wretched at school, call Aslan's name, and find themselves on the edge of what must be the highest cliff in all fiction. Eustace falls--but Aslan wafts him on his breath to "the west of the world," Jill follows, and the two are sent on a quest to find the lost Prince Rilian, heir to the old King of Narnia. Aslan gives four signs to Jill, which she must not forget. (She does.) A Marsh-Wiggle, Puddleglum (one of Lewis's best creations), joins the journey as guide, to the Bottom of the World, where Rilian, enslaved by a Witch Queen, sits bound in a silver chair. A superb and magical story.

The Last Battle, was awarded the United Kingdom's prestigious Carnegie Award. -

The conclusion of the saga that began with The Magician's Nephew… Narnia … where dwarfs are loyal and tough and strong -- or are they? … where you must say good-bye … and where the adventure begins. The Unicorn says that humans are brought to Narnia when Narnia is stirred and upset. And Narnia is in trouble now. A false Aslan roams the land. Narnia's only hope is that Eustace and Jill, old friends to Narnia, will be able to find the true Aslan and restore peace to the land. Their task is a difficult one because, as the Centaur says, "The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do." Who is the real Aslan and who is the imposter?