Narniathon: The Magician’s Nephew
There are spoilers for THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW in this post.
THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW is the sixth book in the Narniad (in published order). I finished reading it for the Narniathon21 a little over a week ago. (The Narniathon’s hosted by Chris at Calmgrove.)
I didn’t remember much from my previous read 14 years ago, but I knew THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW followed the Professor as a young boy during the creation of Narnia. As I started rereading it, I realized that I’d forgotten or missed a lot of the story that first time through.
When I first read THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW back in 2007, I didn’t know there was a published order and a chronological order to the Narniad. I made the mistake of reading THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW first and I didn’t enjoy it very much. I thought it was slow and boring. I also didn’t really get much out of it other than the origin of Narnia, the White Witch, and the wardrobe.
As stated above, we’ve been reading the books in published order for the Narniathon. I wasn’t sure if that’d make a difference or not. However, I’m now a believer that everyone should read the Narniad in published order. I enjoyed THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW so much more with the background of all that had already happened in the previous books. I also got more out of the allegory this time around.
As I’ve mentioned in previous discussion posts, the allegory’s my favorite part of the Narniad. I love trying to find meaning and connections with Christianity while reading each book. The allegory in THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW aligns so much with my own beliefs that it made it a joy to read and it’s now one of my favorite books in the Narniad.
The obvious connection in THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW to Christianity is the creation, the Garden of Eden, and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. I also thought it was interesting that Lewis alluded to the worlds without number that God has created in the Wood Between the Worlds.
I think this quote from THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW sums up my reading experience quite nicely:
What you see and what you hear depends on where you are standing. It also depends on what sort of person you are.
Anyway, after reading THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW, I found myself looking forward to reading THE LAST BATTLE for the first time since I started the Narniathon.
Have you read THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW? Did you like it? Why? Why not?
I’m glad you appreciated this instalment more this time round – like you I got so more more out of reading in Narniad in published order than from the my first read of the one-volume collection in chronological order.
Yes, the Christian symbolism comes through so strongly in this book (I won’t use the ‘a’ word because Lewis mostly preferred to consider the series a ‘supposal’) and I like the emotional as well as the poetic way it was tied in with Digory’s love for his mother and concern that shei mght die.
Thanks! Me too! 😀 It didn’t realize Lewis didn’t like to consider the Narniad as an allegory. I’ve always heard the Narniad in conjunction with being an allegory. That’s probably because of modern scholars.
I think Anne agrees with you. I haven’t read much Lewis, mostly his essays. His thoughts on loss helped me a lot when my husband died.
I read A Grief Observed after my mom passed away. I had a hard time making heads or tails of it because my grief was very different. If I had lost my spouse like you, I think I would’ve gotten more out of it.
Yes, I do think you would have gotten more out of it if it had been your spouse. There are many different types of grief and many ways to process it.
I’ve been wanting to read the Narnia books, and when I do, I’ll be sure to read them in order.
I hope you enjoy them as much as I have when you read them. 😀