The Horse And His Boy

Title: The Horse and His Boy
Author: C.S. Lewis
Series: Chronicles of Narnia #5
Genre: Classic, Fantasy, Middle Grade
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 224
Reason Read: Just Because
Rating:

Also in this series: The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Last Battle

My Thoughts

I enjoyed reading THE HORSE AND HIS BOY immensely. I liked that it wasn’t as slow as THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW was and that the ending wasn’t as abrupt as THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE did. I also liked the depth of the story and the characters in the book.

I loved Aslan’s compassion and willingness to forgive the characters that didn’t deserve forgiveness and that he wouldn’t tell the characters anything but their own story.

2022 Reread

When I first read THE HORSE AND HIS BOY 14 years ago, I really loved this story in the series. During my reread, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I did the first time I read it, but I still enjoyed aspects of it. My favorite part of the story was when Aslan told Aravis why he scratched her.

‘It was I who wounded you,’ said Aslan. . . . ‘Do you know why I tore you?’

‘No, sir.’

‘The scratches on your back, tear for tear, throb for throb, blood for blood, were equal to the stripes laid on the back of your stepmother’s slave because of the drugged sleep you cast upon her. You need to know what it felt like.’

This reminded me of Christ’s Atonement and suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. He took on our sins so that He would understand how we felt because He was without sin.

I think the reason I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I did the first time is because I noticed the problematic language and descriptions of the Calormen. I’m sure many readers pictured characters that look Arabic or Muslim in appearance because of Lewis’ descriptions. He may have drawn inspiration directly from ONE THOUSAND AND ONE NIGHTS, which felt like cultural misappropriation.

While I think a book written like this today would be extremely inappropriate, I do try not to cast judgment on people in the past using today’s lenses. Yes, racism and cultural misappropriation were just as wrong in Lewis’ time as they are now. I personally think it’s better to learn from our past mistakes than to condemn a man for participating in socially “acceptable,” albeit reprehensible, behavior at the time. It’s the same reasoning I don’t think we should throw out Mark Twain’s books either.

My rating has changed from 4 stars to 3 stars after this reread.