The Magicians Nephew - A Boy and His Horse

So far I've read the first three books, chronologically, of the Chronicles of Narnia. I haven't read them in some time, so much of it feels new to me. The first thing I can think to comment on it is the depiction of Jesus as Aslan in the story. If the Christian God is real, and I hope that He is, I also hope that C.S. Lewis touches well upon His nature in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe with the following quote "Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you”.

Another thing that really interested me when reading of Narnia so far is what Lewis writes about myth in Myth Became Fact. “If God chooses to be mythopoeic–and is not the sky itself a myth–shall we refuse to be mythopathic? ” Was he inspired to write Narnia because of his beliefs on myth? Did he feel that there was a lack of properly Christian myths, outside of ‘original’ Christian Myth? I like to think so. And if the fact that we’re now studying him as a “Great Philosopher” means anything, well, I like to think that he succeeded in creating something special.

I, like some other students I've spoken with, found the place inbetween worlds to be the most fascinating aspect of Narnia so far. It's a place of unbound potential, where any possible world might exist. I wonder what Leibniz would have to say to that? Can we live in the best of all possible worlds if there are a countless number of worlds that exist together? What would make us special?

I went into the books expecting them to be “plain” for the lack of a better word. I found that I had the same prejudice Tolkien complains that many people have for myth, despite scoffing and saying to myself that I would never hold such an unfair belief. Perhaps it’s because my only prior experience with Narnia was at a very young age. Regardless, so far I’ve found the books nothing less than enjoyable, and look forward to finishing them over the next few days or so.


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