Review: ‘The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe’ by C. S. Lewis
What begins as a simple game if hide-and-seek quickly turns into the adventure of a lifetime when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy walk through the wardrobe and into the land of Narnia. There they find a cold, snow-covered land frozen into eternal winter by the evil White Witch. All who challenge her rule are turned into stone. Narnia, once filled with all manner of Talking Beasts, Dwarfs, Giants, and Fauns is now a dark, joyless wasteland. The children can only hope that Aslan, the Great Lion, will return to Narnia and restore beauty and peace to the land. But will the power of Aslan be enough to conquer the dark magic of the White Witch? (Goodreads Summary)
‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ is one of those stories that we’re so familiar with through adaptations that it can be easy to forget how brilliant the original book is. For that reason I was almost tempted to skip this volume because I know exactly how the plot unfolds, but I’m very glad I was strict with myself and read it as, even knowing the story as well as I did, there was still so much magic in the way that C. S. Lewis tells that story.
I think the aspect of the Narnia books which appeals to me the most is the strange blend of magical adventure and thoroughly British homeliness. It’s impossible not to smile at the number of times an important situation is interrupted for supper or tea, which is described in great detail. Any novel where dinner is just as important and receives just as much attention as a battle is bound to be enjoyable, and this one certainly proved to be so. I loved this book just as much now at twenty three as I did at eight when I first read it.
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis. Published by Diamond, 1996, pp. 171. Originally published in 1950.
N.B. This is an old review written in 2010 and posted on Goodreads and LibraryThing before I started keeping track of all the books I read here at Old English Rose Reads. I’ve decided to keep copies here so that this remains a complete record of my reading since I started reviewing books for my own pleasure.