Magician's Nephew [Mass Market Paperback]

 

 

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I read this book aloud to my children. It is a re-read for me, but I was only nine years old when I first read it. I never did finish the entire Chronicles of Narnia, so now I am reading the series with my children.

I am tickled pink to report that the book still hasn't lost its magic some 30+ years later! Although I have only read the first two books in the series, it was The Magician's Nephew that was my favourite rather than the more popular second in the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The book is about a boy named Digory, whose uncle is somewhat of a magician. He creates these rings (one yellow and one green) that, when touched, will transport someone to an in-between world that is tranquil and calm but filled with numerous pools all leading to different worlds! Uncle Andrew tricks Digory's friend, Polly, into touching one of the rings, and she is whisked away before Digory's eyes. The only problem is that Polly does not possess the green or "home" ring to bring her back. And therein lies the rub. Digory has no choice but to follow Polly into the great unknown with two green rings so that they can both return home. It turns out that the rings do not quite work in the way that Uncle Andrew believed that they did, but I will let you discover how they work on your own!

Narnia fans debate on how to read the series: One is in the order of publication, and the other is chronologically. The Magician's Nephew was actually the sixth book in the series to be published, and it was The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that was published first. In my opinion, by not reading The Magician's Nephew first, you will miss out on pertinent information, such as: How Narnia was created, the significance of the light post in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the identity of the Professor and the White Witch in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and how the wardrobe was made. Lewis himself expressed a preference for the chronological order and wrote to an American boy named Laurence in 1957 the following:

"I think I agree with your order {i.e. chronological} for reading the books more than with your mother's. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more. Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last. But I found as I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published."

Re-reading this book as an adult, I now see the Biblical parallels in The Magician's Nephew that I never noticed as a child. It is certainly a book that is meant to be read again and again, and it does not lose its lustre! I love the book even more now as an adult than I did as a child, if that is even possible!!

My children loved the book as well and cannot believe that they are reading Mommy's original box set from 1980.

MY RATING: 5 stars!! Highly recommended for young and old alike! If you haven't read the series since you were a child, you should read it again! You will discover new things that you didn't notice previously.

From my blog 'Reading In Winter'

I'm really not sure what I thought about this book. I started reading them in chronological order because that's how I bought them, but I found that the writing wasn't the best for this book, The Magician's Nephew, and I thought it was kind of haphazardly put together to explain how everything starts in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I wasn't a huge fan of this one.

I did kind of like the similarities with the creation of man and how Narnia was started ' the whole son of Adam and daughter of Eve thing. It was interesting how when Peter went to get the apples on a quest for Aslan that he couldn't eat them ' kind of like he would bring in evil if he did.

I know I'm doing a horrible job of explaining this, but I just wasn't a fan of this book even if it did explain the creation of Narnia. I think there was a lot of 'stuff' put in the book that just didn't have to be there ' I also didn't like how Lewis had said at one point that some of the characters would appear in other books ' did that really have to be there?

I guess I kind of expected that since this book was written well after he started writing the series that it would be well written. Unfortunately, Lewis chose to write this more for children than the children/adult genre.

In this book, two children, Polly Plummer and Digory, embark on a series of adventures into other worlds after first becoming friends in London where Polly lives in a row house. Digory lives with his aunt and rather strange uncle, staying there while his father is off in India. The uncle tricks the children into using rings to visit other worlds, but as a result of these explorations serious complications result. In one world the Digory awakens a cruel and evil queen, Jadis, who had destroyed her world and now seeks other realms in which to exert power. Ultimately she exploits the children and eventually arrives at Narnia as it is being created to become the evil counterpart to Aslan, the great lion.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Magic
11 Gold stars would be more appropriate. It is best read with a hot cup of tea in a dark quiet pace in the middle of the night with the light of 3 candles only. Read more

Published on Nov 2 2008 by Timothy Jones

4.0 out of 5 stars Read this book last
I don't think I can add much more than the reviews already given. This book is a great book, and is indespensible in the Narnia series. Read more

Published on Jan 23 2007 by J. Spear

4.0 out of 5 stars the Magicians Nephew
This book is called "the Magicians Nephew". The authors name is C.S. Lewis.

The main characters names are Digory and Polly. Read more

Published on Mar 2 2006 by John

2.0 out of 5 stars O.k at times but goes noware
This book goes noware but down.The begging is good and then in the middle goes down ward.It's o.k. at times but fore die hard fantasy fans like Harry Potter stay away.

Published on Jun 6 2004 by Jake

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great book!
This book was great! I thought it would take me a long time to read, but it only took me two days. I loved it so much. The Narnia books are great, all of them. Read more

Published on May 21 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book in the entire series
This story chronicles the beginning of all the other stories.
The writing style for this book and wording makes this novel enjoyable even to young adults.

Published on May 8 2004 by R. Love

4.0 out of 5 stars Falters in the end, but still classic fantasy
Another in C.S. Lewis' famous Narnia Chronicles, "The Magician's Nephew" is the story of Narnia's creation in the guise of an adventure shared by two children, Digory and Polly... Read more

Published on April 24 2004 by Eric San Juan

5.0 out of 5 stars C.S. Lewis Fan
Have you ever heard the sweet sound of a lion's voice or seen the rich lands of Narnia? Well, Digory, Polly, Uncle Andrew and an evil witch have. Read more

Published on April 8 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars The Magician's Nephew
C.S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew is a fast paced fantasy that takes place in multiple worlds. By magic, a young child, Digory, is transported to a different universe. Read more

Published on Mar 31 2004 by Senior High

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good Magic stroy book!
I think this is the best mkagic book that I ever seen!
Pick up and read it. You will find many interesting points in this book!

Published on Mar 9 2004 by signaproe08

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