A Guide Through Narnia was one of the first in-depth studies of C.S. Lewis's seven Chronicles of Narnia. The focus and organization of this revised and expanded edition is on why Lewis wrote the books as fairy tales, the best "Form" for his ideas. It is written for both students and scholars who want to expand their understanding of these popular classics. Chapters include: -Seeing Pictures: How the books were written, chronological summaries, publication history -Selecting the Ideal Form: Why Lewis chose the fairy tale form, fairy tale elements and style -Seeing Man as Hero: Child heroes -Stealing Past Dragons: Characteristics of religious fantasy, allegory and "supposition," Christian elements -Stepping Through the Door: Themes and effects of fantasy -Dictionary of Names and Places Martha C. Sammons is Professor of English at Wright State University.
| ||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Martha C. Sammons is Professor of English at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Try to find a copy if you enjoyed the Narnia Chronicles,
By Michael L. Dennis "mitchdennis" (West Des Moines, IA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
This review is from: A Guide Through Narnia (Wheaton Literary Series) (Paperback)
Sammons explores the themes and structure of the Narnia Chronicles by C.S. Lewis. The book is written simply, without obscure literary terminology; very accessible to the public or by Jr. High and High School students who want to expand their understanding of this critically acclaimed series.The book is structured as follows: Chapter 1: a discussion of Lewis's life Chapter 2: how Lewis wrote the series and exposition on Lewis's views on the genre Chapter 3: synopsis of each book in the series. These summaries were very well written. Chapter 4: description of the land of Narnia Chapter 5: in-depth review of the character of Aslan. One of the best chapters in the book, Sammons explores the symbol of Aslan in each book and His role as the moving force in the plot Chapter 6: discussion of the good/neutral characters of Narnia Chapter 7: discussion of the evil characters of Narnia Chapter 8: Christian concepts in the books The book also includes an index of character and place names, but the reader would be advised to obtain a copy of "Companion To Narnia" by Paul F. Ford instead. Sammons explores the question whether the Narnia Chronicles are allegory for Christian faith. She is not "preachy" but seems to honestly describe the faith and the symbols within the novels. She does a fine job in providing quotes from C.S. Lewis's writings to back her points.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not as well rounded as I hoped,
By jsinisca (Morgantown, WV) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Guide Through Narnia (Paperback)
Though I agree with other reviewers about the splendid Narnia book summaries, overall I felt this book was not written in a manner fitting a scholarly book. Nor did it provide provide the well-rounded symbolic interpreation I was hoping for. I'm not saying I could do better (and it did make me ponder several biblical sybolic ideologies) but in general, it seemed the same citations appeared throughout the book -- almost to the point of redundancy -- and book was too focused on biblical themes, not a "guide thorugh Narnia" per se. I was hoping for something with more rounded interpretation and meaning of Lewis' world.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic analysis of the best books ever written!,
This review is from: A Guide Through Narnia (Wheaton Literary Series) (Paperback)
This book is fantastic. Dr. Sammons does of wonderful job of pinpointing the glorious symbols used by Lewis in the Chronicles. I now have a broader understanding of my favorite series. This is a must for any true Narnian. It was definitely worth the cost of the out of print search. Though, its better to just look at ....
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
The purpose of this book is to tell you about the creator of the seven Narnia books, how he came to write them, and to describe their characteristics as "fairy tales" and their effect on readers of these Chronicles. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
talking beasts, magic wardrobe, silver chair, secondary world, religious fantasy, stone knife Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dawn Treader, The Last Battle, Prince Caspian, The Silver Chair, The Magician's Nephew, Experiment House, Green Witch, Stone Table, White Witch, Uncle Andrew, Cair Paravel, Lantern Waste, Dumb Beasts, Jill Pole, Lone Islands, Polly Plummer, Walter Hooper, Dark Island, Deeper Magic, Son of God, Aslan's Table, Deathwater Island, Father Christmas, Father Time, King Frank New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The purpose of this book is to tell you about the creator of the seven Narnia books, how he came to write them, and to describe their characteristics as "fairy tales" and their effect on readers of these Chronicles. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
talking beasts, magic wardrobe, silver chair, secondary world, religious fantasy, stone knife Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Dawn Treader, The Last Battle, Prince Caspian, The Silver Chair, The Magician's Nephew, Experiment House, Green Witch, Stone Table, White Witch, Uncle Andrew, Cair Paravel, Lantern Waste, Dumb Beasts, Jill Pole, Lone Islands, Polly Plummer, Walter Hooper, Dark Island, Deeper Magic, Son of God, Aslan's Table, Deathwater Island, Father Christmas, Father Time, King Frank New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 86
books:
See all 86 books this book cites
7
books
cite this book:
See all 7 books citing this book
- The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis on 20 pages
- On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature by C.S. Lewis on 20 pages
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia) by C. S. Lewis on 18 pages
- C. S. Lewis' Letters to Children by Lyle W. Dorsett on 18 pages
- The Silver Chair (Narnia) by C. S. Lewis on 16 pages
See all 86 books this book cites
- A Field Guide to Narnia by Colin Duriez in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Beyond the Shadowlands: C. S. Lewis on Heaven and Hell by Wayne Martindale in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- "A Better Country": The Worlds of Religious Fantasy and Science Fiction (Contributions to the Study of Science Fiction and Fantasy) by Martha C. Sammons in Back Matter
- Revisiting Narnia: Fantasy, Myth And Religion in C. S. Lewis' Chronicles (Smart Pop series) by Shanna Caughey on page 75
- Jack: A Life of C. S. Lewis by George Sayer in Back Matter
See all 7 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
