The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [Paperback]

C.S. Lewis (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company (1970)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0552541222
• ISBN-13: 978-0020442202
• ASIN: 0020442203
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (725 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Clive Staples Lewis (1898-1963), known as Jack to his friends, was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential Christian writer of his day. He was a Fellow and Tutor in English literature at Oxford University until 1954, when he was unanimously elected to the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a position he held until his retirement. His major contributions in literary criticism, children's literature, fantasy literature, and popular theology brought him international renown and acclaim. Lewis and his good friend J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of the The Lord of the Rings, were part of the Inklings, an informal writers' club that met at a local pub to discuss story ideas. Lewis's fascination with fairy tales, myths, and ancient legends, coupled with inspiration drawn from his childhood, led him to write The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, one of the best-loved books of all time. Six further books followed to become the immensely popular The Chronicles of Narnia. The final title in the series, The Last Battle, won the Carnegie Medal, one of the highest marks of excellence in children's literature. His other distinguished and popular accomplishments include Out of the Silent Planet, The Four Loves, The Screwtape Letters, and Mere Christianity.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the finest children books ever written, August 4, 2005

By 

Robert Moore (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)

In my humble opinion, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE is the finest children's story of the past century. The story contains both enormously imaginative touches combined with childlike simplicity, and the solid yet uncomplex prose belies a story of great sophistication. It also is a story intended for children, yet so respectful of their intelligence that adults can read it with equal appreciation.

There should be absolutely no controversy about where this novel should come in the seven-novel sequence that comprises The Chronicle of Narnia: it is the first, and it is required to be the first both by the quality of the novel and by the way it fits into the overall structure of the series. Shifting it from the first spot in the series to the second is quite possibly the worst publishing decision of which I am aware. The justification for the change is exceedingly weak. A child wrote Lewis saying that in their opinion the series should be read beginning with THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW, which tells, among other things, of the creation of Narnia. Therefore, they felt that THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW should be the first and THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE second, with a subsequent reordering of the other books to reflect the chronology of Narnia instead of the kids that discover Narnia. Lewis replied that he agreed, and this agreement is used as the excuse to reorder the books. I have two huge problems with this. First, my guess is that Lewis was, as a wise adult will often do, affirming the child rather than stating his conviction that the books should be reordered. Second, even if Lewis did think the books should be reordered, it is not clear that he actually would have authorized it actually being done, nor that he would have resisted the efforts of any decent publisher to point out to him that reordering was a dreadful idea. Why? Because what is so magical about the original ordering of the series is that it focuses on the extremely subjective experience of the discovery of Narnia by children. The original order maintains a chronology based on its exploration and discovery by children and in reading the books that is going to be the concern of any child or childlike adult in reading the story. Who cares about the narrative from the standpoint of Narnia when the far greater concern is the narrative from the standpoint of children? A lesser but still pertinent criticism of the reordering is that it places one of the weakest novels in the sequence in the first position. When I first read the series, THE MAGICIAN'S NEWPHEW was, along with THE SILVER CHAIR and A HORSE AND HIS BOY, the weakest stories in the sequence. Why put your worst foot forward? The Narnia books are about to be made into a series of feature films by the Disney studios, and they have quite correctly decided to film the books in the original and correct order.

As noted initially, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE is a nearly perfect story. The manner in which the children first discover Narnia, by entering it through the back of an ordinary wardrobe, is the most exciting entrance into a magical land at least since THE WIZARD OF OZ and probably ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. What they discover is a land under the worst of all possible curses: it is always winter, but never gets to be Christmas. The land is temporarily ruled by a beautiful but evil witch who entices children with Turkish Delight. As literature it is all so delightfully perfect, and one marvels that an enormously literate Oxford don could have written it, though perhaps not so surprising when remembering that another Oxford professor, the mathematician and logician Rev. Charles L. Dodgson, wrote ALICE IN WONDERLAND under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll.

Of course, Narnia isn't really ruled by the witch, but by a magnificent, enormous lion by the name of Aslan, who, as we are often reminded, is not a tame lion. Anyone reading Narnia will instant recognize a host of parallels between Aslan and Jesus, known as the Lion of Judah, but Lewis cautioned that no one should imagine Aslan a mere Christ figure: he is Lewis's conception of what Christ would have been like had he been incarnated into a magical land called Narnia as a great lion. During the course of the book Lewis retells the story of the death and resurrection of Christ through the character of Aslan, yet he ever gets to the point of preaching or dogmatism. A very close friend of mine, raised Jewish, was aware of the Christ overtones of the story, yet still declared that it was her favorite book as a child.

This is also one of the books with the largest potential audience of which I know. I first read and loved it in college, but elementary school children can delight in reading it, and even younger children can love having it read to them. And it would take a pretty somber and sober adult to not be seduced by its beautiful simplicity. Absolutely no one should deny themselves the joys of exploring Narnia, but make sure you start your tour with this book and not another.

51 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Michael York's audio recording is superb!, April 23, 2001

By 

Volkert Volkersz (Snohomish, WA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1) (Audio CD)

HarperAudio has produced a exciting, unabridged, audio recording of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," featuring the well-known British actor, Michael York, (who played John the Baptist in Zefirrelli's outstanding film "Jesus of Nazareth").

Our family recently listened to the CD recordings while on a car trip. York brings each character to life with his vocal inflections, his use of dynamics (loud and soft voicings) and best of all, his mastery of various accents--British, Irish and Scottish--given to the different characters. Here each "person" has a vivid personality, and the listener can easily picture them in his or her mind.

We've enjoyed the Focus on the Family dramatization, as well as the BBC version, in the past, but I'd prefer to hear the unabridged text of this C.S. Lewis classic fantasy, with its spiritual and allegorical undertones. We've read this story aloud several times in our family over the years, but I believe that, from now on, we'll let Michael York read it to us. This is a pure delight (not like the "Turkish Delight" that Edmund ate)!

66 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Through the Wardrobe, August 2, 2004

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Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Full-Color Collector's Edition) (Paperback)

This is either the first (published) book in the Narnia series, or the second (chronologically), but order is not important when reading this excellent book.

This is an Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass type of fairy tale adventure story for all ages, as told by a favorite Sunday school teacher with a strict biblical syllabus.

Four children find an unusual way into Narnia, now under the witch's icy spell, and their experiences pave the way for the future of this magical country.

"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,
At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,
When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death,
And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

Chock full of mythical creatures and talking animals, the story progresses at an exciting gallop. Even Father Christmas puts in an appearance with some very useful gifts for our heroes.

The Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve experience compassion, bravery, generosity, greed and betrayal, sacrifice, martyrdom, suffering and redemption on their way to maturity before ascending to their rightful places in Narnian history.

The ressurection and later miracles by the great and powerful King Aslan, the significance of the stone table and the great battle between good and evil are powerful symbols of faith.

Read it first,read it last, but certainly read this book.

Amanda Richards August 2, 2004