The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide [Paperback]

Peter J. Schakel (Author)

Book Description

With a new film version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe due to be released later this year and more films on their way, C. S. Lewiss Chronicles of Narnia are back in the public eye. How did a middle-aged professor with no children write books that have become cherished classics of childrens literature? And why have they remained so popular? The Way into Narnia is the perfect companion for first-time visitors to Narnia, while full of fresh insights for those who have already traveled there often. Exploring ideas from On Fairy-Stories, the influential essay by Lewiss friend J. R. R. Tolkien, veteran Lewis scholar Peter Schakel suggests that the best way to enter Narnia is to read the Chronicles as fairy tales. Taking a chapter for each of the Chronicles, he walks readers through the works, concluding the tour with a unique and practical section of notes on all seven volumes. These annotations clarify unfamiliar words, pick out allusions, highlight significant details, and offer interpretive comments on problematic passages. This is the practical companion you will need for your next journey through the Chronicles of Narnia.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schakel, author of Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia and Imagination and the Arts in C.S. Lewis, combines material from those books with new insights in this perceptive and thorough reader's guide. The book is driven by Schakel's conviction that "the best way to enter Narnia is to read the Chronicles as fairy tales," and to that end, he offers an essay on how Lewis's notion of the fairy tale was profoundly shaped by his friend J.R.R. Tolkien's definitions of faeries and fantasy worlds. Schakel can be refreshingly opinionated, such as when he admonishes readers who try to read the Narnia series as a strict allegory: "they are tempted to look for one-to-one parallels between characters, objects, and events in Narnia and corresponding ones in the Bible. However, that is not the way Lewis wanted the Chronicles to be read. Instead, he proposes "broad patterns of Christian meaning" in the series, analyzing each novel and discussing how each employs elements of the fairy tale to construct those patterns. Schakel's guide is sometimes scholarly in approach (which is not surprising, as he is an English professor and a Lewis scholar), incorporating, for example, a detailed essay on the textual differences between various editions of the Chronicles and a thorough discussion of the vexing question of the order in which they should be read. He also offers an engaging biographical essay on Lewis and almost 80 pages of annotations at the end of the book, "clarifying...archaic words, identifying allusions, indicating parallels to other works of Lewis, and offering interpretive comments for problematic passages."
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From the Back Cover

Ralph C. Wood
In his clear book-by-book analysis of the Narnia Chronicles, Peter Schakel interprets them not as heavy-handed allegories but as sprightly fairy tales. . . . Schakel also offers more than forty pages of immensely helpful annotations that illuminate obscure terms and historical allusions; this added blessing is itself worth the price of the book.

Claude Rawson
Peter Schakel is outstanding among C. S. Lewis commentators for his deep knowledge of that writer and for the warmth, intelligence, and lucidity of his commentaries. His new guide to the Narnia books is a vivid and lively presentation — informative, helpful, and free of any trace of mechanical or pretentious explication.

Doris T. Myers
With his repeated insistence that the Chronicles of Narnia are fairy tales, Schakel provides a welcome counterbalance to commentators who treat them as "Seven Sunday School Lessons in Search of a Teacher."

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 202 pages
• Publisher: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802829848
• ISBN-13: 978-0802829849
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #990,009 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best Narnia commentaries, January 7, 2006

By 

jersey girl (usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide (Paperback)

Having read the Chronicles of Narnia in excess of 25 times, I was amazed that Peter Schakel's _The Way Into Narnia_ inspired me to read them yet again. For many years I have read these books with my students in the order in which they were originally published because nothing thrills me more than hearing a child exclaim, "so THAT'S how the lampost got there!" This is a sentiment that readers are cheated of if they read them chronologically. Schakel makes this point in his book, along with several other, more scholarly reasons that I had not considered.
He also compares the versions of the books and supplies the reader with Lewis's alternate ending of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
Another plus is the "glossary" of archaic and British terms so often used by Lewis in the Chronicles.
_The Way Into Narnia_ is well written, readable in its own right, and is suitible for the first time reader and the Lewis scholar alike. A must read for any lover of Narnia.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A guide written especially for first-time readers of Lewis' beloved classics of children's literature, October 6, 2005

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide (Paperback)

Professor of English and internationally respected student of C.S. Lewis' work Peter Schakel presents The Way Into Narnia, a guide written especially for first-time readers of Lewis' beloved classics of children's literature. Suggesting that the best way to enter Narnia is to read the Chronicles of Narnia as fairy tales, The Way Into Narnia walks the reader through each of the seven books and concludes the tour with a section of annotations meant to clarify unfamiliar words and unusual written passages. Especially recommended for lay readers and beginning literature scholars seeking greater familiarity with the series, The Way Into Narnia is a highly recommended supplement for getting the most out of Lewis' immortal stories.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Way Into Narnia-A "Must" for all Narnia travelers and adventurers, November 5, 2005

By 

Jon Kay "jonkay34" (Three Rivers, Mi USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide (Paperback)

Peter J. Schakel's "The Way Into Narnia: A Reader's Guide" is a fascinating, in-depth look into the beautiful realm of C. S. Lewis's land of Narnia. In each chapter Schakel develops and shapes the key underlying ideas that are hidden just under the surface of all seven of the Chronicles. Schakel's "Guide" is a great companion to use while reading the Narnia series. Not only is Schakel's approach intelligent and enlightening, but it is also fun and very user/reader-friendly. "The Way Into Narnia" is a treasure...I only wish I had it when I was reading Lewis's series the first time! Perfect for anyone wanting to learn what lies beneath the surface and have a clearer understanding of why Lewis wrote the Chronicles of Narnia. Also quite helpful are the annotations and the chapter discussing the order of the series.