Monday, April 17, 2017

Recently Read: The Silver Chair, by C.S. Lewis


The Silver Chair is an epic tale that stands in good comparison with C.S. Lewis' other Narnia books. Eustace Scrubb (from The Voyage of the Dawn Treader) and a bullied classmate, Jill Pole, are sent on a mission by Aslan to find Prince Caspian's son, Rilian, held under the spell of a snake-like witch.

Their journey introduces them to a classic and hilarious character, the gloomy Marsh-wiggle, Puddleglum, brings them to a creepy castle of giants, and then to an vividly described underworld kingdom, where a revolutionary plot is being put forth in motion on a grand scale.

To tell more would be to tell too much. Best that Lewis himself entertain you with it.

A side note: I'm continually and alternately amused and a bit saddened by the jabs and criticism of the Narnia books by younger readers who see threatening un-PC ideologies at work in the books. One review I just read said: "The writing style of the book continues to stink of the date of its publication". I can only say in response A) in the course of human history, a book written in 1953 was written practically yesterday. Blame the author if you must, but don't blame the date of its publication. B) Writer H.L. Mencken defined Puritanism as "The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” Similarly, hyper-sensitive reviews of Narnia lead me to think some readers have the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may think differently than they do. Getting used to the idea of diversity, though, is an essential part of maturation.
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