The Voyage of the Dawn Treader strikes me as the most melancholy of the
Narnia books I've read so far; it benefits from being the one book in
the series without a clear villain and is simply a picaresque voyage to
the end of the world (aka Aslan's country).
Like Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, newcomer to Narnia Eustace Scrubb undergoes
a change of character as the narrative proceeds. Most of the book takes
place aboard the ship the Dawn Treader, led by Prince Caspian, who's
attempting to find the seven lost Lords of Narnia (see the book, Prince
Caspian). The islands explored and adventures undertaken are by turns
disturbing, exciting and amusing. A standout is Lucy Pevensie's creepy
journey through the upstairs quarters of a magician named Coriakin.
The
novel culminates in a remarkably metaphysical setting, as the Dawn
Treader can literally go no further into the end of the world and Lucy,
Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep journey on into the strange, dreamlike,
lilly-filled water in a small boat. One could argue that Aslan's country
is as much a metaphor for mortality as heaven and Reepicheep's
mysterious fate brings a poignancy to bear that most children's novels
don't attempt.
I'm in the minority when I write that I enjoyed the second Narnia book C. S. Lewis wrote,
Prince Caspian (1951), better than the first, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (though the initial inspired sequence of Tumnus under the lamp post, holding a package under his arm, may be the most resonant image of the entire series). Prince Caspian has classic political intrigue, as Caspian, suppressed by the usurper to the throne, Miraz, doesn't realize it's he who is destined for the throne.
Prince Caspian takes place 1,300 years after The Lion..., but only one year in British time. When Caspian calls back the four Pevensies, they're still children, but up to the task to battle for the soul of Narnia. As with The Lion..., Lewis creates wonderful characters, morally shaded. I especially appreciated the scenes of the gods Bacchus and Silenus which, with their intimations of the irrational and primal, create a thematic British link between the crazy modernist ending of G.K. Chesterton's The Man Who Was Thursday (1907) and Patrick McGoohan's exuberantly surrealistic ending of The Prisoner (1968). In any event, Prince Caspian is worth the reading, and rereading. The illustrations by Pauline Baynes are also delightful.
This
edition of C.S. Lewis' classic children's fantasy is a reprint of the
first, 1950 edition. Pauline Baynes' charming and evocative original
illustrations are all included (they were truncated, or not used at all,
in many later US editions).
The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe's classic status is due to many reasons, foremost being that
Lewis tells a relentlessly compelling story, with characters flawed
(thus, true to life) and engaging, told in homey, confidential language.
The world of Narnia seems infinitely exploratory. Atheists may dislike
the transparent central allegory. That's okay; there are hundreds of
thousands of other books for them to read. This book's emotional
resonance is such, though, that only the most hard-hearted curmudgeon
could put up a shield against it.
