Post 10: Book 3 Review

In The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis writes a book that takes his characters into  a whole new world where animals talk,  trees can walk around, and any living being can be turned to stone with the touch of a wand.

                As I have stated before in an earlier blog, I liked the idea of the story but the book was a little slow for me. Also, I didn’t like the fact that the battle at the end of the book was only two pages. The journey was crammed into only 206 pages and the pages were kind of small. It should have had longer pages, a longer battle and at least 300 pages.

                For the characters, I liked how they were together.  Though they discovered Narnia at different times, they still managed to believe the impossible that a simple wardrobe leads into a fantasy land. When Lucy first went in the wardrobe, she went in by herself and couldn’t believe it. Then Edmund followed her into wardrobe and went into Narnia and couldn’t believe that Lucy was telling the truth. When Lucy told Peter and Susan that she saw Edmund there, Edmund lied and said he wasn’t there with her. Eventually, Peter and Susan decided to go into Narnia with Peter to find Lucy after she disappeared. Eventually they find Lucy and follow a bird that leads them to meeting Mr. Beaver.

                After all four of them encounter Mr. Beaver, they learn that they are the four Kings and Queens that is described in the Prophecy. He also mentions the fact that there is a great King called Aslan who is supposed to be coming to Narnia. As described by Mr. Beaver, “’He'll be coming and going’" meaning that he goes off into other lands for periods of time and comes to Narnia occasionally. During this part of the book is slow because they go into a lot of detail about the whole Prophecy and the situation Narnia in which the Witch made it, “Always winter but never Christmas”. Meanwhile, Edmund sneaks out of the Beavers house and goes to the White Witch that he met in his first time in Narnia.

                Throughout, the plot goes fast and slows up at different parts of the book.  In it, they describe the state of Narnia in 10 pages while they describe the battle at the end in two pages. The plot could have been written better by keeping a steady pace throughout the story. The book leads up to a lot of anticipation for the final battle at the end, but C.S. Lewis condenses the battle into a few pages which kills the book likability.

                Throughout the book, you see the theme of good versus evil, especially through Edmund’s case. After encountering the White Witch, he wants to take her side because she gave him the best Turkish Delight he ever had. After leaving his siblings, he goes back to inform the Witch that his siblings are in Narnia and that Aslan is coming to fight for the Liberation of the creatures from the Witch. When Edmund goes with the Witch to find Aslan, you start to see the change in Edmund to join the side of Aslan. After a few of Aslan’s troops save Edmund from the Witch, he commits himself to Aslan’s army.

                The fact that Aslan sacrificed himself for Edmund was also something that was interesting. The Witch wanted blood and in exchange for Edmund, Aslan decided to give into the Witch’s need for blood. Despite dying, Aslan was able to come back alive because of a deep magic that the Witch didn’t know about in Narnia.

                Overall, this book deserves a 3-star rating out of 5 because the plot of the story was a good one, but the pacing of it was poor which is why it lost a star. Also, the climax was poor with all of the anticipation building up throughout the book which took a star away from a perfect score. The movie did a better job of expressing the climax and it was paced well throughout. If you are interested in the movie, here's its trailer: