The Magician’s Nephew is the first book of Narnia according to the timeline of the 7 books in the Narnia series (it wasn't the first book written ). It does not exclusively deal with the land of Narnia but in the process of the
story shows us how Narnia was created and how a gateway came into existence between that land and ours.
The main characters here are Polly and Digary, two
children who start exploring near home and end up in a whole new world via the crafty machinations of Digary’s
evil Uncle Andrew, who has discovered a magical way of travelling (using rings) that he fails to properly comprehend and has not the nerve to experience himself, though he’s willing to send guinea pigs out – both animal and human… Polly is fooled into putting on one of the rings and immediately vanishes, so of course Digary feels compelled to go after her…
Without going into detail about the rest of the plot, they end up in Narnia, a planet where life is only just being created by an amazing lion called Aslan. On their travels they unwittingly awoke an evil Witch-Queen, who also ends up in Narnia and thus, when the planet is still very young, evil is introduced into it. It is at this point that the story
really begins to get
interesting.
The parallels between the creation of Narnia and the Biblical account of the creation and the events in the Garden of Eden are obvious to those familiar with the Genesis account, but what Lewis has done is carefully craft some opposite in here as well. So certain events from Genesis are practically turned on their head while the overall moral guidance remains the same. It’s very cleverly done and very interesting to see how the similarities and differences end up blending together so well. But at the same time, it is its own story – it is not trying to copy the Bible or re-write it in a way that’s easier for children to read – it is inspired by Lewis’ Christian convictions but they’re not overpowering. Admittedly some of the things Aslan says are very pointedly condemning those who ignore God but they are still very relevant to the story of the book, they haven’t just been tagged on to give the book religious significance. I’m not an Atheist myself so I couldn’t really comment on if you would find anything about the book objectionable if you were – though you might find some parts of the book slightly condescending / irritating (as I found the long evolutionary spiel in 2001: Space Odyssey). However at the end of the day both books are works of fiction and portray aspects of the author’s beliefs or views, and at the end of the day the author is just putting across his / her point of view, not telling you that you must believe the same thing.
This is of course a children's book and I'm reviewing it from an
adult's perspective. The only reason for this is that it took me till I was 27 to get round to
reading the Narnia books! After the first pages I admit that I nearly gave up. It is written with quite young children in mind, and the very simple language, chronic over-explanation (to an adult), and the narrative technique of occasionally talking directly to his readers (which I feel is only forgivable when a book is either a comedy or written in the first-person) really put me off. But I persevered, and by about chapter 4 began to be rewarded. For although this style of prose does continue throughout, it is augmented by a sharp wit and delightful turn of phrase. There are tiny little nuances that will completely pass by any children reading it that adults will really enjoy - and they’re all the more effective for their habit of coming completely out of the blue. The little asides for children pointing out how silly adults are also made me laugh. With the afore-mentioned use of Biblical imagery both in familiar and unfamiliar ways, I must say that I really enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the second Chronicle of Narnia – “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe”.
Overall it’s a easy read but also very interesting, even if you’re an adult. For children it’s a very nice book and contains some strong moral messages (not only from its symbiosis with the Bible) along with surprising astute observations about the world. I personally didn’t find it absolutley brilliant throughout, but there were most definitely flashes of genuine genius lighting up section of this book. Highly recommended.