Reviews

A PBS Great American Read recommended by Sonia, Ellen J. and jo. This is book 1 in the Chronicles of Narnia. Check our catalog: https://encore.cooklib.org/iii/encore/search/C__Smagician%27s%20nephew%20lewis__Orightresult__U?lang=eng&suite=gold

emilybark02's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

servemethesky's review against another edition

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4.0

YAY! I finished my first Narnia book! I believe I may have read this one and/or The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was younger, but I've never read the entire series, so here I go!

The Magician's Nephew was pretty delightful. I enjoyed Lewis's language, world-building, and invention. Didn't love (or hate) the characters, but perhaps I'll bond with others down the line. The writing is beautiful and I'm excited to continue to dive into this world Lewis created.

debbiecuddy's review against another edition

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5.0

It has been many years since I've read The Chronicles of Narnia and re-reading this has reminded me of how much I loved those books. I may be doing some more re-reading of this series!

ariaslibrary's review against another edition

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In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them…

Narnia is my childhood. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was my first ever fantasy book that led me into the fantastical world of magic and heroes. I read all the books in the span of a week and then continued to read fantasy ever since. This is that series that no matter how many times I re-read it, will always be a masterpiece in my eyes.

“The Magician’s Nephew” is the chronologically first book in The Chronicles of Narnia series but the sixth book in publishing order. Different from the rest of the series, we see the characters outside of Narnia for a large portion of the book and this is because Narnia is yet to be created.

The book starts with our two main characters meeting. Polly, who has lived all her life in London, finds herself a friend in Digory, the nephew of her neighbour Mr. Ketterly, referred to as Uncle Andrew. Digory is living with his Aunt and Uncle since his father is away in India and his sick mother needs to be cared for. One day, they accidentally sneak into his uncle’s workroom and after some manipulation, they find themselves in the Wood Between Worlds. Here begins an adventure that leads to the beginnings of Narnia itself.

“Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”

As much as the story teaches us the history and origin of Narnia, it is also a book about friendship, about love, about faith and about grief. Polly and Digory have a close friendship throughout the book that has led them to save each other time and time again proving that they genuinely care about and love each other. It was nice to read about a platonic relationship that stayed that way. And while faith is the most prominent theme in Narnia books, this book handles grief in a meaningful way. Digory’s mother is terminally ill and he is constantly choked by the fear that she will die. When he discovers these magical worlds, he is desperate to find a cure for her.

And oh, oh—Well, you know how it feels if you begin hoping for something that you want desperately badly; you almost fight against the hope because it is too good to be true; you’ve been disappointed so often before. That was how Digory felt. But it was no good trying to throttle this hope. It might—really, really, it just might be true.

This hits harder when you remember that the author, C.S Lewis’ mother died when he was very young to cancer and you realise that this book could be interpreted as what he wished would have happened. But despite his wishes to find a cure, Digory learns that some things would be worse than watching your loved one die.

Now despite the heavy tone of the book, there are multiple humorous parts, especially during the Creation of Narnia. The whole ‘First joke, Second joke’ sequence was hilarious. But nothing, nothing will be as hilarious as Uncle Andrew thirsting over a certain character:

“A devilish temper she had,” he would say. “But she was a dem fine woman, sir, a dem fine woman.”

ryangeer's review against another edition

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5.0

So important that you don't read this book first, even though it's first chronologically. It has so much more meaning if you read it 6th, right before "The Last Battle."

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