The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: The Chronicles of Narnia

Now considered a classic, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is C.S. Lewis's second book of The Chronicles of Narnia, which has captured the imaginations of children for several generations.

Average Customer Review: ( 736 customer reviews )
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.

Our family recently listened to the CD recordings while on a car trip. York brings each character to life with his vocal inflections, his use of dynamics (loud and soft voicings) and best of all, his mastery of various accents--British, Irish and Scottish--given to the different characters. Here each "person" has a vivid personality, and the listener can easily picture them in his or her mind.

We've enjoyed the Focus on the Family dramatization, as well as the BBC version, in the past, but I'd prefer to hear the unabridged text of this C.S. Lewis classic fantasy, with its spiritual and allegorical undertones. We've read this story aloud several times in our family over the years, but I believe that, from now on, we'll let Michael York read it to us. This is a pure delight (not like the "Turkish Delight" that Edmund ate)!

66 of 85 found the following review helpful:

Through the WardrobeAug 02, 2004
By Amanda Richards
This is either the first (published) book in the Narnia series, or the second (chronologically), but order is not important when reading this excellent book.

This is an Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass type of fairy tale adventure story for all ages, as told by a favorite Sunday school teacher with a strict biblical syllabus.

Four children find an unusual way into Narnia, now under the witch's icy spell, and their experiences pave the way for the future of this magical country.

"Wrong will be right, when Aslan comes in sight,

At the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more,

When he bears his teeth, winter meets its death,

And when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again."

Chock full of mythical creatures and talking animals, the story progresses at an exciting gallop. Even Father Christmas puts in an appearance with some very useful gifts for our heroes.

The Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve experience compassion, bravery, generosity, greed and betrayal, sacrifice, martyrdom, suffering and redemption on their way to maturity before ascending to their rightful places in Narnian history.

The ressurection and later miracles by the great and powerful King Aslan, the significance of the stone table and the great battle between good and evil are powerful symbols of faith.

Read it first,read it last, but certainly read this book.

Amanda Richards August 2, 2004

11 of 12 found the following review helpful:

One of the finest children books ever writtenAug 04, 2005
By Robert Moore
In my humble opinion, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE is the finest children's story of the past century. The story contains both enormously imaginative touches combined with childlike simplicity, and the solid yet uncomplex prose belies a story of great sophistication. It also is a story intended for children, yet so respectful of their intelligence that adults can read it with equal appreciation.

There should be absolutely no controversy about where this novel should come in the seven-novel sequence that comprises The Chronicle of Narnia: it is the first, and it is required to be the first both by the quality of the novel and by the way it fits into the overall structure of the series. Shifting it from the first spot in the series to the second is quite possibly the worst publishing decision of which I am aware. The justification for the change is exceedingly weak. A child wrote Lewis saying that in their opinion the series should be read beginning with THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW, which tells, among other things, of the creation of Narnia. Therefore, they felt that THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW should be the first and THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE second, with a subsequent reordering of the other books to reflect the chronology of Narnia instead of the kids that discover Narnia. Lewis replied that he agreed, and this agreement is used as the excuse to reorder the books. I have two huge problems with this. First, my guess is that Lewis was, as a wise adult will often do, affirming the child rather than stating his conviction that the books should be reordered. Second, even if Lewis did think the books should be reordered, it is not clear that he actually would have authorized it actually being done, nor that he would have resisted the efforts of any decent publisher to point out to him that reordering was a dreadful idea. Why? Because what is so magical about the original ordering of the series is that it focuses on the extremely subjective experience of the discovery of Narnia by children. The original order maintains a chronology based on its exploration and discovery by children and in reading the books that is going to be the concern of any child or childlike adult in reading the story. Who cares about the narrative from the standpoint of Narnia when the far greater concern is the narrative from the standpoint of children? A lesser but still pertinent criticism of the reordering is that it places one of the weakest novels in the sequence in the first position. When I first read the series, THE MAGICIAN'S NEWPHEW was, along with THE SILVER CHAIR and A HORSE AND HIS BOY, the weakest stories in the sequence. Why put your worst foot forward? The Narnia books are about to be made into a series of feature films by the Disney studios, and they have quite correctly decided to film the books in the original and correct order.

As noted initially, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE is a nearly perfect story. The manner in which the children first discover Narnia, by entering it through the back of an ordinary wardrobe, is the most exciting entrance into a magical land at least since THE WIZARD OF OZ and probably ALICE IN WONDERLAND and THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. What they discover is a land under the worst of all possible curses: it is always winter, but never gets to be Christmas. The land is temporarily ruled by a beautiful but evil witch who entices children with Turkish Delight. As literature it is all so delightfully perfect, and one marvels that an enormously literate Oxford don could have written it, though perhaps not so surprising when remembering that another Oxford professor, the mathematician and logician Rev. Charles L. Dodgson, wrote ALICE IN WONDERLAND under the pseudonym of Lewis Carroll.

Of course, Narnia isn't really ruled by the witch, but by a magnificent, enormous lion by the name of Aslan, who, as we are often reminded, is not a tame lion. Anyone reading Narnia will instant recognize a host of parallels between Aslan and Jesus, known as the Lion of Judah, but Lewis cautioned that no one should imagine Aslan a mere Christ figure: he is Lewis's conception of what Christ would have been like had he been incarnated into a magical land called Narnia as a great lion. During the course of the book Lewis retells the story of the death and resurrection of Christ through the character of Aslan, yet he ever gets to the point of preaching or dogmatism. A very close friend of mine, raised Jewish, was aware of the Christ overtones of the story, yet still declared that it was her favorite book as a child.

This is also one of the books with the largest potential audience of which I know. I first read and loved it in college, but elementary school children can delight in reading it, and even younger children can love having it read to them. And it would take a pretty somber and sober adult to not be seduced by its beautiful simplicity. Absolutely no one should deny themselves the joys of exploring Narnia, but make sure you start your tour with this book and not another.

20 of 24 found the following review helpful:

A great book for adults and children!Oct 31, 2010
By Julia Shpak
"...a book worth reading ONLY in childhood is not worth reading even then." ~C.S. Lewis

One of the best things about "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" is that it has an inspiring and thought-provoking quality that appeals to children and adults equally. Various undertones of the story keep on dazzling and blossoming in reader's mind with every page they read, with every time they re-read this book.

Through Narnia-world the great battle between good and evil is shown as a part of maturing any child into adulthood, into a worthy person. The characters of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are complex and flawed, which makes them only more realistic. The allegorical Christian values bring a special meaning to the story, giving it a true fairy-tale flavor.

This story is as powerful and moving as it is charming. Giving away the plot of the book is spoiling the pleasure of reading. And this book is definitely worth reading.

Julia Shpak
Author of "Power of Plentiful Wisdom". Available on Amazon.

32 of 40 found the following review helpful:

Into the "Wardrobe"May 26, 2005
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas"
C.S. Lewis pioneered a new kind of fantasy when he wrote "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe" -- the kind where people from our world somehow get swept into another one. It's old stuff now, but Lewis was among the first to attempt such a thing. Because of its originality, and despite some rather hamhanded allegory, it remains a charmingly written, classic story.

To avoid the threat of bombings in London, the four Pevensie kids are sent to stay with a wealthy, eccentric professor in the country. But strange things start to happen when Lucy finds a wardrobe during a game of hide-and-seek -- when she climbs in, she finds a snowy woodland and a friendly faun. Her siblings don't believe her... until peevish Edmund also ventures through, and encounters the beautiful but evil White Witch.

Soon all four are wandering through the snowy land of Narnia, encountering mythical creatures and talking animals. They also find that the four of them are at the center of a prophecy that will lead to the return of lion-messiah Aslan, and the downfall of the White Witch. But things don't go according to plan when Edmund defects to the Witch's side...

How many fantasy stories are written about kids who crawl through a hedge, wander through a door or pick up a magical object, and immediately are swept off into a medieval land? Lots. And they owe a debt of gratitude to C.S. Lewis, theologian, author, and drinking buddy of "Lord of the Rings" author J.R.R. Tolkien.

C.S. Lewis' story is, despite being set during World War II, very 19th-century in tone -- very charming, conversational and full of little details. He populates it with a mishmash of mythic creatures such as dryads, fauns, and talking beavers. The one flaw? Lewis gets quite hamhanded with his Christian allegory, such as Aslan's resurrection. However, he has a very good plot and charming characters to balance it out.

Those characters deftly avoid being cutesy, especially by virtue of the malicious Edmund, who slowly has a change of heart after falling in with the evil Witch. He's a much more enjoyable character than his noble brother Peter, just because he's so real. And as a counterbalance, there's Lewis's sweet-natured Lucy -- which was also the name of Lewis' granddaughter.

Complex characters and still-fresh stories give "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" -- which is soon to be released as a major movie -- a special ambience. Definitely worth reading.

See all 736 customer reviews on Amazon.com