Book Review: A Reader�s Guide Through the Wardrobe
August 31, 2005 Posted by Roger Overton
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It’s almost difficult to think about the Chronicles of |
A Reader’s Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S.
Lewis’ Classic Story challenges us to take a critical look at the first of
the Narnian stories. The authors begin by making it clear in the introduction
that this guide should be used after initially reading LWW purely for
enjoyment. The rest of the book is divided into two parts. Part One contains 18
chapters following each chapter of LWW.
Part One is called the “Guided Tour.” Each chapter
introduces some aspect of literary device that Lewis utilized, such as foiling,
archetypes, foreshadowing. Throughout the chapters reflective quotes from Lewis
and Lewis scholars are interspersed to add insight. There are plenty of
scattered study questions as well, all of which are geared toward helping the
reader think through the different elements in LWW.
Part Two offers extended background information and follows
a more typical book format. Chapter 19 looks at how the Chronicles came to be
written. Chapter 20 examines the reception of the series, including a number of
criticisms that have been leveled against Lewis. The final chapter outlines the
Christian elements in LWW. There is also a brief biography of Lewis and
appendix on the order by which to read the series at the end.
For the most part, this book pleasantly surprised me. I
wasn’t sure what to expect out of a reader’s guide, since I haven’t read one
before. It essentially teaches readers how to think about the book, while
leaving what to think about it mostly to the reader. The guide was consistently
interesting and insightful into both Lewis and literature in general. The
authors compliment each other terrifically- Leland Ryken being a literary
specialist and Marjorie Lamp Mead being a Lewis scholar.
The only part of the book that I thought could use
improvement was the last chapter on the Christian vision of LWW. While there
were some noteworthy points made in it, it didn’t seem to have the solid
structure and flow of content the rest of the book has. With that only
exception, A Reader’s Guide Through the Wardrobe is an excellent tool
for helping those of us already romantically familiar with Lewis’ masterpiece
to take our affections to the next level. With the insights from Ryken and
Mead, I believe I can now appreciate Narnia, as well as other fictional
literature, more profoundly.
Related posts:
- Book Review: Into the Wardrobe by David C. Downing
- Movie Review: THe Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
- Book Review: Further Up & Further In by Bruce Edwards
- Book Review: Inside Narnia by Devin Brown
- The A-Team Blog Book of the Year Award (2005): Contestants
- Book Review: Not a Tame Lion by Bruce Edwards
Posted in Book Reviews, Main Page, Roger's Posts
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September 1st, 2005 at 12:42 pm
I am excited to have the Narnia Chronicles coming into the limelight. I am sure I will have to read them again. I've discussed them critically with other people, but I've never read anything like this with them. I'll have to consider that. Thanks for the review.
September 5th, 2005 at 2:05 am
I should make it clearer what exactly I mean by “critical thinking” about the book. I think most of us have used LWW in spiritual discussions, and we've done as much on this blog before. I was trying to get at was literary criticism. What this book showed me was that thinking about the book from a literary perspective is beneficial towards further understanding the spiritual implications Lewis had in mind.
September 6th, 2005 at 11:34 am
I didn't know that you meant literary criticism. That is very interesting. I am more intrigued to think about how the literary criticism could lend to the spiritual implications of his book.