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Loading... The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia, Full-Color Collector's Edition) (original 1953; edition 2000)by C. S. Lewis, Pauline Baynes (Illustrator)
Work InformationThe Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis (1953)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. SPOILERS! I really enjoyed this book. I loved reading about the giants, since the rest of the books make mention of them but they were never really a main focus like some of the other creatures. I also loved visiting the Underlands I’m glad that Eustace returned, though I will have to say, I wish this book followed him, instead of being told from the perspective of Jill Pole (not crazy about her character) Puddleglum was the true star of the book. I found his pessimism andorble and charming (and relatable given that I’m such a Marsh-wiggle myself) which made me laugh throughout my reading. He is definitely one of my favorite Narnia characters. Like its predecessors, The Silver Chair’s story seems incidental, with the titular chair only revealing its importance late in the book. This feeling of randomness and lack of urgency irked me about the previous books, but I guess I can see how that incidental style may lend greater excitement to the very idea of an adventure—one where its characters fall into it rather than make explicit steps to complete their quest. The story here leads Eustace and schoolmate Jill back to Narnia, mostly because they’re bored basically, and they set off to find Caspian’s missing son. The problem for me with this entry is that it leans heavier on that side of Dawn Treader that became almost Roald Dahl- / Dr. Seuss-esque, which is not the kind of silliness I want in a Narnia book. And the entirety of the Underworld seems, like everything else, created in the year it was written and not earlier on before the series was devised. It doesn’t connect tonally or logically to the rest of the world in my opinion, but I guess since the Underworld is stated explicitly to be closed off from the Overworld, it’s excused. Is contained inHas the adaptationInspiredHas as a commentary on the text
Two English children undergo hair-raising adventures as they go on a search and rescue mission for the missing Prince Rilian, who is held captive in the underground kingdom of the Emerald Witch. No library descriptions found.
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On the one hand... this is perhaps the most justifiably dark book in the series, as Jill and Eustace (replacing, thankfully, those tiresome Pevensie children) find their own belief in Aslan and themselves fading fast, and their uncertainty as to what to do is quite palpable. Lewis passionately makes us believe that the world of Narnia is falling apart, and references to the past stories actually are quite terrifying, in the same way that most series have to wait for their non-canonical installments (e.g. "Return to Oz") to do. It's the most literate of the seven books, also.
Opposing this, of course, is the fact that all of this passion stems from Lewis making each Narnia book more and more of an aggressively Christian allegory. For "belief in Aslan" read "belief in Jesus". For "the world of Narnia is falling apart" read "the world of white, Christian living". This doesn't inherently render the book a failure - after all, Dante was of the same passion, and the Divine Comedy is a masterwork! But it does sadden me a little that my childhood nostalgia is now tainted by the knowledge that Lewis' books are pushing a strong agenda that goes beyond mere children's literature moral fables and into religious propaganda.
Is that unfair? Perhaps. I'm literate enough to be able to enjoy this as a story, and be intrigued by the moral dilemmas of the characters, without hating it just because of the author's beliefs. But at the same time, I don't think kids should be going into this without an adult to guide them through the maze. It's great that Lewis was writing intelligent fiction that would make children ask questions. It's just a pity that he's already decided which answer they should arrive at. ( )