The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

This is book 3 of The Chronicles of Narnia (in publication order, which is the way I am reading them to my daughter). This is my favorite of the 7 books, all because of Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse of courage that far exceeds his size. It's a delightful book, and this story significantly inspired portions of the much newer book series The Magicians (which has a TV show based on the 3 books, but the TV show is only very loosely based on the Magicians books, and hence even less inspired by The Chronicles of Narnia. It's my conviction that this Chronicles of Narnia should be a part of every child's reading journey. Some of the books are better than others, but they all are enjoyable by children, and adults will read the deeper magic Lewis cloaked in the stories. ( )

As a kid, I enjoyed this book but didn't necessarily love it. Susan (at the time) was my favorite character, and since she wasn't in this one I didn't revisit it as often. However, now that I'm an adult (and Edmund is now my favorite character) I like this one a lot more. It's also very different in format from the rest of the Narnia books, since it's written almost more like a series of vignettes about the different islands instead of having a single plot to carry us through the whole book. ( )

As a child, "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" was my favourite Narnia book, but I think it was primarily for the image of the painting coming to life. While there's certainly nothing wrong with it, and there is something majestic about this tale of the grand ship (Featuring some new characters at that!), I run hot and cold on this book. I do appreciate that Lewis chose to show different sides of Narnia rather than just ponderously giving us the same thing each time, but on re-reading, I was less than enthusiastic about the journeys taken by the characters.

(And, as much as I don't want to sound like some obnoxious 21st century academic, there is obviously an anglocentric, Christian, male-dominating point-of-view narrating these books which makes them less gripping than more democratic modern day children's fare. Or even, really, Enid Blyton, who still had the beliefs of the era but somehow didn't let them affect her work!) ( )

Out of all the books that I've read, thus far, from the Narnia series I like this one the best. It has some great usage of language, particularly in the middle and latter parts of the book. Additionally, the story is sharp and the characters crisp. Overall, a good read.

3.5 stars. ( )

Fuck everyone: this is a beautiful book. ( )