Planet Narnia

Author: Michael Ward
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199740933
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 655

Book Description
For over half a century, scholars have laboured to show that C. S. Lewis's famed but apparently disorganised Chronicles of Narnia have an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and the seven books of Spenser's Faerie Queene. None of these explanations has won general acceptance and the structure of Narnia's symbolism has remained a mystery. Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In Planet Narnia he demonstrates that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings (including previously unpublished drafts of the Chronicles), Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets - - Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn - - planets which Lewis described as "spiritual symbols of permanent value" and "especially worthwhile in our own generation". Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the Chronicles so that in each book the plot-line, the ornamental details, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality. The cosmological theme of each Chronicle is what Lewis called 'the kappa element in romance', the atmospheric essence of a story, everywhere present but nowhere explicit. The reader inhabits this atmosphere and thus imaginatively gains connaître knowledge of the spiritual character which the tale was created to embody. Planet Narnia is a ground-breaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the Chronicles, but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook. Ward uncovers a much subtler writer and thinker than has previously been recognized, whose central interests were hiddenness, immanence, and knowledge by acquaintance.

The Lion's World

Author: Rowan Williams
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199975736
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 167

Book Description
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams offers fascinating insight into The Chronicles of Narnia, the popular series of novels by one of the most influential Christian authors of the modern era, C. S. Lewis. Lewis once referred to certain kinds of book as a "mouthwash for the imagination." This is what he attempted to provide in the Narnia stories, argues Williams: an unfamiliar world in which we could rinse out what is stale in our thinking about Christianity--"which is almost everything," says Williams--and rediscover what it might mean to meet the holy. Indeed, Lewis's great achievement in the Narnia books is just that-he enables readers to encounter the Christian story "as if for the first time." How does Lewis makes fresh and strange the familiar themes of Christian doctrine? Williams points out that, for one, Narnia itself is a strange place: a parallel universe, if you like. There is no "church" in Narnia, no religion even. The interaction between Aslan as a "divine" figure and the inhabitants of this world is something that is worked out in the routines of life itself. Moreover, we are made to see humanity in a fresh perspective, the pride or arrogance of the human spirit is chastened by the revelation that, in Narnia, you may be on precisely the same spiritual level as a badger or a mouse. It is through these imaginative dislocations that Lewis is able to communicate--to a world that thinks it knows what faith is--the character, the feel, of a real experience of surrender in the face of absolute incarnate love. This lucid, learned, humane, and beautifully written book opens a new window onto Lewis's beloved stories, revealing the moral wisdom and passionate faith beneath their perennial appeal.

The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis

Author: Robert MacSwain
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139828320
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages :

Book Description
A distinguished academic, influential Christian apologist, and best-selling author of children's literature, C. S. Lewis is a controversial and enigmatic figure who continues to fascinate, fifty years after his death. This Companion is a comprehensive single-volume study written by an international team of scholars to survey Lewis's career as a literary historian, popular theologian, and creative writer. Twenty-one expert voices from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Princeton University, and Wheaton College, among many other places of learning, analyze Lewis's work from theological, philosophical, and literary perspectives. Some chapters consider his professional contribution to fields such as critical theory and intellectual history, while others assess his views on issues including moral knowledge, gender, prayer, war, love, suffering, and Scripture. The final chapters investigate his work as a writer of fiction and poetry. Original in its approach and unique in its scope, this Companion shows that C. S. Lewis was much more than merely the man behind Narnia.

The Complete Chronicles of Narnia

Author: C. S. Lewis
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0060281375
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 540

Book Description
All seven Chronicles are bound together in this one magnificent volume with a personal introduction by Douglas Gresham, stepson of C. S. Lewis.

The Light Between Worlds

Author: Laura E. Weymouth
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062696890
Category : Young Adult Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 324

Book Description
What happens when you return to the real world after being in a fantastical one like Narnia? This YA debut by Laura E. Weymouth is perfect for fans of Melissa Albert’s The Hazel Wood and Lev Grossman’s The Magicians. Six years ago, sisters Evelyn and Philippa Hapwell were swept away to a strange and beautiful kingdom called the Woodlands, where they lived for years. But ever since they returned to their lives in post-WWII England, they have struggled to adjust. Ev desperately wants to return to the Woodlands, and Philippa just wants to move on. When Ev goes missing, Philippa must confront the depth of her sister’s despair and the painful truths they’ve been running from. As the weeks unfold, Philippa wonders if Ev truly did find a way home, or if the weight of their worlds pulled her under. Walking the line between where fantasy and reality meet, this lyrical and magical novel is, above all else, an exploration of loss and healing, and what it means to find where you belong.

The Discarded Image

Author: C. S. Lewis
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107604702
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 243

Book Description
Paints a lucid picture of the medieval world view, providing the historical and cultural background to the literature of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. This, Lewis's last book, has been hailed as 'the final memorial to the work of a great scholar and teacher and a wise and noble mind'.

Narnian Virtues

Author: Thomas Lickona
Publisher: Lutterworth Press
ISBN: 0718895894
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Book Description
In this engaging and practical book Mark Pike and Thomas Lickona show how C.S. Lewis' wisdom for nurturing good character, and his much-loved Chronicles of Narnia, inspire us to virtue. Drawing upon the Judeo-Christian virtues of faith, hope and love and 'Narnian' virtues such as courage, integrity and wisdom, they present an approach to contemporary character education validated by recent research. An introduction to C.S. Lewis' thought on character and faith is followed by practical examples of how to use well-known passages from the Narnia novels as a stimulus for rich character development at home and in the classroom.

Live Like a Narnian

Author: Joe Rigney
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780615872049
Category : Children's stories, English
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Careful readers of the Chronicles of Narnia know that there is more to the stories than meets the eye. There are layers of meaning in these fairy tales, spiritual gold beneath these Narnian hills. Those who delight in Lewis's magical world love to journey further up and further in, returning to Narnia again and again so that the same old stories can awaken our minds afresh to the wonder and glory all around us. But just how are these stories meant to change us? When we tumble back out of the wardrobe, in what ways should we be different? Drawing upon Lewis's other writings and the Chronicles themselves, Joe Rigney shows the intricate and sometimes subtle ways that Lewis intended his beloved fairy stories to shape our hearts and minds. In doing so, he commends Lewis's Chronicles as a fruitful part of Christian discipleship, so that in reading the Narnian stories, breathing Narnian air, and seeking to live like Narnians, we are wonderfully transformed into the image of Jesus Christ-the Great Lion and High King Above All Kings.

The Space Trilogy

Author: C. S. Lewis
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789356612563
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The Space Trilogy is a fantastic work of fantasy that demonstrates C.S.Lewis's incredible imagination. This new one-volume version commemorates the 75th anniversary of Out of the Silent Planet's first publication with an exclusive Foreword by J.R.R. Tolkien, who inspired the main character of Ransom.

After Humanity

Author: Michael Ward
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781943243778
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
After Humanity is a guide to one of C.S. Lewis's most widely admired but least accessible works, The Abolition of Man, which originated as a series of lectures on ethics that he delivered during the Second World War. These lectures tackle the thorny question of whether moral value is objective or not. When we say something is right or wrong, are we recognizing a reality outside ourselves, or merely reporting a subjective sentiment? Lewis addresses the matter from a purely philosophical standpoint, leaving theological matters to one side. He makes a powerful case against subjectivism, issuing an intellectual warning that, in our "post-truth" twenty-first century, has even more relevance than when he originally presented it. Lewis characterized The Abolition of Man as "almost my favourite among my books," and his biographer Walter Hooper has called it "an all but indispensable introduction to the entire corpus of Lewisiana." In After Humanity, Michael Ward sheds much-needed light on this important but difficult work, explaining both its general academic context and the particular circumstances in Lewis's life that helped give rise to it, including his front-line service in the trenches of the First World War. After Humanity contains a detailed commentary clarifying the many allusions and quotations scattered throughout Lewis's argument. It shows how this resolutely philosophical thesis fits in with his other, more explicitly Christian works. It also includes a full-color photo gallery, displaying images of people, places, and documents that relate to The Abolition of Man, among them Lewis's original "blurb" for the book, which has never before been published.