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For many
now-adult readers, their initial foray out of picture books
and assigned reading began with C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles
of Narnia. The seven-book series lured young readers into
the incredibly beautiful forested world where talking animals
lived among people and treated children as adults. Adventures
were to be had, all without parents or guardians. The rules
were clear-cut—the Narnians were good, the Calormene
were bad, and justice would always prevail. Unlike the worlds
in The Wind in the Willows and The Lord of the Rings
trilogy, Narnia was accessible by humans, meaning any young
reader could find a secret passageway, stumble into this enchanted
land and roll in the grass with a talking lion. Something
most young readers don't know, but many subsequently find
out, is that the Chronicles are Christian allegories.
In The
Magician's Notebook, Salon's literary critic Laura
Miller relates her personal relationship with the Chronicles,
one that no doubt will feel familiar to many readers. She
writes, "There is no reader more devoted than a bookish child
who has found the story that suits her perfectly." As a youngster,
Miller was in love with Aslan and Lucy, and longed to live
in Narnia. As a teenager, upon discovering that the Chronicles
were about Christianity, she felt betrayed.
Miller
starts her journey exploring what it is about the Chronicles
that is so strikingly alluring to children and whether her
sense of betrayal is universal. Along the way, she delves
deep into biographical information about Lewis, speaks with
contemporary authors like Jonathan Franzen, His Dark Materials
author Philip Pullman, and Susanna Clarke, author of Jonathan
Strange and Mr. Norrell. On the way, Miller discovers
something about the Chronicles. Like the stable that
represents heaven in book seven, The Last Battle, "[i]ts
insides are bigger than its outsides."
As Miller
digs deeper into the books themselves, she discovers many
additional layers. She notes that,"[i]f literary writing has
any distinguishing characteristics, it's that the more you
look at it, the more you see, and the more you see, the more
you want to go on looking. It invites a plurality of interpretation."
George McDonald, a writer who greatly influenced Lewis said,
"The truer the art, the more things will mean." Some of the
new things that Miller finds as an adult are not very nice.
The Chronicles are not just Christian allegories, they
are also very indicative of their time and place: mid-twentieth
century upper-class Britain. The books are riddled with xenophobia
and misogyny and populated with characters that abide by a
distinct caste system. Careful readers will find that Lewis
is suspicious of young girls with fat legs, who squint and
have freckles, vegetarians, non-smokers, non-drinkers, and
people who eat garlic.
There
have been quite a few books of criticism of the Chronicles,
but Miller discusses Lewis's influence on contemporary writers,
such as Neil Gaiman, who wrote a short story about one of
its characters called "The Problem of Susan." Readers won't
need to remember what happened to Susan, as Miller is smart
enough to remind them whenever she is discussing certain points.
Susan was the older sister, and by the last book had lost
interest in Narnia because she became more interested in boys.
Her punishment is that she does not die and go to Narnia forever,
but is doomed to live a regular life on earth. Reading as
a child, the idea of leaving earth and spending eternity in
Narnia may sound enchanting, but to many adults the children's
fate is creepy.
Miller
has a critical eye and a wealth of references, both literary
and non-literary, to call upon. She gives a shout out to Bruno
Bettelheim, psychologist and author of a book analyzing fairy
tales called The Uses of Enchantment, in a chapter
about Lewis's possible interest in sado-masochism. There are
a lot of things stuffed into The Magician's Book, making
it seem like Narnia's stable—bigger inside than outside.
Readers who loved The Chronicles of Narnia will find
much to ponder in Miller's book, as will anyone interested
in children's literature or literary criticism.
(December,
2008)
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