The book for August is "The Magician's Nephew" by C.S. Lewis.

Oh, that's my favorite Narnian book! (Ok, quite honestly I don't care for Narnia too much, but this one was good...) It was written many years after the famed "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," but takes place when Narnia was first created. Must go dig it up...

This book is ok, but I hate most of the Narnia. I've read all of this series, and I can't find it to impresive, and now I wish I hadn't wasted my time reading it. I would have to say the worst of them all is the famed "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe."

*Possible Minor Spoilers*

Scanning through this book, now that I've read the rest of the series, is practically like reading it for the first time again. It's amazing how many little details are expanded upon in later books. (I won't mention examples in case others haven't read any other Narnian Chronicles. )

One question: towards the beginning, as Digory and Polly go down the long line of Queen Jadin's "ancestors," they noticed that the expressions on each face were kind towards one end of the room and gradually turned crueller as they advanced down the line. Jadin herself is nothing less than a Hitler. What could have provoked such a change of heart? Hasn't our civilization slowly abandoned ruthlessness, slavery, etc? Could the author possibly be suggesting that civilization eventually falls back to crueller, more efficient means of accomplishing things, as Jadin's world is hundreds of thousands of years older than ours?

Hope others will chime in with some help here.

It dosen't seem like much people have read this book, I for one wish I was one of them. Oh well, I wasted my time reading this book a while ago, and thought it was completely pathetic and boring. Though I can see why some people would like this book, I was highly disappointed, and not only with this tome but with this entire series. I had heard that this series was good, and this may just be my opinion, but I wish I had never bothered reading this book/series.

We know Pearl. You're welcome to discuss exactly why the book didn't appeal to you, any parts that made it a little better in your opinion than the rest of the series, the unmistakable links in the world of Narnia and Christian viewpoints of how our world came to be, etc. Many discussions focus only on the "good" parts of the book, but flaws in the author's work should be exposed as well.

I do hope that more adults and teens alike will join the discussion; I for one adored this book, even if some of the other books in the series didn't appeal to me. It's a relatively short read and can be found just about anywhere. Come on people, children's literature is fascinating! It plays a large part in shaping future generations' morals, ideas, and ways of thinking too.

I'm sorry, I guess I went on about it a bit. I agree with you in one view, the originial plot was pretty good, but the details describing the plot was sometimes not enough, and vice-versa.

I personally think the Narnia books are terribly boring, though the magicians nephew is one of the better ones.Harry Potter is way more interesting though.

But doesn't Harry Potter take some of the themes from Narnia and other stories?

Fair Point There. Maybe Harry Potter does. I've read this book once a long time ago and can't remember it at all.

Well, I'm glad at least one person agrees with me that the Narnia books aren't worth reading.

I started reading the Narnia books years ago, read 'The Magician's Nephew' and 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. I loved those two (especially the first one) but I got completely put off the series with the third one ('The Horse and his Boy') which had me dozing before I finished the second chapter. That was the last time I read any of the Narbia books, maybe I'll give 'The Magician's Nephew' a re-read.

Anyway, I think I'm a very picky reader, most fiction puts me to sleep so maybe 'The Horse and his Boy' isn't all that bad...

You're right about The Horse and His Boy being a slow book; I actually skipped that one and just kept on going with the rest of the series.

Well, in both Harry Potter and Narnia there is magic and an evil sorcerer/ess that they must defeat, but while Harry is always battling Voldemort, Queen Jadis gets her butt kicked much earlier Also, events that occur in Narnia are often linked to Christian ideas and events, especially in the first book, (since that's when Narnia was created,) while many religious figures are trying to ban Harry Potter from the shelves.

Misty - most people accept the stories of King Arthur, Narnia and Harry Potter to be works of fiction. Yes, there is the Good versus Evil battle but that happens in most fiction, James Bond, Sherlock Holmes etc. The "Religious People" as you describe them find it difficult to accept anything they are not willing to understand. I doubt if any of them have actually read a Harry Potter book they have heard it's about witchcraft and that's enough to condemn it. You are quite right the Narnia books were written to question the beliefs of Christianity, Lewis was both a devout Christian and an extreme doubter during his life and his books reflect his thoughts.

The Horse and His Boy was on my unprescribed reading list in school when I was oh, maybe 11 years old. It hooked me on the whole series, which I have read and re-read several times since.

The parallels between HP and Narnia are undisputable, but then most Fantasy stories follow a similar basic plot, with the intricacies being worked out differently. The Narnia books definitely have much more 'moral' overtones, not always subtle, but that was the reason that CS Lewis originally wrote the books - to highlight various criteria of the Christian Church.

I would have to disagree about the Magician's Nephew being the most boring of the books. It is a book designed to set the scene for the following stories, even though it was written out of sequence. As such it needs to create a base for the world of Narnia, the origins of the Wardrobe, Professor Kirke's later appearances, and a whole host of other things. With all that in mind, I think CS Lewis did a good job of inserting the necessary pointers and explanations, while successfully creating a storyline that keeps things moving, and keeps the book from being simply a conglomoration of factual information about the characters and places.

Any of you who are reading this as a youngster and not enjoying, I would suggest re-reading it as an adult, and compare your sentiments then. I have read it both as a child and adult. Each time I enjoyed the series, but for totally different reasons. As a child, for example, I didn't really 'get' all the religious inferences fully, whereas as an adult they are glaringly obvious. For me, it hasn't interfered with my thorough enjoyment of the set.

My own children, at ages 5 and 6 years old, were completely enthralled with the whole series when I read them aloud for them, and begged for it so many times that I invested in a CD reading of the books for them. They are now (1 year later) eagerly awaiting the proposed live action feature film which Andrew Adamson (the director of "Shrek"), and Ann Peacock have been engaged to create.

Though The Magician's Nephew was a favorite of mine as a young child, I think you're right about re-reading the series when you're older. I definitely did not enjoy the next two books in the series at the time I read The Magician's Nephew, though after re-reading the second book at an older age quite enjoyed it, as well as the rest of the series. (Well, excluding The Horse and His Boy. Maybe I should give that one another try.)

Also, after re-reading this book at an older age I was able to pick up on many more underlying similarities to the book of Genesis and moral values he'd written in. It was practically like reading another book now that I am more educated on Christian ideas and can put two and two together, unlike when I was little. I loved it.

Fosse, you claimed that Narnia books were written to question Christian ideas, and maybe bits of the other books did, but did The Magician's Nephew? It didn't seem that way to me at all, though I may have missed something. The book seemed to support Christian ideas, and what's more suggested that the Christian God took care of many other worlds, such as Narnia, in a different yet similar way. That idea seems a bit early for its time...but perhaps not. I wasn't around then.

Wasn't it interesting that Digory sort of "passed" the test in the Garden with the magical apple tree, like in Eden? Aslan seemed very proud, and often reminded him that he was the son of Adam...though Adam and Eve sort of "failed" a similar test on Earth. Any thoughts?

Misty - I can only read biographies and draw my conclusions, Lewis was destined for the Clergy but opted for University life, he went through stage of atheism, theism, and even an interest in Witches and Warlocks before returning to the church beleifs.
One of the best sites I've found is http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ26.HTM
It's a Hub-Site so you'll have to search it for what you want.

Does anyone actually like ALL the narnia books???

I do ^^ I have the whole set.

Hands up here as well. I like 'em all, some more than others...