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Summary: Third generation enjoying Chronicles of Narnia
Review: I bought the set for my daughter's 5th birthday (22 yrs. ago) and read
it to her and her older brother. I soon realized that it was more than a marvelous fantasy for children,a powerful spiritual message was unfolding. While my son was still in high school, he had read the set 13 times, the books fell apart and we got a second set. This Christmas I gave his 5 yr. old daughter the set and she too is enchanted and knows the true identity of Aslan. My kids both liked The Horse & His Boy best, my favorite is The Last Battle. Thanks to C.S. Lewis for many hours of pleasure he's given our family!
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Summary: _The Last Battle_ is one of Lewis's best works.
Review: Most people are familiar with C. S. Lewis's _Chronicles of Narnia_ generally, and _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ in particular. But the greatest book in the series is _The Last Battle_, not because it is the end, but because it is a beginning. The final chapters of the book are a beautiful and inspiring description of Heaven which have greatly influenced my own life. Further, Lewis the philosopher shines forth in tying Platonic Forms to Heaven. When Aslan's Country [=Heaven] turns out to be a _real_ Narnia, more real than that which the heroes and heroines have known, the latter is referred to as the "Shadow-lands" (used as the title for the movie about Lewis's marriage, and the biography upon which it was based). This is a reference to Plato, particularly the tenth book of _The Republic_, that the reality, made by God, is a spiritual model upon which the material copy is made. There are parallels in _The Last Battle_ to _Till We Have Faces_, Lewis's last and best novel, which was first published in the same year. Just as the other _Chronicles of Narnia_ carried biblical influence, _The Last Battle_ is an adaptation of the Book of Revelation which integrates later beliefs on the apocalypse, and also offers commentary on some contemporary issues of religion and society
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Summary: All Worlds Must Come to An End...
Review: "The Last Battle" is the Narnian apocalypse. Like many stories based on the Biblical model of the end of the world, this book is often brutal and uncompromising, (which some people may find disappointing) but in the end very beautiful and satisfying. Think of the Bible's "Book of Revelation" meets George Orwell's "Animal Farm".
Shift the Ape is a manipulative sort of beast. For instance, he pushes his "best friend" Puzzle the Donkey around all the time, playing with his emotions and sense of reason to get him to do whatever Shift wants him to do. One day, they find an old lion skin washed up in Cauldron Pool. Shift has a horrid idea. He'll get Puzzle to wear the skin, and pretend to be Aslan, the Great Lion, the savior of Narnia. The other talking animals will revere them both, giving them anything they want. Puzzle is reluctant, but manipulated by Shift, he agrees. Shift sets himself up as "the mouthpiece of Aslan", guilt-tripping and scaring the talking animals to follow him, to make an alliance with the warmongering Calormen, to merge their gods as one, and to capture their king. It is an time of great destruction, confusion and deceit. Poor King Tirian, tied to a tree, prays to Aslan, to the real Aslan, for an end to all this trouble and turmoil. Will the Great Lion answer his prayer?
No matter what your preferred reading order "The Last Battle", the seventh written and the seventh chronologically, is definitely the last one you should read. There are many references to past books which you'll only really appreciate if you've read all the others in the series. There are also many characters from past books too! (Eustace and Jill from "The Silver Chair" being just two of them)
C.S. Lewis was a devoted Christian, and his faith shines through in all his written works. "The Last Battle" is no exception, in fact I'd say his faith is even more obvious here. There are many parallels you can draw between "The Last Battle" and the "Book of Revelation". Shift, for instance, seems to be the antichrist, or perhaps he is akin to "Babylon the Great", the harlot of Revelation 17. She, in Revelation, is drunk on the blood of the saints, and Shift in Narnia, is drunk on Calormen wine. Both are dressed in red (scarlet), and both are connected with blasphemies of their savior. It's worth reading both to compare. There's also some allegory regarding the nature of belief within the pages of "The Last Battle". In life there are some who believe the truth (King Tirian), while others are deceived by false truths, either through fear or by ignorance (the Talking Animals allied with Shift). There are some who don't believe in anything, either because they are in on relgious deceit for their own gain (like the Cat and the Tarkaan), or because they've seen the trickery of a false religion, and don't want to be tricked themselves (like the Dwarves). Whatever the belief, they all have consequences when the truth (the real Aslan) reveals itself.
It's not mentioned much, but "The Last Battle" was first released in 1956, the year of the Suez Crisis. This was a conflict that put the world on the brink of nuclear war. Though an Arab-Israeli conflict on the surface, most of the tensions were a result of the incompetence of then British Prime Minster Eden. Being a British citizen, this conflict can't have been far from C.S. Lewis' mind when he wrote this book. In my opinion, I think this background of world tension contributed a lot to the feel this book. The grim moments are grimmer here than in the rest of the series, the beautiful moments all the more beautiful, the truths more shocking. It's a book with definite emotional power. Even though it's "a story" for children, every time I read I get caught up in the hopes, the fears, the sorrows and the triumpths of the Narnians.
A fitting finale to a wonderful series, one of my favorites. Highly recommended.
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Summary: compelling eschatology
Review: In this, the last book in the Chronicles of Narnia series, Lewis again uses a compelling story to speak deep truths about the end of the world, God's judgment, the decision each of us must make at the end of time, and the dangers of false religion and false prophets. My five year old son, with whom I've been reading the series, was again transfixed by Lewis's evocative telling of the falling of eternal night on Narnia. At the end, we were both in tears but joyful, and he wanted to start again on the first book, so that's what we did.
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Summary: Loved the earlier six books,
Review: but couldn't really stand this one. The reason might be that I am not Christian, so a lot of the doom and gloom stuff simply did not resonate with me as much as it might with people who understood where C.S. Lewis was coming from.
The first time I read this books (all seven in one sitting), I literally could not believe what I was reading in "The Last Battle". All the wonder and glory in the previous six books, decimated in a couple of hundred pages.
Oh, well. To each their own...
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Summary: Life-long favorite
Review: The Chronicles of Narnia are books that I began reading as a child, and I to read and re-read them as an adult. They are among the best children's books ever written. Of the Chronicles, this is my absolute favorite (with Voyage of the Dawn Treader a close second).
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Summary: Wrapping things up
Review: This last book in "The Chronicles of Narnia" is another fast read, requiring only a few dedicated hours of page turning. It is vastly different from any of the other books, and is the one most laden with theology and imagery.
The ruler at the time is King Tirian, and he soon has his hands full. Lantern Waste is being destroyed, apparently in the name of Aslan, and along with Jewel the Unicorn, Tirian must get to the bottom of the mystery. Closer investigation reveals that men from Calormen are cutting down the Narnian forest, astonishingly being assisted by talking Narnian animals.
But there is treachery afoot, and a false prophet succeeds in confusing the living daylights out of the Narnians, until they no longer can distinguish wrong from right, or Aslan from Tash, the God of the Calormenes.
Eustace and Jill are again summoned to the rescue, returning one year after their last adventure, but in fact over two hundred years have passed in Narnia since "The Silver Chair".
The story rapidly advances, with the age old theme of good against evil. The most important physical place in the story is a stable, which has a lot more to it than is immediately evident. People who believe in a supreme being see amazing things within, non-believers see nothing at all. People and animals that pass through its humble door are rewarded according to their purity of heart, and are appropriately greeted by either Aslan or Tash.
The somewhat abrupt ending came as a surprise to me, especially after the joyous reunions and discovery of the true Narnia, even though there had been hints casually dropped along the way.
This is a fine book to end a wonderful series, a classic if ever there was one,
Amanda Richards, September 17, 2004
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Summary: Aslan's Glorious Appearing
Review: I thought it timely, in light of the controversy surrounding another "End Times" story, to remark on this most remarkable of C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles. This satisfying series conclusion illustrates Lewis' brilliant analysis of Biblical prophesy in a touching story children of God can all look to with anticipation ("...Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20b). This is the story of Armaggedon; the conflict between anti-Christ (anti-Aslan) and the great masses of inhabitants of lost Narnia deceived by him and doomed for eternity versus the ultimate salvation of the few true followers of Aslan to eternal life in His Country, the True Narnia. The allegory to Scriptural truth is remarkable as illustrated by this most insightful, genius mind of modern-day Christian apologists. The high point of the story occurs after the destruction of the old world and the lost souls who rejected Aslan, who are dispatched allegorically in Revelations 20, "lake of fire" fashion. The heroes of the story, including all the key players from the earlier Chronicles, are seen trying out their new "resurrection" bodies exploring the most beautiful place ever imagined, thrilled to have Aslan with them. They find after a while that the beautiful country is actually Narnia, the REAL Narnia. Though the Narnia they knew and loved was perceived most wonderful, it was a mere shadow of the perfect New Narnia, the one that would last forever, always with Him present and providing all the light in the never-ending Day. For believers in Christ, Lewis has projected a clear picture mortal minds can comprehend of how it might be on that Day. It is shown through a children's story because that is how we must come to Him; like a child. "You must become just like a child to enter the Kingdom of God". Jesus said "let all the little children come to Me". In Narnia, those child-like believers were never lost once they found Him, by His grace. Those who perished were the lovers of the old, decaying, temporary Narnia and were deceived by what their own wills commanded, rejecting and hating Aslan and worshipping the god of their chosing, their own selves. This is a definitive picture of our fallen world and our fallen culture. Lewis' work is prescient in describing the condition of the world of today, one in which Jesus could return to at any time, as our prayer pleads from Revelation cited above (but if He tarries, one and all can be sure that He is coming soon; "soon" defined as the lifespan of the individual). One last point on a most poignant scene from the story. It involves the fierce young Tarkaan warrior Emeth, devoted follower of the vulture-like god of the Calormens, Tash. As our heroes are exploring the Real Narnia, following Aslan "further in and further up", they discover this unlikely believer sitting perplexed under a tree, "surprised by joy". Emeth's story is one that demonstrates man's frequent inability to match his rational and correct thoughts with his often erroneous mental images of said correct thought. In this case this child of the Light lived bravely demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit in humility, submission and obedience to the true God of everything, the Self-Existant Great I AM. But his human error was in his vision of what God looked like and not knowing His correct name. Emeth is somewhat like Helen Keller, who, when "told" about Jesus by Anne Sullivan in the eternal darkness, quiet and aloneness of her disability, said "so that's His name; I know Him". The story of Emeth's salvation by grace is much akin to the salvation of the thief on the cross, or like mine. It doesn't say that "being good" gets one into Heaven, as one mistaken reviewer opined. It does show that a totally surrendered heart turned toward the One true living God in obedience and love will not be turned away, no matter how mistaken one's mental images may be about God. It is a beautiful picture of salvation by faith through His grace and not by works. God does all the saving; the Holy Spirit teaches us about the true nature of God by His perfect, inerrant Word. Lewis' picture of Emeth is one all believers should take heart in, realizing it is not our purview to know who God has saved by His sovereign will. Of course, Emeth's works demonstrated his salvation, even though he was not recognized as a believer. Emeth's conviction, humility and devotion in this passage continues to bring me to tears. As Aslan seeks him out in the New Narnia, Emeth is convinced he is about to die. He has seen Aslan in His Glorious Appearing and is convicted of his sins. He falls at His feet thinking "Surely this is the hour of death, for the Lion (who is worthy of all honor) will know that I have served Tash all my days and not him. Nevertheless, it is better to see the Lion and die than to be Tisroc of the world and live and not to have seen Him." Read the book to see a most beautiful prosaic illustration of Christ's mercy and grace. This is an ideal book to read either before or after reading the last of the Left Behind series, Glorious Appearing. The stories are very similar with the same outcome and the same great Hope. The self-possessed "intellectuals" of the world may guffaw at those who believe in "Whom" Lewis and other Christians have assurance. Most of these "intellectuals" are ignorant of Scripture, though some are over-studied yet deluded by their self-enlightenment, hard hearts or pride (see 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 for the bottom line, or if you can't get translation from that source, try reading Lewis' definitive study Miracles). The Chronicles of Narnia are reading for a lifetime. They should be read by believers as a reminder of how we are to come into His presence. In Narnia we see the joys of serving Him in the trials and in the triumphs of this life. In The Last Battle we see the Genius of Revelation as given to Lewis on a plain that even great intellects can embrace if they are willing to "not harden their hearts" (Hebrews 3:12-15). If they are not willing they will get a clear picture of the consequences.
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