The Silver Chair

Rating:
Summary: I've read this series at least three times
Review: I've read this series at least three times and it has never failed to enchant me as it di the first time. Whether you be adult or child this series is a must

Rating:
Summary: A classic story and a spiritual allegory
Review: If you have not read any of CS Lewis classic book series about Narnia, please do so. The stories are wonderfully written and will engage you like few other works. Part spiritual allegory and part fantasy and adventure, these stories are timeless.

My personal favorite of the 7 stories is this one: The Silver Chair. Starting with the unexpected trip into Narnia, the story involves the search for a missing prince and a dangerous and exciting journey to find him. While the plot is quickly engaging and always enjoyable, even after dozens of readings, in this story Lewis uses some of the most powerful of Christian allegories to depict faith, deception, and courage. Choices made along the way are often disastrous and are the result of convenience and comfort over faith. Truly a sound statement into our own journeys, and a spiritual struggle depicted accurately.

I will not spoil the plot, but if you have not enjoyed this series, pick up any of the seven books, or better yet get them all at once. The story starts either with "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" which was the first published, or "The Magician's Nephew" which is chronologically the first. Either way, you won't be disappointed. Next to "The Silver Chair", I also found "The Horse and His Boy" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" to be absolute classics.

Buy this series, and enjoy one of the true treasures in literature from a fabulous writer, the world renowned CS Lewis.

Rating:
Summary: A classic story and a spiritual allegory
Review: If you have not read any of CS Lewis classic book series about Narnia, please do so. The stories are wonderfully written and will engage you like few other works. Part spiritual allegory and part fantasy and adventure, these stories are timeless.

My personal favorite of the 7 stories is this one: The Silver Chair. Starting with the unexpected trip into Narnia, the story involves the search for a missing prince and a dangerous and exciting journey to find him. While the plot is quickly engaging and always enjoyable, even after dozens of readings, in this story Lewis uses some of the most powerful of Christian allegories to depict faith, deception, and courage. Choices made along the way are often disastrous and are the result of convenience and comfort over faith. Truly a sound statement into our own journeys, and a spiritual struggle depicted accurately.

I will not spoil the plot, but if you have not enjoyed this series, pick up any of the seven books, or better yet get them all at once. The story starts either with "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" which was the first published, or "The Magician's Nephew" which is chronologically the first. Either way, you won't be disappointed. Next to "The Silver Chair", I also found "The Horse and His Boy" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader" to be absolute classics.

Buy this series, and enjoy one of the true treasures in literature from a fabulous writer, the world renowned CS Lewis.

Rating:
Summary: Lewis shines yet again...
Review: In this book, we meet new characters and reunite with the old ones. Jill Pole and Eustace Scrubb open a usually locked door and find themselves being blown into... Narnia. Aslan has a task for the children: they must rescue Prince Rilian, King Caspian's only son from the evil witch. So they embark on a perilous journey through the Wild Waste Lands of the North with their marshwiggle guide, Puddlegum. I particularly enjoyed the part where they befriend the giants. This is a must-read to all Narnia lovers.

Rating:
Summary: Steven from Richview middle School
Review: Narnia... where owls are wise. where a prince is put under an evil spell. What made me pick this book is my cousin, Jefrey. he gave me this book when I was little. It begin when two kids get chased by some people & they decide to hide in a closet. There are four main character's
the witch, the prince. Eustace, & Jill. The witch puts the prince under a spell. Eustace & Jill is the people who save the prince.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite books in the Narnia series!!!
Review: One of the great things about the Narnia series is how each individual book stands alone! I mean, while it may be necessary to read them in order to better understand what's going on, each book has a certain charm unique in itself. And while I may like ALL of the volumes, I believe the BEST books are those in the middle, particularly "The Horse and his Boy", "The Magician's Nephew", and "THE SILVER CHAIR". These are the books in which C.S. Lewis really shines!

In this particular volume involving cousin Eustace and his classmate Jill Pole, Lewis hits hard at the British school system (I dread to think how he'd view America's public school system today!) The bullying that Eustace & Jill face is what launches their adventure into Narnia, and what an exciting adventure it turns out to be! Puddleglum is an excellently crafted character who accompanies them on their journey into the wild north, where they encounter a beautiful witch and a dangerous race of intelligent giants. It's a well-done piece of storytelling, worth reading a second time!

Rating:
Summary: Neither the best nor the worst in the Narnia series.
Review: People frequently make the mistake of considering any book that is about children, that is written in a style accessible to children, or told in a narrative voice that is speaking as to children to be a "children's story", and dismissing it as irrelevant to adults. When they do so, they miss out on some of the most enjoyable reading experiences available. This book, indeed this whole series, falls into that category, just as do "The Hobbit", by J.R.R. Tolkein, "Peter Pan", by James Barrie, and "Alice In Wonderland" and "Through The Looking Glass", by Lewis Carrol, among others.

Like all the Narnia books, this one is an exciting adventure in another world, with 8-12 year old children as the main characters. Also like all the Narnia books, it isn't hard to find the Christian allegory and symbolism a very short way beneath the surface of the story. Some non-Christians find this distracting and off-putting; mostly, it doesn't bother me. Certainly, Christians should find the books marvellous. But I will say that there was one minor flaw in this book, which again was not unique in the Narnia books to this one, but seemed more extreme in this case: Lewis revealed that he was, in fact, a rather serious sexist by modern standards, although I daresay that by the standards of his day, he was probably better than most. I say this not because the villain is a woman and a witch (if women CAN'T be taken seriously as villains, that would certainly be sexist) nor even because the female villain is (A) beautiful and (B) powerful, but because it is taken as obvious that there is something wrong with Prince Rilian, since clearly there must be something wrong with any man who is willing to be ruled by his lady. This was a distraction, but given when this book was written, I suppose it's just one of those things that we need to wince at, shrug, and be certain when reading the story to our kids, they don't absorb the attitude as correct.

I have now read all the books in the series save "The Last Battle", and would rate this one above only "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", but it's no insult to be ranked below all of the others.

Rating:
Summary: Very, very good
Review: Please, read this book, it is my fav of the books of narnia and easy to follow and read, very entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: A Challenge For Eustace and Jill
Review: Poor Jill, she's being bullied again! Eustace finds her crying behind the gym. She wishes she could get away from the horrid-but-trendy Experiment House School, and the further the better. Eustace knows of just the place, he went there last term. The world Narnia, a land of talking animals and magical landscapes, ruled by Aslan, the wild talking lion. All they need to do to get there is to call to him. They do, and are whisked away. Just in time, it seems. Aslan has a quest for the two children. They must go to the wildlands of the north, a harsh, barren nation of giants, and find the lost Prince Rillian and bring him home. If they remember and follow the four commands they are given, all should go well. But things are not as they first expect...

There's a rather ominous feel to "The Silver Chair". Bleak moors, muddy swamps, bitter blizzards, ruined buildings, an old and withered King Caspian and near-deaf Trumpkin, plus mumblings by the Earthmen about the apocalypse, all give the Narnian world a feeling of great age, of weariness, as if about to fall apart. This sets things up very nicely for "The Last Battle", I thought, where the world and the series come to an end. So too does the fact we get to glimpse the beautiful Aslan's Country at the start of the book, a land first glimpsed in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", and a land that features very prominently in "The Last Battle".

I quite like the characterizations, particularly Eustace. He's a character who changed quite dramatically for the better in "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", but as we see in the book still has quite a bit of growing to do. I think Lewis handled him quite well. I also like the idea Puddleglum the frog-like Marshwiggle. He's quite the pessimist, but likes to think himself as quite the opposite. Bit like that myself, actually...

C.S. Lewis was a devoted Christian, and his beliefs shine through in all his work. "The Silver Chair" is no exception. In fact, I'd say the allegory here is probably some of the strongest in the series. I think it's got to do with faith and obedience. Just as Jill and Eustace are given commands by Aslan to follow, Christians are given commands to follow by God (through the Bible). They might seem simple to follow in theory, when at reading or in prayer (or in Aslan's Country for Jill and Eustace) but out in the real world, things are a lot more difficult. Things may be not what you expect, (as Eustace didn't expect to arrive decades after his first visit), you may get caught up in the here and the now and lose the greater purpose (just as the kids are tempted away to the city of Harfang for the sake of comfort), or you may be bogged down with pessimism (just as Jill and Eustace were bogged down with Puddleglum). You shouldn't lose heart though, even if you do mess up, it's never too late to get back on track. (Just as our heroes discover. The stuff up three of the four commands Aslan gave them, but they remember the fourth and save the day). As a Christian, I also got a lot out of the war of wits between the adventures and the Green Witch in Chapter 12. I can really relate to the debate that rages on, the challenge of whether what they believe in really exists. It's a struggle that christians face all the time, amongst non-believers and in their head. Lewis is a perceptive guy, he pinpoints these feelings exactly in this chapter.

Along with Lewis' christian allegory is some rather biting social commentary in the form of Experiment House. It is a school without religion of any kind and with less discipline, letting the kids run free. His description of the bullies at Experiment House getting constantly in trouble, punished lightly by a talk with the teacher, and through this becoming the favorites of the teachers rang so true to me. I remember seeing this sort of thing happening at some schools I went to growing up. The disturbing fact that the Head of the school becomes Prime Minister by the end of the book rings just as true, sadly in this day and age. Countries these days are run to be secular and deregulated, just like Experiment House.

With such an emphasis on allegory rather than story, some younger readers may find the adventure sparse in places. I know I did when I was younger (fifth grade). Still, that doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of adventure to be had. I remember I was absolutely captivated by the idea of Bism, a civilization in the centre of the world, where gemstones are alive and edible.

Once again Pauline Bayne's illustrations are fantastic. I love the way she draws the giants. Rather than just being larger, bulkier versions of people, the giants faces are characatured, cute and grotesque at the same time, quite similar to the way Lewis describes them. The map of the northern wildlands is a nice touch too.

"The Silver Chair" is the fourth Narnian Chronicle to be written by Lewis and the sixth chronologically. Whichever order you like to read them in, it's a fair way down the list. You'll get a lot more from this book if you've read the ones previously, but it's probably not essential. The explanations and back story here is pretty thorough. If you were going to read only one Narnian book before this, I'd make it "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", as it tells the story of Eustace and how he came to be who he is on his first adventure into Narnia.

Recommended for fantasy fans, lovers of all things C.S. Lewis and christians looking for a spiritually relevant read.

Rating:
Summary: C.S.Lewis as the humourless marshwiggle?
Review: The 4th book to be written, The Silver Chair is the penultimate offering in Narnian chronology. The central theme of this book seems to be the importance of belief (religious or otherwise; I suppose it depends on how you define religion). Nevertheless, the book is not too esoteric, like the other Chronicles, the plot functions perfectly well on a surface level. In short, the plot concerns two children who are given a task in Narnia. Before returning a king who has disappeared, they must battle giants and a witch, as well as escape from an underground world.
I say this book is about belief because the children are given several immediate tasks which they are told to pursue even though the long term goal and result is not revealed to them. Given the adversity and temptation the children meet along the way, pursuit of the tasks requires a great deal of faith and perseverance. The children are even exposed to willful deceit and witchcraft. Just as they begin to falter, they always receive help from somewhere. This to me is one of the great things about these books; children are both shown to be capable of accomplishing much and shown that if their intentions are good they can expect to receive help along the way. One may ask whether this approach will give children excessive expectations of the world, but I say better to give children hope than a sense of futility, since I believe children are indeed strong, strong enough to suffer the inevitable dashing of hopes. As long as they know there is someone beside them who cares.