The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis

Rating: 8/10

Published: 1949
Number of pages: 89

Started: 25 April 2008
Finished: 27 April 2008


Summary (taken from Dymocks website):
When Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are sent to stay with a kind professor who lives in the country, they can hardly imagine the extraordinary adventure that awaits them. It all begins one rainy summer day when the children explore the professor's rambling old house. When they come across a room with an old wardrobe in the corner, Lucy immediately opens the door and gets inside. To her amazement, she suddenly finds herself standing in the clearing of a wood on a winter afternoon, with snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy has found Narnia, a magical land of fauns and centaurs, nymphs and talking animals - and of the beautiful but evil White Witch, who has held the country in eternal winter for a hundred years.

Comments:
I'm told by a childhood friend that we both read this story in primary school but I had no recollection of it so I was looking forward to reading it (again). I wish I had paid more attention and read the entire Chronicles of Narnia when I was a young'un so perhaps I could experience the magic a bit better. Reading the story as an adult is fun, and it was a good read, but I feel I was missing something that can only be experienced by a child.

I enjoyed the story for what is was, and didn't notice too much of the religious symbolism until afterwards, when I'd stopped to think about it and read other reviews. This is my favourite way to approach a story, especially for the first time. If I want to delve deeper into the symbolism I'll have a re-read at a later date.

Overall, a very pleasant read and I look forward to reading the rest of the Chronicles.