The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C.S. Lewis [Paperback]

Alan Jacobs, you did your homework for this one. That becomes apparent by the end of the introduction. I think I have probably read everything still in print about CSL, and what I appreciate about your book are the following: Your data is correct; there are no hazy vaguenesses ignored, all are fully "admitted" (I refer to events in the life of CSL about which biographers have always had to guess); and "put-downs" by modern authors, such as Philip Pullman, are answered. (That last mattered to me especially, as I resent terribly PP's reference to Narnian "drivel." Pettiness prompts me to remark about some of PP's own drivel, but I digress.)

Mr. Jacobs also handled the Joy Gresham era masterfully, considering how Hollywood, and the BBC, have managed to change it into something it never really seemed to be. Mr. Jacob's account, though admittedly speckled with his own personal guesswork, seems so much nearer the mark, so much more in keeping with the sense of CSL's personality we get through the previous bios.

Well done, Mr. Jacobs!

The Narnian is a literary/theological biography of C.S. Lewis. Although it covers the basic facts of Lewis' life as competently as any other biography, the real strength of Jacobs' work lies in the fascinating discussions of Lewis' thought processes and religious/literary development.

Jacobs makes no bones about his deep admiration for Lewis, which makes his work seem rather defensive when dealing with Lewis' critics. At times this defensiveness seems justifiable, especially when it is employed against critics like Philip Pullman who obviously haven't studied Lewis very thoroughly. At other times it seems rather overdone, as when Jacobs abruptly dismisses J.R.R. Tolkien's (one of Lewis' closest associates) critiques.

This is nevertheless a very satisfying work which will illuminate much for people who seek more information on Lewis' life, work, and theology.

. . . about this review -- and really wanted to give this book a fourth star. I just could not bring myself to do so, however!

First, I want to thank the publisher of "The Narnian" for the complimentary copy sent to me.

I, myself, have been a serious student of Lewis, having began reading his works more than 30 years ago (and an even more serious student of Tolkien, having begun reading HIS works more than 26 years ago.) I have given lectures and presented papers on the subject, and include a great deal of both Lewis and Tolkien in the classes I teach. I will probably be using this book as a secondary -- "SECONDARY" -- reference work in some of my classes. To this reviewer, it fails as a primary source.

"The Narnian" was presented as a "literary" biography. As such, I expected a great deal more literary criticism than actually appeared in the book.

"The Narnian", it is to be presumed, was supposed to place Lewis within the context of his great fictional creation -- the land of Narnia. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

The author, in his introduction, suggests that he will pass over much material which one might find in a traditional biography in order to concentrate on more literary concerns. Whether he succeeded in concentrating on literary concerns is for the reader to decide -- but he DID include most of the pertinent biographical information of Lewis' life -- the enormous majority of it having been presented elsewhere.

There were some things I learned from this book, much to my delight.

1) I was greatly interested to learn more of the background behind "The Abolition of Man" -- a text I require for my Introduction to Theology students. I will be substantially adding to my lecture notes thanks to what I learned.

2) I was greatly interested to learn of the background behind Lewis' debating partner with regard to "Miracles". I was under the impression that she was an atheist -- and was intrigued to learn that she was a practicing Catholic.

3) I was greatly interested to learn of the long correspondence between Lewis and an Italian priest -- now up for Canonization! I'm sure that Lewis must be pleased!

This being said, there were some significant detrations to this book, which prevent me from giving it a higher rating.

1) I'm uncomfortable with the author's use of previous biography. The biography of Lewis used most often, is A.N. Wilson's biography -- arguably the worst of the three most often cited. In the Introduction, the author praises the work of Walter Hooper (another major detraction for me) but the work by Green and Hooper is hardly mentioned. The best of the biographies -- "Jack" by George Sayer (who knew Lewis well for 29 years) is never mentioned -- and Sayer himself is only mentioned a couple of times in passing. In other words, the biography of the man who knew Lewis the best and the longest, is the biography which is ignored.

2) The author gets the relationship between CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien just plain wrong. It is fashionable these days to suggest that the friendship between these two men "crashed and burned" beyond repair -- and this is just not the case. Yes, their friendship went through several stages -- and had cooled off considerably toward the end of Lewis' life, but the author uses terms like "diseased" and suggests that the friendship ended completely upon Lewis' marriage. This is just not factually correct. Tolkien was, indeed, hurt and disapproving of Lewis' marriage -- but Tolkien's wife and Joy actually became good friends. Tolkien considered Lewis' death to be an "axe blow at the roots" and was one of the few present at the funeral.

3) In "The Abolition of Man", Lewis criticized the authors of "The Green Book" for engaging in amateur philosophy -- when they were supposed to be teaching English grammar. I submit that the author of "The Narnian" engaged in amateur pyschoanalysis when he was supposed to be providing literary criticism. I found his analysis of the relationship between Joy and Lewis to be tedious at best and condescending at worst. This is an especially egregious example of where the author should have consulted George Sayer's writings. Sayer was present at the very first meeting between Joy and Lewis, and was probably closer to the situation than any other of Lewis' friends.

4) Readers of my other reviews on Lewis will recall that I am particularly suspicious of Walter Hooper and strongly question the authenticity of some of what has been published by Hooper under Lewis' name. Indeed, over the past 20 years, much has been written on both sides of this debate. Questions of authenticity were raised only once in this book -- and dismissed with a sentence -- and without naming Hooper's chief detractor. Katherine Lindskoog's contributions to the study of Lewis and his writings should have at least been mentioned.

5) There are several instances in which careless factual errors are made -- errors which any reader of "The Chronicles of Narnia" will quickly pick up. For someone, like the author, who has spend a quarter-century studying Lewis, this sloppiness is inexcusable.

So there it is: a reasonably good effort, which I have praised when appropriate -- but also with significant flaws which seriously detract from the overall effort.

Three stars.