165 of 166 people found the following review helpful:
A 'must-read' for anyone serious about C.S. Lewis
I continue to be astonished by the sheer depth and breadth of research, investigation and knowledge exhibited by those who are passionate about the writings of C.S. Lewis; even those who are not professional academics or theologians go to tremendous lengths to understand and relate small details of Lewis's life and the background to his writings. Michael Ward's book goes...
An unproven Thesis
This is a scholarly work rather than light holiday reading but is, nevertheless, worth persevering with. Michael Ward's thesis is that the Narnia books of CS Lewis contain three layers: the stories themselves, the Christian messages and a third layer which Ward thinks he has discovered: that the books were planned around the astrological characteristics (as understood in...
I continue to be astonished by the sheer depth and breadth of research, investigation and knowledge exhibited by those who are passionate about the writings of C.S. Lewis; even those who are not professional academics or theologians go to tremendous lengths to understand and relate small details of Lewis's life and the background to his writings. Michael Ward's book goes far beyond this; he moves easily across the whole breadth of Lewis's own writings, the literature with which Lewis was familiar (which is to say, most of the literature of Western civilisation), and the subsequent critical and biographical writings about Lewis and his works. I'm not qualified to judge the correctness of his central thesis - that the Chronicles of Narnia are themed on the seven planets of the medieval cosmology. But whether Ward is right about this or not, he has certainly produced a work that achieves something else of great importance; he illustrates again, and powerfully, in detail, the fundamental unity of the whole of Lewis's works, arising from the consistency of Lewis's thought and understanding of the nature of things. He answers some of the more well-known criticisms of recent biographers and commentators (specifically, A.N. Wilson and Philip Pullman). Although (and rightly) a scholarly book, which will best be appreciated by those who have some exposure to the same literature as Lewis or are prepared to go and look up references which they don't recognise, nevertheless this book can be read simply as an enlightening and enjoyable sketch of Lewis's major imaginative works - Narnia, the Cosmic Trilogy, some of his poetry. Highly recommended.
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I have been a fan of C.S. Lewis since reading the Narnia books at the tender age of 10. When you like an author, you are keen to get your hands on more of his works. Not only did I discover a terrific sequence of science fiction books (the so-called cosmic trilogy), but I was surprised to discover that Lewis was both a Christian apologist and a very highly regarded medieval scholar (I would love to have been present at one of his Oxford lectures which have assumed legendary status).
There is something about the Narnia books, a mystical and poetical element which takes me back to them again and again. A similar atmosphere informs "The Lord of the rings" but is completely absent from the ubiquitous Harry Potter, whatever other qualities he may possess.
Michael Ward takes the credit for discovering a crucial and hitherto unguessed link between the seven Narnia novels and the seven "planets" of medieval cosmology (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, the Sun and the Moon). Incidentally these seven heavenly bodies correspond to the seven days of the week. As soon as he gets started on his exegesis, you realise he is on to a winner. By Chapter 3 I was convinced beyond doubt that Lewis did indeed base these works on his beloved astrological scheme - and deliberately concealed this fact from his readers.
This is not an easy book to read. In discussing Lewis's theology, Ward takes us into some fascinating and obscure backwaters of philosophy. I must admit he left me behind on a number of occasions. Here are some of the words scattered through the text - alterity, anaphora, chthonic, Eutychian, hesychastic, ichneutic, monophysite, oppugnancy, parousia, polysemy. If you understand these words, you will have no problem!
Despite his somewhat dense prose style, full credit must go to Michael Ward for an important discovery about these much-loved stories.
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Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis Anyone who is a fan of C S Lewis and the Narnia stories will find this a fascinating books as Michael Ward argues that for each book Lewis had a particular planet in mind and that through that imagery he presented different aspects of Christ. This is the reworking of a doctoral thesis and whilst some may be offput by the technical details, others will revel in the detailed endnotes.
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Michael Ward is an Anglican minister who has caused a lot of excitement among his fellow academics and others by his claim to have 'found the key'to C S Lewis' fiction writings. The books he has in mind are the Narnia Chronicles (which he calls 'the Narniad' and the Ransom Trilogy of science fiction books. Many have enjoyed Lewis' works without ever concerning themselves with the search for a 'key' but academics have frequently criticised Lewis for the 'hotch potch' of conflicting ideas and the lack of apparent order in the Narniad in particular. Even friends of Lewis criticised his entry into 'children's fiction' and thought that, as a writer, he had missed his mark.
Michael Ward suggests, in what was original a doctoral thesis, that there are unspoken themes to Lewis' works of fiction. Others have also made this claim and suggested various linking themes but none have received wide support as Ward. Lewis was known to be 'a man who liked his secrets' and Ward claims that this is why they were hidden for so long.
Lewis' chosen field of expertise was medieval literature and Ward claims that Lewis has used a medieval philosophical framework for this fiction even though the apparent stories are set in a fairy-tale world or in interplanetary space. Lewis has used the medieval mind-set to create a subliminal mood or atmosphere that was, in a sense the real story, and which was more important than any of the apparent allegorical details. Lewis, says Ward, was creating an atmosphere which in its overall effect cannot be examined too closely without losing its essence. The 'hidden key' to these subliminal moods is the medieval concept of the seven kingdom of the seven planets.
These planetary influences are not the planets of or spheres of Copernican astronomy but the Ptolemaic and 'astrological' influences of the medieval world. Lewis found a beauty and order in the pre-Copernican cosmos which he preferred to the factual order of the Copernican cosmos. The wise man, he said, does not only think in categories of factual truth but also of beauty. In this sense the Narnia Chronicles are a literary equivalent of Holst's Planets Suite, each of the seven 'heavens' giving its own key to a different Narnia chronicle.
Ward coins the word 'donegality' which he describes as a work of art in which a spiritual essence is intended by the artist but inhabited unconsciously by the reader. The author is consciously trying to create an atmosphere that he wants the reader to experience sub-consciously. It was designed by the author to remain 'implicit' in the text itself and not intended to be 'visible', nevertheless it was intended to impact the reader and to awaken sub-conscious truths that are common to mankind. For example, says Ward, Lewis attempts to awaken the sense of 'Jupiter/Jove', the kingly, magnanimous, festive, full-blooded, enjoyable aspect of God. This is the mood, expressed in the adjective 'Jovial'. A survivor of the Great War Lewis saw life and culture and having become dominated but the 'Saturnine' influences and sought to awaken 'Jupiter' in the hearts of his readers.
This is a book intended for academics but not restricted to such. Lewis described himself as reading 'as a native, texts that his students read as foreigners'. Lewis' personal world and mind-set, says Ward, was medieval. His stories consequently have a level at which they are complex frenzy of 'puns' and quotations from the world of medieval literature. To fully appreciate what Lewis is doing the reader would need more than a passing knowledge of Classical literature, Shakespeare and Dante! In his 'Preface to Paradise Lost' Lewis had written 'an influence which cannot evade our consciousness will not go very deep'. Ward contends that the Narniad and the Ransom Trilogy are Lewis attempt to create such a deep influence; to reawaken forgotten concepts of God and his ways. Ward's theory is not complicated but his elaborate proof of his theses is very comprehensive and thereby not a book to be read by the pool on a hot summer's day!
Does Ward carry his case? I believe he does. If you are prepared for your mind to be stretched... gently by a very readable writer this book will fascinate and enlarge your next reading of Lewis' world of fiction.
Review provided by Biblebase Book Reviews.
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For anyone who loves and regularly reads Lewis' works of fiction - the Narnia stories and his so-called 'Cosmic Trilogy' - Mr Ward's book is an ideal companion.
There have been many books commentating on aspects of the 'Narniad' but Mr Ward approaches these stories from a unique angle. His readable yet scholarly insights into the content of Lewis' stories will not fail to delight followers of these books.
Mr Ward reports himself concerned that his book might reduce readers' enjoyment of the Narnia series. On the contrary, readers are likely to thank him for adding other levels of enjoyment that they would not have gained otherwise. Following Mr Ward's thesis it is as if we were on another quest and stand with Prince Rilian, Puddleglum and the children at the mouth of another unsuspected world lying deep under the old Narnian one we have become so familiar with all these years.
Mr Ward also examines Lewis' other fiction: Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. Though Mr Ward isn't uncritically praiseworthy of the latter book, he carefully refutes the claims made about Lewis' style by the writer and biographer A.N.Wilson, using the same metaphor. Consider yourself humbled Mr Wilson! Also coming in for an informative piece of criticism is Philip Pullman's 'republic of heaven'(p67-68) and it's uncreaturely rejection of alterity (p134). That Hideous Strength must be the only story where we see the fall of the utopian fantasies presented by authors like Mr Pullman and H G Wells. If only fiction could become reality...
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I agree that Michael Ward's book is a must for anyone interested in C S Lewis. I would also suggest that it is also a book by one of the few wise people and his views on theology are those of someone who was a deep thinker and who experienced God.
He was also a very clever man and an academic but those attributes are only good if they are tempered by wisdom.
I feel that by reading this book you will enhance your enjoyment of the Narnia stories.
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I have been reading the books by C.S.Lewis, including the Chronicles of Narnia, for over 40 years. Like many, I knew there must be a logical explanation for the incredible diversity within the 7 books. Intuitively I knew that they were linked to a greater extent than the obvious (written by the same author, set in Narnia and the presence of Aslan the Lion). In this book, Michael Ward has given a very probable link between the Chronicles and an explanation for the diversity of styles between the 7 volumes. The Middle-Ages was a period when seven was seen as a perfect number and everything had to add up to seven, if at all posible. There were, fortunately, 7 planets which could, and can still, be seen by the naked eye. The 7 planets were fitted to a scheme which gave them personalities and it is these personalities which form a framework for each of the 7 Narnia stories, one planet per book. Planet Narnia presents a convincing case and, despite it being a difficult book to read because of its academic approach, will add another level of enjoyment to reading the Chronicles of Narnia
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I was very excited to hear about this book and after watching the documentary I ordered a copy.
Well, I am plodding through it but I disagree with the blurb on the back: "Readily accessible to the average reader". I am an intelligent, well-read person but find myself constantly turning over in bed to reach for my Chambers dictionary as Michael Ward uses the most obscure words! Very annoying indeed. However, his theory is exciting and I want to be able to understand what he's going on about. I just resent all the looking-up-words-in-the-dictionary interruptions!!! Readily accessible to the average reader? No way!!!
17th August, 2009: Well, after weeks of struggling through the verbosity and some of the incomprehensible intellectual concepts, I have finally finished (June to August). I understood probably two thirds of what he was talking about but am glad I read it. I'm now re-reading the Chronicles, beginning with The Magician's Nephew.
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For the first time I could see the thinking behind the series, and could appreciate that it was not just isolated one offs that happened to inhabit the same world. Very impressed by the author's thought and research.
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This is a scholarly work rather than light holiday reading but is, nevertheless, worth persevering with. Michael Ward's thesis is that the Narnia books of CS Lewis contain three layers: the stories themselves, the Christian messages and a third layer which Ward thinks he has discovered: that the books were planned around the astrological characteristics (as understood in the Middle Ages) of the seven planets (the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn). Ward assembles an impressive array of quotations linking each book to a planet. So "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is linked to Jupiter, "The Horse and His Boy" is linked to Mercury and so on.
This book has three major weaknesses. The first is that CS Lewis himself never mentioned or wrote of such a scheme, so Ward has to make a case that Lewis was deceitful and secretive. The case that he makes is unconvincing.
The second weakness is that Ward has no discussion of any empirical evidence of how authors of fiction actually go about writing their books; so we do not even know if it is possible for a writer to plan a series of books with three layers of meaning.
The third weakness is that Ward ignores what Lewis himself said and wrote about reconstructing the history of how a book was written:
"I have watched with some care similar imaginary histories both of my own books and of books by friends whose real history I knew...My impression is that in the whole of my experience not one of these guesses has on any one point been right...What I think I can say with certainty is that they are usually wrong...And yet they would often sound...extremely convincing...we find that when [the facts are] available, the results are either always, or else nearly always, wrong..." ("Fern Seed and Elephants")
Ward's thesis is thus refuted by Lewis' own words.
To give the last word to Lewis himself,
"The 'assured results of modern scholarship', as to the way in which an old book was written, are 'assured', we may conclude, only because the men who knew the facts are dead and can't blow the gaff." (op. cit.)
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