About this title: A few English months and many Narnian years separate this follow-up to THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER, the previous installment in the classic children's fantasy series the Chronicles of Narnia. The much-reformed Eustace Scrubb and a schoolmate, Jill Pole, escape from bullies at their entirely horrible boarding school through a door in the wall. Stepping through the door magically transports the children to Narnia's guardian, the talking lion Aslan, who assigns them the task of finding Prince Rilian, the long-lost son and heir to the aged King Caspian. Aided by the lugubrious Marsh-wiggle, ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
"While I greatly respect C.S. Lewis and his Christian wisdom, I did not think this the most marvelous book he has written. It failed to draw me in.
The characters were dull which is sad because Eustace was so compelling in the last book, but boring in this one. I guess that's because he changed for the better and who wants to read about characters who don't need to change? As for Jill, (who might have been the focal point of one who needed changing,) was not given any internal conflict that needed changing so much. It was more "Here's what you need to do." And she did it like a robot. Puddleglum was probably the only remotely enjoyable character.
Another thing that bothered me was the title. The Silver chair, while significant to the story conflict and resolution only shows up on one page and is passed over quickly. I wish it would have been drawn into the story a little more. Maybe the title was right, but the story did not do it justice.
There were a few exciting chapters and some great depth of Christian theology but all in all this was easy for me to put down. Gee I hate to say that about a classic, but all the more reason to be honest."
"Of all the books in the Chronicles series, this is my favorite. I say this for a number of reasons. First, the characters of Puddleglum, Glimfeather, and the giants are just wonderfully described and are extremely entertaining. Second, the adventure in the story is continuous, while woven into one continuous journey of Eustace & Jill. Third, I feel that the symbolism of the "signs" that Jill is supposed to remember with the command to Christians to dwell on the words of God create subtle yet beautiful parallels with the difficulties of life on this world.
Perhaps my favorite part of the book is near the end where the Green Witch is trying to convince Puddleglum, Jill, and Eustace that there is really no such thing as Narnia. That the real world is the Underworld they can currently see and touch, and that Narnia is really just their imagination creating a world that they would like better. She suggests their idea of the "Sun" is just their minds taking lamplight and running wild. But really there is no such thing as the sun. Slowly, all three are falling under the witches magic and believing her, but finally Puddleglum sticks his foot in the fire which wakes him to reality and gives him courage to talk about Narnia and Aslan again.
I find that whereas "The Lion, The Witch, And the Wardrobe" pictures the sacrifice of Christ on behalf of his people, "The Silver Chair" beautifully portrays the struggles of living a Christian life and following God in a world that is constantly denying his existence."
"These books are meant to be Christian literature, but they only resemble Biblical stories in very superficial ways. In order to get from Biblical stories to the Chronicles of Narnia, you have to remove all the horrible details, like God commanding 'every living thing that breathes' to be killed in Jericho, and you have to add a good deal of charisma and nobility. For instance, you wouldn't see Prince Caspian whoring his wife out. That's just not something he would do. However, that is exactly what Abraham did to Sara, when they had to cross Egypt (he knew the pharoah would want his wife, and yet chose to go anyway. Telling Sara to lie about their marital status doesn't make Abraham a hero--it makes him a pimp). If Prince Caspian was given such a choice, he would have fought the pharoah and won, he would have gone through some horrible trials as he went around Egypt, or he wouldn't have gone at all, and the God that had commanded him to go would have learned a lesson.
As books go, they're fast reads and cute, but they don't belong in Christian literature."
"Probably my least favorite of the Chronicles I've read so far. A little strange, with the green snake lady. At first it frustrated me that the children were so careless with the signs, and so easily distracted - but then I saw the obvious connection to my own life, and realized how easily distracted I sometimes am. After reprimanding myself, I read the part where the task is completed, despite the side-tracks, and the Lion, incredibly, and beautifully, is able to make all right, even the imperfect ones. But, importantly, the children did realize their mistakes, and try as earnestly as they could to get back on the right path. That was the only way they could come back to the path the Lion had shown theme to follow."
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