Throwback Thursday: The Magician’s Book

~ Lory

Linking up with The Chocolate Lady’s Throwback Thursday meme – I’m sharing a favorite post from my former blog, The Emerald City Book Review.

This month, since I’m so enjoying #Narniathon21, I’m looking back to my review of The Magician’s Book – Salon.com writer Laura Miller’s memoir about her childhood journeys in the land of Narnia and her revisiting the books as a skeptical adult. This was actually a book I reviewed in my days as a writer for the now defunct journal The Green Man Review, and I co-opted it when I was starting up my blog.

I wish I still had my copy, but I lost it in a book purge before moving to Switzerland. Maybe I’ll seek it out some day, after I’ve reread the whole series. Click here for my review of The Magician’s Book by Laura Miller.

Join the Enchanted Circle

The Enchanted Circle newsletter offers subscriber-only content about my writing and reading life. You'll also receive a separate monthly blog post summary (unsubscribe any time). And I'll send a free gift!

Unsubscribe anytime.

8 thoughts on “Throwback Thursday: The Magician’s Book”

  2. Hmm, I see your comments are closed there, so I’m back.
    Interesting take, but I’m puzzled that people would be upset while discovering that the book was full of Christian symbols.
    Beside the fact that with a minimum of Christian culture, even a kid can detect here most of the symbols, they are quite obvious.
    But most importantly, with Lewis’s background, it kind of makes sense that he would do that. And finally, why would someone be upset at what an author wants to do??
    I think what he did is actually brilliant. And if some readers enjoy it before understanding what’s going on, it shows that he did it well. It may be an invitation to learn more about Christian themes, which have been part of the intellectual and artistic legacy of many country for centuries, whether we believe or not.
    It’s like admiring for instance stain-glasses in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris but then being upset if you look closely at them and realize what they are depicting. Or all the details in Medieval European architecture, for instance.

    1. Dear Emma, this is a large topic for discussion. Briefly, I think that many non-Christians or former Christians object to the attempt to forcibly convert them, which is something that unfortunately has happened a lot throughout history and continues today. I personally think that has nothing to do with true Christianity, nor do I think that is what Lewis is trying to do with any of his works. In his apologetics he uses the intellect to express his personal understanding of the grounds for faith, in his fiction he uses imaginative pictures. However, I think he is respectful of the reader’s freedom, and leaves us to make up our own mind, as indeed he did himself in his own conversion.

      That is one of the benefits of reading; however powerful the writer’s vision, they can’t directly get into our head and change our minds! We still have the ability to say no.

      However, some people, probably damaged by more invasive and hurtful experiences with proselytizing, become allergic to any hint of Christianity, especially in written form — cathedrals and sacred music are more external than words, which we take directly into our souls. When these people find out that Lewis was a Christian and embedded “Christian” messages in his works — and the connection is not obvious to all young readers, it was not to me! — they feel betrayed, as if he is trying to secretly convert them against their will. The emotions raised by this often prevent them from looking at the work in a more objective light.

      Miller’s book, so far as I recall, was an attempt to look back at her childhood feeling of betrayal and bring some more mature objectivity to it. She still didn’t like Christianity, but she could appreciate Narnia all the same. It’s a worthwhile enterprise, I think.

      1. Thanks for the context. I can see we could feel he’s inviting to convert people in his essays, but not in his fiction. even though he uses Christian symbols. “I think he is respectful of the reader’s freedom”, absolutely, and this is a book, you can just stop reading or ignore it

        1. Sure, but Miller’s dilemma was that she didn’t want to stop reading or ignore it, because she loved it so much in many ways. That’s the interesting sort of tension she explores. I think the book does a good job of that, even if her experiences are not mine.

Comments are closed.