Chronicles of Narnia 6: The Silver Chair
Narnia... where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans (and, if carefully cooked, or Marsh-wiggles, too), where a prince is put under an evil spell... and where the adventure begins.
Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor... or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be saved.
I think, of all the adventures in all the books, this one may possibly actually be my favourite so far. Looking back, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what I enjoyed, but at the time, I kinda did, so there it is.
However, my disappointment with CS Lewis' treatment of his female characters just keeps growing. When we had Lucy and Susan, it was good. They were brave, they contributed, etc. Jill, however... well, she does make some contributions, but she also hangs back a lot, and lets the boys do all the metaphorical and literal heavy lifting. Blech.
Lewis' pretty obvious disdain for the Montessori style of schooling is kind of hilarious, though.
Oh, I also think I would have picked a better name for this book. The title silver chair only appears in one scene, and is fairly quickly hacked to pieces. I'm not sure what I would have called it instead, but something else, for sure, I think.
And that's all I have to say, really.
Next up: The final book in the series, The Last Battle
Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor... or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be saved.
I think, of all the adventures in all the books, this one may possibly actually be my favourite so far. Looking back, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what I enjoyed, but at the time, I kinda did, so there it is.
However, my disappointment with CS Lewis' treatment of his female characters just keeps growing. When we had Lucy and Susan, it was good. They were brave, they contributed, etc. Jill, however... well, she does make some contributions, but she also hangs back a lot, and lets the boys do all the metaphorical and literal heavy lifting. Blech.
Lewis' pretty obvious disdain for the Montessori style of schooling is kind of hilarious, though.
Oh, I also think I would have picked a better name for this book. The title silver chair only appears in one scene, and is fairly quickly hacked to pieces. I'm not sure what I would have called it instead, but something else, for sure, I think.
And that's all I have to say, really.
Next up: The final book in the series, The Last Battle