Novel review: The Chronicles of Narnia - vol.1: The Magician's Nephew

Good day, dearest readers!

Here comes my next novel review!~
The project I've chosen this time is The Chronicles of Narnia. Some of you may know the three movies "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", "Prince Caspian (of Narnia)" and "The Voyage of The Dawn Treader", but actually they're based on novels published in 1950 to 1956. The seven volumes are no continuing story, you can read each one separately, but it makes sense to hold on to a suggested order. The author Clive Staples Lewis intended it like this:

The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of The Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

So I also started with the first one - let's go for "The Magician's Nephew"!
There is actually no movie about this volume - I guess it's because this novel would be very difficult to animate and a very high budget would be needed. At first I will summarize the content, and later I will give my impressions about the novel.
Annotation: I've read the novel in German, so I maybe don't use the original vocabulary. Nevertheless, I'll try to sum up everything as understandable as possible.

The edition of the novel I've read: From Brendow, published in 1977

There are two main characters: The young girl Polly and the boy Digory. Digory moves in the house next to Polly's, and the children get to know each other and become friends. Because the summer holidays are cold and rainy they're forced to stay inside, and because children are naturally curious they start to explore the house. Polly has created a secret hiding place called smuggler's den under the roof, and they discover a floor right under the roof beams. By crawling through it they can get into the neighbours' houses, and when they look around they find a secret studying room. Here works Uncle Andrew, Digory's uncle - the boy doesn't like his relative at all, and he would prefer to continue living at the countryside with his mother and his horse. But fate has changed things to worse: The boy's mother became seriously ill, and Digory was forced to move to London although he loathes the city life.
In the studying room the children meet Uncle Andrew, an old man around 60 who has high plans with them: He wants to use Polly and Digory as world travellers. He has found some soil from an unknown parallel world in a coffer and formed two yellow and two green rings of it. The yellow rings sweep one in the universe when they touch one's skin, and with the green ones you can return in our world. Uncle Andrew already has sent a guinea pig to the unknown dimension, but because it couldn't report what is on the other side he decided to send two children. Uncle Andrew briefly explains his plan and convinces Polly to get one of the yellow rings - and she disappears without giving in. Digory is absolutely against the whole project, but when Polly vanished he agrees to follow her for rescuing her. So the boy takes the two green rings in his pocket and sticks the other yellow one at his finger (you can touch the yellow rings without risk with a glove), then also disappears.
Digory finds himself again in a very silent forest - the atmosphere is described as so quiet, one can feel the huge trees growing. The peace and harmony in this place make him let forget everything from his earlier life in the normal world, and he feels as if he had been in the forest for his whole life. Digory finds Polly who also lies in the grass and enjoys the beautiful sunshine, but at first they don't remember each other - until they tell each other of their strange dreams where they already have met, and then their memories return. By looking around they find a guinea pig with a yellow ring around its belly; it's the one Uncle Andrew has sent, but without a green one for the trip back. They decide to leave it in the forest because it seems happy and satisfied here, and the children start exploring the surroundings. They become aware that the forest consists of many small ponds, and they both dove up from a certain one when arriving in this world - so they explain the existence of this forest as a world between the worlds, and they conceive the other ponds are gates to many other parallel universes. Digory marks their own pond so that they can find it again, but then the fire of exploring another world flares him up and he convinces Polly to discover another dimension.
The children jump into another pond, but the magic doesn't work - that was because of the yellow rings which still stick on their fingers. Uncle Andrew hasn't understood exactly how they work: The yellow ones consist of a material that is eager to return to its own world, thus the forest between the worlds. Contrary the green rings' material always wants to leave its own dimension and enables the person who touches it to travel to every other universe. When the children understand the principle they change the rings to the green ones and try jumping into another pond again; and this time they are successful.
The gate leads to a world that isn't as beautiful as the forest: The atmosphere is very solemn and obscure because of a dim red sunlight - this world is shortly before dying. The children find themselves between the ruins of huge buildings and wander around long distances, always in danger of falling stones and rocks. Finally they reach a giant ceremony hall where lots of wax puppets are sitting on chairs; on the upper head of a long banquet table a very big and supernaturally beautiful woman is throning. Polly is scared by the surroundings and wants to leave this world, but Digory discovers a small bell with a small hammer on a stone plate and is tempted by a slogan below to ring it. As the consequence a swelling noise arises that let the stone walls collapse, and the woman at the end of the table awakens to life. As she sees the children she takes them by their hands and they escape from the huge palace - and the woman doesn't hesitate to destroy portals in their way with magical power. Digory is absolutely banned from her beauty and trusts her quickly while Polly doesn't like her at all.
The woman introduces herself as Queen Jadis, the Empress of Charn, the world and the city they're in at the moment. She shows the children the leftovers of the metropolis she had reigned over in better days, but also tells how she had  received power: Because she needed to win over her elder sister, the original queen, she became a dark witch and made use of the destructive power of the "unnamable word" that killed every single living spirit around except her. The children become aware of the evil inside of Jadis and want to leave the world quickly - especially when the queen utters the longing for accompaining them in our real world to become the Empress there, too. She considers Digory as the relative of a mighty witcher and can't believe that he has no royal blood in his veins; she eagerly wants to visit Uncle Andrew. The scared children now try to flee from the dark world with the yellow rings, but although they can escape they carry Jadis with them because she had hold on Polly's hair.
The three return to the forest between the worlds, but there Queen Jadis doesn't seem to have both physical and magical powers. Quickly Polly and Digory jump into the pond leading home, but the Empress manages to hold on Digory again and is also carried to London. They find themselves back in Uncle Andrew's studying room, and he is instantly bewitched and fascinated from Jadis' beauty that he becomes her servant and does everything for helping her conquering the world. He changes his clothes to his best garments and leaves for borrowing a hackney-carriage, and the children are somehow helpless at the moment: On the one hand Polly needs to return home, and Digory is punished by his aunt Letty why he was absent such a long time; nevertheless they need to stop Jadis' aim of conquering the world.
The Empress looses her patience after a while and enters the living room where she meets aunt Letty, and she runs out of the house and gets the carriage without the driver herself. She robbers a jewelry house and defends herself against the police with a metal stick she broke from a streetlight - her magical powers don't work in other worlds. In the meantime Digory tries to reach Jadis for carrying her back to the forest between the worlds, and when he is successful and grabs her heel not only them but also Polly, the horse called Golden Apple, the carriage driver and Uncle Andrew are taken with them.
In the interworld Jadis looses her power again while the horse gains new energy, the carriage driver believes they're dead and awaiting life after death or whatever may follow, and Uncle Andrew is shortly before going mad and wants a brandy for his nerves. The children want to send Queen Jadis into another dimension again, and when they jump into another pond all together they arrive in a black nowhere.
But in just this moment the birth of this universe begins: A chant resounds and creates a nightly star-spangled sky, followed by a beautiful dawn. Now also nature arises around them: Forests and meadows; hills and mountains; waterfalls, rivers and the sea. The grass and trees are growing rapidly, and depending on the melody the nature is shaped. Animals appear and awake to life, and finally the group can see the voice's owner: A huge lion wandering around. Queen Jadis, who is afraid of the power of its magic, throws the streetlight stick against its forehead, but the lion doesn't even seem to recognize one of the present persons. The Empress becomes aware that she has no chance to survive here and runs away, leaving the group alone. At the place where the streetlight stick fell down a new streetlight grows, and the lion approaches, but doesn't recognize the strangers; he is too busy with creating the landscape.
Meanwhile Uncle Andrew tries to convince Digory and Polly to return to their world and to confess that he is the one who has discovered a new world. Claiming that this could be a country where everything is possible Digory gains hope that here he maybe could find something that could heal his deadly ill mother from her disease. He wants to ask the lion whether it can help him, but it is too busy with awakening animals to life and choosing each two of a kind to follow him. Then the lion causes a flash shooting down from the sky that finishes its creation and brings the newly invented world to life. He also mentions the name of the universe: It will be called Narnia.
Now the lion whose name is Aslan confers with the chosen animals about how they have to rule over their kinds, and the hopeful Digory follows him to ask him for a remedy for his ill mother. Uncle Andrew wants to stop him but can't hold him back: He doesn't dare to approach the wild animals like panthers and bears because he can't understand them speaking but just hears their wild noises.
In the meantime the carriage driver and Golden Apple talk with each other, and the horse slowly remembers him and his earlier existence, but not in a positive way: It was forced to carry heavy loads while its owner insists that he always had treated the horse in a good way.
Back to Uncle Andrew: He now catches the animals' attention, and when they approach he looses his consciousness of fright. The animals don't know how they shall handle the strange object they can't identify as a tree or as an animal. Because he doesn't move they decide in favour of a tree and plant him into the earth so that he can continue growing. While doing so a gold and a silver coin fall out of Uncle Andrew's pocket, and later a golden and a silver coin tree will grow at the place where they touched the ground.
Digory now manages to talk with Aslan and to beg him for a remedy for his mother. At first he has to explain a lot of things and reasons to the lion, also from where the evil witch came and that it was his fault she entered Narnia. Aslan is angry, but not on him because he sees that everybody makes mistakes. He insists that human beings shall fight against her when the time has come, and the lion calls a first king and queen into life: The carriage driver and his wife. He takes the woman to Narnia by magic, and now they're named Frank and Helen.
Now Aslan pays attention to Digory's request: Far away, in a green valley with a lake grows an apple tree whose fruits cure all diseases. He tells him to go there and to pluck one for him, and the desperate boy gives in. Of course the lion supports Digory for his journey: He tells Golden Apple he shall bring him there, and the horse now called Fledge receives wings. Also Polly insists to accompany her friend, and the three now start their trip that will take them two days.
While they're resting and sleeping the night they don't have something to eat, and when they really find the apple tree the next day Digory is so hungry that he nearly eats one of the silver fruits himself. But then he remembers Aslan's words and just plucks one without eating another.
In the garden he suddenly meets Queen Jadis who just has eaten one of the apples and who tries to convince him he also shall try one. But Digory doesn't give in this time and quickly returns to Aslan with the apple. The lion tells him to throw it in direction of the main river, and where it lands a huge tree will grow that will protect Narnia from the witch for a thousand years. Now Frank and Helen are crowned and swear to protect the new world from all dangers, as well as their children and all following generations.
Digory and Polly now discover Uncle Andrew planted into the ground who was treated like a pet from the animals in the meantime. The children beg the lion to be allowed to go home together with him, and Aslan agrees and allows Digory to pluck a silver apple from the tree he just had planted and that already had grown to huge size. Happily and deeply grateful the children leave Narnia with the lion to the world between the worlds, and he gives a final advice to them: They shall bury the rings so that they never will be able to travel to another dimension. Our world shall be protected from the evil of other dimensions, and Aslan wants to cut the connection in this way. Then the three, Polly, Digory and Uncle Andrew, return to London, and Digory instantly brings the apple to his mother. When she eats it she completely recovers from her disease, and the boy plants the leftovers in the garden so that a new tree can grow there. Polly and he bury the rings around it, and the tree's apples have no healing power but are described as England's most beautiful and delicious apples. The tree also is just affected by the weather in Narnia: When a storm whirls there the tree also is moved although the weather may be good in the real world.
The story ends with a foreshadowing of the next adventures: After many years the tree will be destroyed by a thunderstorm, and Digory makes a wardrobe out of its wood. This magical wardrobe will become the gate through which the next children will enter Narnia in the future.

I had few ideas of the Narnia series when I started reading this volume, and at first I was confused because I thought this would be the episode of the movie, but the contents didn't fit together. But then I looked it up and found out that the films are produced in order of publication of the novels, not of Lewis' suggested chronology.
When I started reading the novel I was quickly caught by the story: It is easy to read and reminded me of an extended version of a fairy tale. It's no simple children's book, a bit more complex indeed, but nevertheless leaves enough space for own imaginations. I especially liked how easy everything seems that happens here: Aslan creating Narnia is described as if it would be the simplest thing to do on earth.
The novel doesn't loose itself in focusing on details but packs a huge story in around 170 pages; you rarely find this in novels. Many authors would need additional 200 pages, but Lewis manages to create a complete plot with huge background universe with these few words - that may sound not impressing, but it's more difficult to describe complex worlds and stories with few words than the other way around. So you also never get bored because there is always happening something: You won't find passages where some details are described too closely what leaves imagination space for the reader. The phrases just have one meaning and indicate to what the reader shall see, and if you let out your fantasy you will be able to dive into this fairy tale world.
The story has a really wide and colourful view on many aspects: You not only have few but many actors, and many different things typical for a fantasy adventure are included: Magical creations of worlds, flights on mythical creatures like winged horses or the crowning of a king. The fact that everything is happening very fast guides you through the story very well and makes it possible to read through the entire novel in a few hours. I have spent half a day on it and got through it without problems - so you also don't need to spend too much time on it.I really can recommend it for a free day or when you're lying outside in summer, or when you have a calm winter evening and make yourself comfy on the couch with a cup of tea or hot chocolate. It's worth reading it, also if you're maybe not the biggest fan of alternative fairy tales and adventure stories. There is just one condition: You must be ready to accept a completely different and maybe unusual way of writing and storytelling - but don't worry, it's easy to get used to and become fascinated by it.
I give three of five possible stars to the novel and hope I have awakened your interest for the Narnia series. I also have planned to read the other stories and to write reviews about them, so look forward to the other projects~


See you next time with the second episode!~
Junsui

Novel & Movie review: The Wave

Good day, my dear readers!

Here comes a review about my latest project: This time I've chosen Morton Rhue's "The Wave" published in 1981. I think some of you maybe have heard about its story or have watched the movie, but now I also want to write about my impressions of both, the novel and the film. At first I'll summarize the main story based on the book and comment on it, and later I'll compare it with the movie version. So let's start!
(Annotation: I've read the novel in German, so sorry in case of confusing vocabulary...)

The edition of the novel I've read: From Ravensburger, published in 1997

The story has no single protagonist but describes the thoughts and actions of various persons: There is a group of pupils at Gordon High School, as well as the teacher Ben Ross plays an important role. At first the surroundings and the schoolchildren are introduced: The girl Laurie Sanders is the chief editor of the non-working school newspaper, her friend Amy Smith is always competing with her. David Collins, Laurie's boyfriend and an enthusiastic football player, as well as Brian Ammon, his good friend, also play important roles. Besides to this group of friends there is another boy with important meaning later in the story: The outsider Robert Billings. On the other hand the young and motivated teacher Ben Ross is one of the main characters. His main subject is history and he always tries to interest the pupils for his lessons by innovative teaching methods.
The action of the story rises when Ben Ross shows his course a documentary about nationalsocialism and the Nazi regime. Most of the children are shocked about the cruelity of the concentration camps, and the pupils are convinced that such a crime never could happen again in a democratic society; they also can't understand why the people haven't done something against the mass muder and followed the Reich without thinking for themselves. Laurie and Amy can't forget about the documentary also after the lesson at lunch break while David and Brian claim it is just history: It was disgusting and inhuman, but now the killing is over and never will happen again.
In the meantime Ben Ross isn't satisfied with the result of the lesson: He has moved the pupils, but they still didn't seem to have realized the meaning of the Nazis' mass murder. Moreover he wasn't able to answer some questions properly and now thinks about how he can make his pupils feel how it was to live in a nationalsocialist society. He starts reading lots of literature about the Third Reich and constructs a new stratetgy of teaching. In a first try he introduces his new lesson concept to the course, and surprisingly everybody agrees with trying it out - most of the children think it is just a game and a method of catching their interest for the historical content. The feedback is throughoutly positive, and Ben continues teaching in this more strict but also more effective way some more lessons until the pupils get used to it. The three leading slogans of the concept are "Strength through discipline!", "Strength through community!" and "Strength through action!".
Slowly the class realizes that they acheive bigger success by disciplined actions and supporting each other; the team spirit grows and also the outsider Robert Billings now becomes accepted in the group where every member is equal. Most pupils start working more precisely and do their homework, averagely the results improve; because everybody wants to contribute to the group's success. The negative effect is that the children just learn historical facts by heart without thinking about their meanings and the pros and cons of political systems - they don't learn to question history anymore but just regard everything as happened.
Ben Ross at first just wanted to spend some lessons for this project and then stop it again, but when he realizes it brings more success and better results he decides to continue it some longer. He also invents a symbol for the group: The Wave. The pupils start to greet each other with a wave-shaped hand movement, and Ben encourages his pupils to understand their community as a movement compared to a wave: Powerful, overwhelming and unstoppable. Although he knows it can't have a good effect on the children being under permanent control he becomes pleased by the power he receives in his position of the ultimate leader.
The project works without problems in the history class, but soon the situation starts to get out of control: More and more pupils also from other courses want to participate in the lessons and want to become a member of The Wave; besides to this the children continue with the group's principles also outside the lessons. For example David is fascinated about the power of the team spirit and wants to conduct it on the baseball team: He hopes then the team will improve and be successful in matches against other schools. The most remarkable positive improvement reveals when observing Robert Billings: He eagerly starts to work and gets better grades every time, and he also mentally profits from the acceptation of his comrades. He becomes the most important, nearly fanatic supporter of The Wave.
The longer the project continues, the more suspicious Laurie becomes about it: Is everything still a game, or has Ben lost control over the movement? The school seems split: Members of The Wave exclude other pupils and force them to participate, regard themselves as something better and more important. Laurie starts to disagree with the principles because she foreshadows the possible consequences - and starts suffering by herself: She gets into quarrels with her proponent Amy, and David even breaks up with her. Laurie feels the need to do something against the movement and decides to create a special edition of the school newspaper where she wants to open the readers' eyes for the true character of The Wave. The situation escalates when a jewish boy gets beaten by Wave members and parents start to complain about strange changes of their children. The director scolds Ben Ross several times and commands him to stop the project, but although Ben realizes he has gone too far he insists on continuing the project to a certain point: He wants the pupils to realize the destructive power and cruelity of the system by themselves - if a teacher tells them it was just a game and they now have to stop they wouldn't have learned "the maybe most important lesson of their life".
In the meantime the special edition of the school newspaper is published and causes uproar, but also leaves some pupils thoughtful. Suddenly not everybody still approves The Wave anymore, and Laurie receives an anonymus letter where a desparate younger schoolchild tells her about the pressure he suffered from when older Wave members tried to force him to participate. Ben's class, especially Robert who has become the leader's personal guard, sees potential of danger in the issue and wants to eliminate Laurie as an enemy. But then David starts to realize that it maybe was a mistake to break up with her just because of the project: Since the jewish boy was bullied he also became suspicious of The Wave. He decides to talk with his ex-girlfriend again, and when conferring about the results of the movement they come to the conclusion that Ben Ross needs to end The Wave. They visit their teacher in the evening and beg him for stopping the project, and Ben promises he has a plan to stop the fanatism - although he has lost control, is desperate and without idea himself in this moment. The pupils trust him a last time, and finally Ben comes up with a plan: The next day he announces that The Wave will become a part of a national youth movement with a higher leader; the contribution will be celebrated in the assembly hall the afternoon by a live stream in the TV on a wide screen. All members of The Wave come together at the meeting point, and now the most difficult part of the disillusion begins: Nobody appears on the screen, and when a pupil mentions this Ben explains that there is no leader and they have followed a hallucination. "You've lost the ability to think for yourselves and have become the same as the Nazis these days" - these words leave the pupils shocked, and after a few minutes the whole project of The Wave collapses and leaves confused and deeply moved children behind. Although everything seems to be alright again the resolving of the movement carries negative consequences: For example Robert Billings looses his improved position in the group and returns to his outsider role. The novel ends with Robert and Ben leaving the assembly hall because the teacher wants to explain everything closer to the boy - and Rhue leaves the reader with a sudden but resolved end.

In my opinion this novel is a very neatly work, and I would recommend it to everybody who wants to understand human social group behaviour and mass psychology better, as well as its impact on the Nazi society. It is written in an understandable language and can be read also by people who have few previous knowledge of the topic; moreover it's not too long and I've read through it within one day, approxmately I've needed five to six hours. Besides to the simple and relaxed way of reading the story instantly ties you up and you want to know how Ben Ross will solve the giant problem he has brought up - I was tense for the whole time, but in a more enjoyable way than like in crime or thriller literature. Nevertheless, the shocking fact is that the story is based on a real occassion that has happened in America and is no literary invention. So you should read this novel with the steady thought in your mind that this whole story is based on reality.
As a final conclusion I would rate this novel with five of five possible stars - realistic, shocking, tense! Absolutely worth reading!

The cover of the movie from 2008

Now the comparison of the novel and the movie! My first impression was that the film itself is made very good, but it completely differs from the original version. The main idea and the real background is still the same, but also because it's a German production all names and many details are changed; moreover the story doesn't take place in the 80's but in time around the publication date 2008, and includes more modern equipment etc.
Some closer comparisons: At first the names of the main characters were changed: The girls Amy and Laurie are now called Lisa and Caro, David and Robert became Marco and Tim, and Ben Ross is transformed in Rainer Wenger. At the beginning the pupils call the teacher by his first name, but when the Wave project gets more serious they change to the more formal Mr. Wenger - in the novel this authority was present all the time.
The idea for the autocracy lessons didn't arise from the usual history lessons but was called into life from a project week, most likely shortly before summer vacations. The pupils chose the class voluntarily, and also they haven't seen a documentation about the nazi regime but start discussing about it by themselves. As German pupils they already have had the knowledge about Hitler, in opposite to the American pupils in the novel.
The name of the movement isn't decided by the teacher but wins after a plenum vote before other suggestions. Caro/Laurie is not only the chief editor of the school's newspaper but also is the leader of a theatre group, and Marco doesn't play in a baseball but in a waterball team - moreover Mr. Wenger is his coach here. So the boy and the other main characters have an even stronger connection to him.
In the movie the class additionally decides to wear a "uniform": The next day everybody except the critical Caro and another girl appear in a white shirt - the other girl changes the class when the project becomes too suspicious to her. The novel doesn't pay much attention to this aspect that shall emphasize the feeling of solidarity of a group.
The strong connection between the members is highlighted much more in the film: There the "Wavers" are so convinced from their project that they start a graffiti spraying tour through the city - and Tim, the outsider who suddenly gets integrated, even risks his life when climbing up construction work scaffoldings to spray the symbol on a wall. All these details are completely left out in the novel.
Of course also some modernizations are used: Instead of printing an information flyer Tim creates an own homepage, and the younger boy complaining about being bullied appears as an anonymus comment in the internet, not as a letter in the editor's bureau.
I don't want to loose myself in too many details because the biggest and most important change was made with Robert alias Tim. While the novel doesn't focus on but depicts him as the outsider positively profiting from The Wave, he plays a more dramatic part here - the most dramatic part of the whole movie, I would say. The scene with the personal guardian also appears, but there are some other details added: One evening he flees from home and searches shelter at Mr. Wenger's house boat where he spend the evening with him and his wife. Tim is also the reason why the whole film becomes a tragedy instead of just staying a serious story: When Mr. Wenger ends the project his wonderful new world breaks down, but contrary to the novel he can't accept it but takes out a gun and forces the teacher to call The Wave back into life again. The situation escalates when he completely desparate shoots one of the boys, who doesn't die but later is taken to hospital and survived. Although Mr. Wenger tries his best to calm down Tim he isn't able to stop him from his final deed: He commits suicide by shooting himself in the mouth. The last scenes of the film show the arriving police, mentally broken pupils sitting on the street and Mr. Wenger being taken by the officers.
I would rate the similarity-differences quota as 20%-80%, but that only concerns the details and frame work, not the main story and the content. The message behind both the novel and the movie remains the same: Autocracy is still possible if we don't pay enough attention to what we are doing and when the movement gets out of control.
I also recommend the film as a very good depiction of the problem if you are more the type of watching a movie instead of reading a novel; all in all it gets four and a half of five possible stars from me.

No matter whether you decide in favour of reading the novel or watching the movie (or, in optimal case, both) - both ways are perfect for getting confronted in an easy and nevertheless educational way with a difficult and serious topic. I really recommend to read/watch it by yourself to get a better impression of what I want to indicate to.



You liked it? Let me know in the comments~

See you at my next project!
Junsui