The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis
Finished: 3.9.10

Many of my favorite books have been made into films and more often than not, I've either read the book long before the idea of putting it to film was even considered, or upon hearing of the intent of making a book into a movie, I read it in advance. This book has not yet been made into a major motion picture (I can't speak to whether an obscure film or t.v. movie have been made of it), but two of the books in the series have. I have seen them both and read neither. Both movies were so wonderful that it shamed me never to have read the series.

This book is the first in The Chronicles of Narnia and having finally finished it, I can see why movies were made. The first book is a magical story about a boy and a land not of our world. As I've noticed in more recent reads, there is a definite religious undertone. No, undertone intimates that it is subtle, a suggestion, but that understates it. It is clearly religious in content, but not in a manner that is stifling.

What I love most about the book is that religion and magic are allowed to exist in the same plane. Also that it is wrought with unexpected heroes, and points out that being good isn't an easy thing to do, even for those who are mostly innocent and mostly good at heart. For me, that makes the religious bit palatable, almost inviting. The story is well written, the language is rather wonderful, and the imagery quite fantastic. I'm eager to start the next in the series, to find out what the rest of the story is. And it would really be something if they made this one into a film as well.