Book Review: Inside Narnia

Each time I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I learn something new. This time, I read it for a book study and decided to finally read this guide that’s been sitting on my shelf since I picked it up in a thrift store. (Total sidenote, the book is signed! Cool! But it’s also signed “to Paul with my best wishes” so I’m incredibly curious who Paul is or was and how I ended up with his book.)

This guide has a short preface and introduction and then it dives straight into LWW for a chapter by chapter–and almost line by line–breakdown. Mr. Brown pairs a literary approach with tidbits of relevant and intriguing background information from Lewis’s life to lay out elements of Lewis’s classic story. He pulls in theories from other sources and makes connections within the book I have never considered before. He considers style and themes and the effects of Lewis’s real life experiences, thoughts, and beliefs. But even as he draws his own most likely conclusions, he leaves the concluding ultimately up to us. Mr. Brown gives us the tools, information, and dignity to form our own thoughts regarding the work, but to do so in an educated manner.

The book is an easy read, an interesting one (at least, for nerds like me XD). I chose to read a chapter of LWW and then the corresponding chapter of the guide, back and forth. It kept the original story fresh in my mind. But the guide also had clear indications of where Mr. Brown had drawn his sources from–books and pages and etc. if you’d rather just read through it and reference the original book as necessary.

The guide does include spoilers! So, don’t read this first! It even includes spoilers for the other books in the series, so again, know that going in! That said, I thought this was an absolutely fascinating guide and I am very glad to have read it. (Evidently this author is a teacher!? It must be amazing to sit in on one of his Lewis classes!!! That sounds like a bucket list item to me!) Mr. Brown writes clearly, explains well, and organizes the book excellently. I’m honestly not at all surprised he’s a teacher. I’m very keen to read the others in the series! I sure hope he’s done them all!

If you’re at all a fan of the Chronicles of Narnia, I’d most highly recommend this companion guide.

More: 

Inside Prince Caspian: A Guide to Exploring the Return to Narnia (5 Stars)

Inside The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: A Guide to Exploring the Journey Beyond Narnia

See the links to find more info on Goodreads! I do recommend that you have read the entire series of C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia before reading any of these commentaries. While I liked reading them in order, they could standalone as individual commentaries and be read in any order. 

On GraceBought

Check out my thoughts on Inside Prince Caspian here!