Following the appearance of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1950, C. S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia have enchanted children and adults alike for over half a century. In The Lion’s World, Archbishop Rowan Williams now explores the moral landscape of all seven novels in the series, and offers an astute guide to their spiritual subtext. He draws on significant aspects of their author’s life and thought, and on key themes in his other novels, painting a richly textured picture of his aims and achievements. At the same time, Williams gently but firmly rebuts those critics who have charged Lewis with sexism, racial stereotyping and the glorification of violence. Whether you have read the whole Narnia series or simply enjoyed one of the films, The Lion’s World is a rewarding and ultimately joyful read – one that will send you back to the novels with a more refined sense of their subtle literary artistry, and the powerful spiritual insights they contain.
Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963), commonly referred to as C. S. Lewis and known to his friends and family as “Jack”, was a novelist, poet, academic, medievalist, literary critic, essayist, lay theologian and Christian apologist from East Belfast. Lewis’s works have been translated into more than 30 languages and have sold millions of copies. The books that make up The Chronicles of Narniahave sold the most and have been popularised on stage, TV, radio and cinema.
Little Lea, home of the Lewis family from 1905 to 1930
At the age of four, shortly after his dog Jacksie was killed by a car, Lewis announced that his name was now Jacksie. At first he would answer to no other name, but later accepted Jack, the name by which he was known to friends and family for the rest of his life. When he was seven, his family moved into “Little Lea”, the family home of his childhood, in the Strandtown area of East Belfast.
I am the product of long corridors, empty sunlit rooms,
upstair indoor silences, attics explored in solitude,
distant noises of gurgling cisterns and pipes,
and the noise of wind under the tiles. Also, of endless books.”
Lewis then attended Campbell College in the east of Belfast about a mile from his home, but he left after a few months due to respiratory problems. Exactly 10 years ago , on Wednesday 7th August 2002,I tried to preserve Bernagh, the nearby home of Arthur Greeves, one of Lewis’s closest friends, but was thwarted by the Civil Servants (the BD) at Stormont. There is, however, a fine CS Lewis exhibition close to Campbell College, Little Lea and the site of Benagh. This is at Belmont Tower, Belmont Road, the Trustees of whom have as their Chairman, Helen Brooker of the Ullans Academy.