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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Dummy no more Sep 15, 2008
Great book!! Every question you thought you had about C.S.Lewis+ those never even thought to ask, answered in EASY-FUN to read art piece of a book.
Amazon is thee only place to purchase books. Used like NEW for penneys on a dollar & NO gas bill!!
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Great book with great info! Jul 22, 2008
I wanted this to help me understand Chronicles of Narnia, and love that it comes with info about C.S. Lewis. "For Dummies" always presents information in a fun way and this is no exception. Another great resource book.
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
 Note which comes first in the title. May 25, 2008
"C. S. Lewis and Narnia for Dummies" was timed to capitalize on the first Narnia film. It assumes, though, that the reader is seeking solely spiritual guidance and not critical insight and is more interested in the author than his best-known work. That limits its usefulness.
Wagner covers the characters and how they embody Christian values and human frailties in great detail, examining point-by-point how readers can identify with their great deeds and mistakes and apply the lessons they learn to one's own everyday life. (A discussion of how the dwarves of "The Last Battle" represent modern cynicism is particularly good.) The author's knowledge of Lewis's personal life lends insight (Jill Pole's rough experiences in her "experimental school" were based on Lewis's own in a similar institution; Digory's quest to save his ill mom was wish-fulfillment for Lewis, whose own mother was not so lucky). And hey - there's even a recipe for Turkish Delight!
The author's a bit weak, though, when it comes to the plots - each individual Narnia book receives the briefest of outlines (less than a page). At times, this leaves his analysis of Narnia's spiritiual lessons a bit facile; he would have been wise to cut some of the pages belaboring how, yes, Aslan is meant as an analog to Jesus in favor of exploring specific meaningful moments, like Puddleglum's "I will live like a Narnian even if there is no Narnia" speech. Also unexamined are Lewis's views on Islam as depicted through the Calormenes (no "Tash is Aslan; Aslan is Tash" here) and the Problem of Susan debacle. Both are significant, frequent fodder for challenges to the books, yet Davis elides them; judging from his tone and focus, I'd conclude that's he's perhaps loathe to present theories to which he does not subscribe or which present Lewis in a less-than-ideal light, even if only to defend him. Readers can wish to explore Lewis's allegory without fully agreeing with its perspective, and I wish this author hadn't chosen to limit his viewpoint.
Also, the book is called "C. S. Lewis and Narnia for Dummies" for a reason, as it's more dedicated to the former. The first couple chapters are an introductory paean to what a swell guy Lewis was personally, and the second half deals with Lewis's other works - Screwtape, his books on his conversion to Christianity, and so forth. (Only about 100 of the book's 350 pages deal with Narnia.) Wagner's work is, again, thorough and slightly evangelical. It's questionable, though, how much of this will be of interest to a ...for Dummies reader; these works are of a different nature, written for a different audience, and reading through Narnia is a task in itself. The level of detail - down to an exhaustive enumeration of Lewis's famous friends and his own favorite authors - is overwhelming; this is more for those already obsessed than those seeking an introduction to Lewis and Narnia.
Perhaps, then, this book shouldn't have been published under the Dummies label; it's not for a general audience lured in by a mass-market movie. If your church is planning a Narnia read-along, this book'll provide plenty of discussion ideas, but it's too vague for book-by-book discussion. If you want (much) more info on C. S. Lewis and his other writings, have at it. Those looking for a little light shone on the message of Narnia specifically, though, might look elsewhere.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Great Information Dec 18, 2007
Other than a few editing errors (such as using contractions all the time--Aslan's coming to Narnia), I have found this book to be very factual and informative about C.S. Lewis and the series itself. The author has definitely done his homework. I teach a writing class for junior high students using the Chronicles of Narnia and found the information in this book very interesting to read. I have learned a few more things about Lewis and how he thought, which makes the Chronicles even more fun to read.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
very clear, impressive and thoughtful Dec 10, 2007
This is the first book of Richard Wagner I have read. What a impressive and thoughtful it is! Very enthusiastic and at the same time easy-to-follow. I am going to use this book as a text for my sunday school class.
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