{"product_id":"planet-narnia-the-seven-heavens-in-the-imagination-of-c-s-lewis-280422","title":"Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C S Lewis","description":"As seen on *BBC Knowledge* 22\/3\/10.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor over half a century, scholars have laboured to show that C. S. Lewis's famed but apparently disorganised*Chronicles of Narnia*have an underlying symbolic coherence, pointing to such possible unifying themes as the seven sacraments, the seven deadly sins, and the seven books of Spenser's*Faerie Queene.*None of these explanations has won general acceptance and the structure of Narnia's symbolism has remained a mystery.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e Michael Ward has finally solved the enigma. In*Planet Narnia*he demonstrates that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to the seven novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings (including previously unpublished drafts of the*Chronicles),*Ward reveals how the Narnia stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets - - Jupiter, Mars, Sol, Luna, Mercury, Venus, and Saturn - - planets which Lewis described as \"spiritual symbols of permanent value\" and \"especially worthwhile in our own generation\". Using these seven symbols, Lewis secretly constructed the*Chronicles*so that in each book the plot-line, the ornamental details, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality. The cosmological theme of each Chronicle is what Lewis called 'the kappa element in romance', the atmospheric essence of a story, everywhere present but nowhere explicit. The reader inhabits this atmosphere and thus imaginatively gains*connaître*knowledge of the spiritual character which the tale was created to embody.  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e *Planet Narnia*is a ground-breaking study that will provoke a major revaluation not only of the*Chronicles,*but of Lewis's whole literary and theological outlook. Ward uncovers a much subtler writer and thinker than has previously been recognized, whose central interests were hiddenness, immanence, and knowledge by acquaintance.","brand":"Koorong","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51560963506463,"sku":"9780195313871","price":48.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0925\/8981\/8143\/files\/9780195313871_5890.jpg?v=1769126544","url":"https:\/\/koorong.com\/products\/planet-narnia-the-seven-heavens-in-the-imagination-of-c-s-lewis-280422","provider":"Koorong","version":"1.0","type":"link"}