Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C S Lewis

Hailed as "an outstanding guide not only to*Narnia*, but also to Lewis's thinking as a whole" by*Books and Culture*and as "absorbing...serious...rich...a brilliant work to be savored, read often and kept at hand when re-reading Lewis's novels" by*The Catholic Register*, this superb book argues convincingly that medieval cosmology, a subject which fascinated C.S. Lewis throughout his life, provides the imaginative key to understanding the seven*Narnia*novels. Drawing on the whole range of Lewis's writings (including previously unpublished drafts of the*Chronicles*), Ward shows that the*Narnia*stories were designed to express the characteristics of the seven medieval planets--the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter 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 the story-line in each book, countless points of ornamental detail, and, most important, the portrayal of the Christ-figure of Aslan, all serve to communicate the governing planetary personality.Read less