Product Description

Are you traveling to Narnia? No matter if this is your first visit to C. S. Lewis's wonderful fantasy world or if you've been there many times, you'll want to bring along this handy companion to the landscape and inhabitants of Narnia, including an A-to-Z guide to characters, places, objects and events. From Narnia expert Colin Duriez you'll learn

• more about the mind behind Narnia
• how Narnia relates to other imaginative worlds and children’s literature
• about the history within the stories of Narnia
• how Narnia fits into Lewis's other work

Duriez also takes up some the sticky questions that you may be left wondering about, such as the destiny of Susan. His book will help you dig deeper into the series and its implications for understanding the Christian life.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #479843 in Books
• Published on: 2004-06-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .68" h x 5.54" w x 8.24" l, .61 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
"Since the books are now classics and since their creator has become one of the most pondered-over, written-about, analyzed and deconstructed authors of the twentieth century, the more curious reader will find it helpful and instructive to have a reliable guide on hand when exploring the lands that lie "between the lamp-post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea. "One could not wish for a better traveling companion than a preeminent commentator such as Colin Duriez, who combines a richly mined knowledge--sharply focused by wisdom and understanding--of both the world and the worlds of C. S. Lewis, and shares it with a passionate but clear-sighted enthusiasm that is as effortless as it is authoritative. "So before you step into that wardrobe (and remember, 'as every sensible person does, that you should never, never shut yourself in a wardrobe'), pop A Field Guide to Narnia in your pocket and you will undoubtedly see that land with new eyes, perhaps even respond to it with a new heart." (Brian Sibley, author of C. S. Lewis Through the Shadowlands )

"Colin Duriez in his Field Guide to Narnia provides profound insight into the brilliant mind and prolific writings of C. S. Lewis. By carefully interweaving the life experiences of Lewis with an analysis of his vast body of scholarly and popular works--especially his Chronicles of Narnia--Mr. Duriez provides the reader with new understanding and a strong motivation to read or reread this always fascinating Oxford Don." (Dr. Armand Nicholi, Jr., author of The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life )

From the Author
IVP: Describe your first experience with the Chronicles of Narnia.

Colin Duriez: I was a young adult when I discovered Lewis and started reading the Chronicles not long after discovering C. S. Lewis's writings. As soon as I followed Lucy into the snowy woods I was enchanted and quickly read the series. I immediately sensed the deeper meanings below the surface but enjoyed the stories as brilliantly told stories. IVP: What inspired you to write A Field Guide to Narnia?

Duriez: In the past I had written several books on Lewis or his friends, especially J. R. R. Tolkien. Increasingly it dawned on me that The Chronicles are perhaps Lewis's greatest achievements, likely still to be read in 50 or 100 years. Though written for children, they embody perhaps more than any other of his books the whole Lewis--the scholar as well as the storyteller. They are an outstanding example of an imaginative and gripping portrayal of Christian theology, in a league with John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress.

About the Author
Duriez was for many years general books editor for Inter-Varsity Press in Leicester, England. He currently offers acquisitions, editorial and project management services through his own business, InWriting, based in Leicester. He studied at the University of Instanbul, the University of Ulster (where he was a founding member of the Irish Christian Study Centre), and under Francis Schaeffer at L'Abri in Huemoz, Switzerland. He has held a variety of teaching and editorial posts spanning nearly thirty years. Duriez won the Clyde S. Kilby Award in 1994 for his research on the Inklings. He has published many articles, books and other written works, and he has spoken to a variety of literary, academic and professional groups. His best-known books include The C. S. Lewis Handbook (Monarch Publications/Baker Book House, 1990), the Tolkien and Middle-earth Handbook (Monarch Publications/Baker Book House/Angus and Roberston, 1992), The C. S. Lewis Encyclopedia (Crossway, 2000/SPCK, 2002), The Inklings Handbook (co-authored with David Porter, Azure/Chalice Books, 2001) and Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings (Azure/Hidden Spring, 2001).