The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
by C. S. Lewis · first published 1950
23% recommend74% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Children's fantasy set in a magical land reached through a wardrobe. Its logic lesson with the Professor and its Turkish Delight and Bible parallels are central to the story.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Four adventurous siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie—step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia, a land frozen in eternal winter and enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a great change . . . and a great sacrifice. Journey into the land beyond the wardrobe! The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book in C. S. Lewis's classic fantasy series, which has been captivating readers of all ages for over sixty years. This is a stand-alone novel, but if you would like journey back
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…books for my kids. - My parents put a bunch of art books about famous artists on the shelf: Davinci, Michelangelo, Van Gogh, etc. - Narnia series by C.S. Lewis. They also make a graphic novel of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. - Dinotopia by James Gurney There's a lot I'm leaving out but those are a good start. I'd also look for recs from mom-and-pop bookstores and your child's school if you are able.
on “AI is coming for your children” ↗There are many, but one is The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I read it as a child, and it was the first time I thought about logical thinking. Here is the section: “Logic!" said the Professor half to himself. "Why don't they teach logic at these schools? There…
on “Ask HN: Which non-technology book has influenced you the most and why?” ↗Fiction: I am fan of The Fountainhead, though I still have fond memories of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe from when I was younger. Nonfiction: So many good ones, but I think Surely your joking, Mr. Feynman! is probably the top.
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗…(and to some extent, it definitely is), but I've really enjoyed reading and re-reading some books with Vladimir Nabokov's lecture notes[0] guiding my own. I'd love to get my hands on that copy of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" with David Foster Wallace's annotations shown in the header image! Great book, great author. [0]: http://www.amazon.com/Lectures-Literature-Vladimir-Nabokov/d...
on “A Weapon for Readers (2014)” ↗Think about the Bible when reading the Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, it’s well worthwhile reading it again. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/24865379
on “Tolkien Expressed a “Heartfelt Loathing” for Walt Disney” ↗the lion the witch and the wardrobe was recommended by my mom at a young age (1st grade?), read it a bunch of times in grade school (went to same school K-8 so had access to the same library). I should probably reread that whole series…
on “Ask HN: What is your comfort book?” ↗…Twits, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory/The Great Glass Elevator (not as good) My Side of the Mountain No More Dead Dogs The Secret Garden Bridge to Terabithia (Deals with death, a little older) The Lion, the witch, and the wardrobe Across five Aprils (civil war historical fiction, older) The Broken Blade (Voyageur) & Sequel Island of the blue dolphins The witch of blackbird pond Johnny Tremaine (a bit older) The sign of the…
on “The original “Bambi”” ↗"The Twits" was a favorite of my younger kids. I recently read "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" to them, and they loved it. Of course we had to make Turkish Delight after learning about it in the book. Other winners include: Redwall series, The Wingfeather Saga, Artemis Foul series, The Phantom…
on “Ask HN: Books your kids like most” ↗The Canterbury Tales, Dante's Inferno, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Paradise Lost, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. That's just off the top of my head. I wouldn't totally dismiss "inspired by the Bible". As a category, I mean. On the other hand life is short, and we'll never even scratch the surface of the interesting…
on “On the Digestion of Great Books” ↗Not even a drink, but: reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child led me down a similar path with regard to Turkish Delight.
on “Horlicks, a drink Brits go to bed with and Indians wake up with” ↗…like you made the change to a step function. I think you have the direction wrong. Consider C. S. Lewis. I don't think he wrote 150K words per year for almost 5 years to produce the 36K words for The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Lewis was also an essayist. Take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis_bibliography for the many essays not included in your list. In fact, the bio says "His most distinguished and popular…
on “Show HN: Site calculates how long it takes famous authors to write books” ↗…that the style of 1950s is so much different from that of 2020s. (For reference, 1950 was the year of publication of Asimov's "I, Robot" collection of stories published earlier, or C. S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"; Greene's The Third Man and Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four were published the previous year.) In what sense is the sentence fragment you quoted not modern English? You gave an example of what you're not…
on “Thomas Aquinas' works with English and original Latin presented in parallel” ↗>Did the emergency policy lend more digital books than the number of physical books locked in libraries? We'll probably never know, but I think that was the logic. The most checked out book, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, had ~850 check outs. I think it's safe to assume they didn't come close to the amount of physical books locked in libraries. Not that it's very important, the pandemic policy isn't mentioned in this…
on “Judge Decides Against Internet Archive” ↗…you explain in detail how Grindr is an important part of Suzy's safe sex education Not particularly, but it's a moot question. It's not part of her sex ed. It's on a book shelf. We don't ask why The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is an important part of Suzy's anything when we concur with it being available. Same here. Turning the question around, what's the harm in Suzy going into a library, picking up this book and learning…
on “Leaked government document shows Spain wants to ban end-to-end encryption” ↗I will admit I have been mistrustful of Lewis since I was a small child. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was my first in memory experience of feeling like the author had attempted to put one over on me, with this Aslan business. I wanted to read a fantasy book, not a lecture in a RenFaire outfit. Indeed,…
on “Inner Ring – CS Lewis” ↗