The Chronicles of Narnia

The book I read to research this post was C S Lewis & Narnia for Dummies by Richard Wagner which is an excellent book which I bought from amazon. The initials in C S Lewis stand for Clive Staples but he was nicknamed Jack & preferred that name. He was born in Belfast in 1898 & when his mother died when he was just 10 years old of cancer he was sent to a string of boarding schools. His dad was distraught at her death but eventually agreed to both his sons having a personal tutor at home. This tutor was a good influence especially on Jack & in particular helped develop his debating skills. Jack served in the trenches in World War 1 but got discharged from the army due to getting injured. He then did a degree at Oxford University & then went on to do a masters degree. He got a job as a don which is a teacher who works 1 to 1 with students. He didn't enjoy teaching he preferred reading although he remained in a teaching capacity for the rest of his life. He went on to become a professor at Cambridge. Most writers stick to one genre but Jack's work encompasses a wide variety. He even wrote a sci fi trilogy although The Chronicles of Narnia sold more than all his other books put together. Initially they received a mixed response, many thought they were too scary for children & didn't like the religious symbolism. Lewis claims they weren't a religious allegory but were influenced by religion. He was very religious & wrote many books on the subject. There are 7 books in the Narnia series & when he wrote the first book had not planned the other books. Jack died on the same day that John F Kennedy was shot, a few weeks short of his 65 th birthday.