The Narnia Code: C. S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens

217 Pages·2010·1.55 MB·English

by  Michael Ward

Praise for Planet Narnia
“With Planet Narnia, Michael Ward has established himself not only as the
foremost living Lewis scholar, but also as a brilliant writer. . . . His cumulative
case for reading the Narnia books in terms of the planets is overwhelming. . . .
This introduction to a masterpiece is something of a masterpiece in its own
right.”
Times Literary Supplement
“[Planet Narnia] is, to all appearances, a gamble of presumptuous proportions;
but it pays off powerfully and persuasively . . . [Ward] makes a marvellous case
. . . profound . . . striking . . . brilliant.”
The Independent on Sunday
“An argument which is at once subtle and sensible, a combination not often
found in modern academic writing. . . . This is an outstanding guide not only to
Narnia, but also to Lewis’s thinking as a whole, and to the ‘genial’ medieval
world-view which he so much loved.”
Books & Culture
“I cannot contain my admiration. No other book on Lewis has ever shown such
comprehensive knowledge of his works and such depth of insight. This will
make Michael Ward’s name.”
Walter Hooper, Literary adviser to the Estate of C. S. Lewis and author of
C. S. Lewis, A Companion and Guide
“Noting Michael Ward’s claim that he has discovered ‘the secret imaginative
key’ to the Narnia books, the sensible reader responds by erecting a castle of
skepticism. My own castle was gradually but utterly demolished as I read this
thoughtful, scholarly, and vividly-written book.”
Alan Jacobs, Professor of English at Wheaton College and author of The
Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis
“Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia is an example of a very rare species: a work of
literary detection which, despite the breathtaking daring of its central thesis, is
utterly convincing and compelling. . . . The pieces fall into place with the
combined thrill of an aesthetic, intellectual and spiritual satisfaction. . . . Reading
the Narnia books will, in the best sense, never be the same again—not that
anything will be lost, but that an entire new layer of understanding will be
present.”
N. T. Wright, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the
University of St. Andrews and author of Surprised by Hope
“Michael Ward presents an absorbing, learned analysis of C. S. Lewis’s
bestselling and beloved series, the Chronicles of Narnia. Readily accessible to
the average reader, Ward’s book reads so much like a detective story that it’s
difficult to put down.”
Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
and author of The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud
“This feat of scholarly detective work will absorb your attention from start to
finish. Michael Ward proposes a heretofore unnoticed structure that unifies the
Chronicles of Narnia, based on Lewis’s lifelong engagement with medieval
astrology. . . . The result is both surprising and persuasive.”
Christianity Today
“Brilliantly conceived. Intellectually provocative. Rhetorically convincing. A
panegyric is not the usual way to begin a book review, but Michael Ward’s
Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C. S. Lewis is worthy
of such praise. I do not mean to suggest it is a perfect book, yet what Ward
attempts—the first rigorously comprehensive reading of C. S. Lewis’s
Chronicles of Narnia—is magisterial . . . stimulating and engaging . . . important
. . . thoughtful, informed, perceptive. . . . Every serious student of Lewis should
buy Planet Narnia. In effect, it is the starting point from now forward for all
serious scholarly discussions of the Chronicles of Narnia.”
Christianity and Literature
“An exciting synthesis of mystery story and literary scholarship . . . Ward is a
master code-breaker. . . . He reveals previously overlooked connections by
means of both broad brush-strokes and intricate details. . . . This procedure
results in a grand literary adventure through the cosmos and through a great
writer’s mind. . . . If more scholars wrote such enchanting prose and discovered
such compelling secrets, we would take volumes of literary criticism to the
beach for summer reading.”
Sehnsucht: The C. S. Lewis Journal
Visit Tyndale’s exciting Web site at www.tyndale.com.
TYNDALE and Tyndale’s quill logo are registered trademarks of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
The Narnia Code: C. S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens
Narnia is a trademark of C. S. Lewis (Pte) Ltd.
Copyright © 2010 by Michael Ward. All rights reserved.
Based on the book Planet Narnia, previously published by Oxford University Press under ISBN 978-0-19-531387-1. Visit
www.planetnarnia.com.
North American edition published with permission of Paternoster, a division of Authentic Media, Ltd.
Cover photograph of lion copyright © memoossa/stock.xchng. All rights reserved.
Cover photograph of sky copyright © by Sabine Fischer/phoenixstudios.de. All rights reserved.
Chapter opener illustrations by Timothy Botts. Copyright © by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.
Astronomy diagram from Cosmographia by Peter Apian, c. 1585.
The Jupiter by Hans Sebald Beham. Copyright © by The Warburg Institute. All rights reserved.
Photograph of Mars mural copyright © Floriano Rescigno/iStockphoto. All rights reserved.
Photograph of Apollo Sauroctonus by The Warburg Institute.
Photograph of Luna by The Warburg Institute.
Photograph of Mercury by kind permission of Christ Church, Oxford. Photograph by Michael Ward.
Venus painting by Bartholomeus van der Helst.
Photograph of Father Time by Carol Highsmith.
Illustration of Wisemen by Gustave Dore, The Dore Bible Illustrations. Copyright © by Dover Publications. All rights
reserved.
Author photo copyright © 2010 by William Clayton, www.williamclayton.com. All rights reserved.
Designed by Erik M. Peterson
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright ©
1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the
United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version.
Scripture quotations marked The Message are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994,
1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
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Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version.® Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
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Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ward, Michael, date.
The Narnia code : C.S. Lewis and the secret of the seven heavens / Michael Ward.
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Planet Narnia.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4143-3965-8 (sc)
1. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Chronicles of Narnia. 2. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963—Religion.
3. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963—Knowledge and learning. I. Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Planet
Narnia. II. Title.
PR6023.E926Z944 2010
823'.912—dc22 2010029274
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