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Past Watchful Dragons: The Origin, Interpretation, and Appreciation of the Chronicles of Narnia
"I thought I saw how stories of this kind could steal past a certain inhibition which had paralysed much of my own religion in childhood. Why did one find it so hard to feel as one was told one ought to feel about God or about the sufferings of Christ? I thought the chief reason was that one was told one ought to. An obligation to feel can freeze feelings. And reverence itself did harm. The whole subject was associated with lowered voices, almost as if it were something medical. But supposing that by casting all these things into an imaginary world, stripping them of their stained-glass and Sunday school associations, one could make them for the first time appear in their real potency? Could one not steal past those watchful dragons? I thought one could." --C. S. Lewis on The Chronicles of Narnia (delete this keep dragons sentence in bold)
156 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1979
3 people are currently reading
128 people want to read
About the author
Walter Hooper
69 books19 followersWalter McGehee Hooper (b. 1931) is a trustee and literary advisor of the estate of C.S. Lewis. Born in Reidsville, North Carolina, he earned an M.A. in education and was an instructor in English at the University of Kentucky in the early 1960s. As a visitor to England, he served briefly (1963) as Lewis's private secretary when Lewis was in declining health. After Lewis's death in November 1963, Hooper devoted himself to Lewis's memory, eventually taking up residence in Oxford, England, where he now lives.
Hooper studied for the Anglican ministry and was ordained, serving as a chaplain and assistant priest in Oxford. He converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1988. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and symposia.
Hooper studied for the Anglican ministry and was ordained, serving as a chaplain and assistant priest in Oxford. He converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1988. He is a frequent speaker at conferences and symposia.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 12, 2015
Hooper too clearly is not only a Christian but almost idolatrous in his regard for Lewis, to the point where he interprets Aslan not as a fictional interpretation of Jesus but as a spot-on portrayal. Hooper never sees that unjust and cruel things take place in Narnia without the help of the villains; he draws a parallel between Edmund Pevensie and Judas Iscariot without noting that Edmund's "treachery" took place after a boy of ten had been fed magical candy which caused anyone who ate it to do anything for, if there was a chance of just one more taste. He keeps talking about how sublime and beautiful The Last Battle is, when I know for a fact that that is the book which angers more readers than any other, what with its mistreatment of Susan Pevensie and Lewis deciding that the end of the world made for the happiest possible ending. Moreover, Hooper keeps saying things like, "How can we help but love X?" without bothering to consider that some people might indeed find X unappealing, undesirable and, yes, unlovable.
The one interesting thing in the book was the "Lefay Fragment," an early opening to what later became The Magician's Nephew in which Polly Plummer's actions and words cause Digory Kirke to cut a branch off of a Talking Oak in his aunt's garden and lose the ability to understand the speech of plants, animals and birds. A woman in a garden tempting a man to do something that he knows he shouldn't do which will damage him spiritually. *snort* How original. Honestly, the best part was of Mrs. Lefay, Digory's godmother, who seems both clever and insightful.
But that really wasn't enough to compensate for Hooper's lack of critical thinking and lack of objective analysis. This was basically a set of essays by a fanboy who did not even think of writing critically about his friend's work; his focus was on praising his friend's skill while disregarding the idea that flaws even existed.
The one interesting thing in the book was the "Lefay Fragment," an early opening to what later became The Magician's Nephew in which Polly Plummer's actions and words cause Digory Kirke to cut a branch off of a Talking Oak in his aunt's garden and lose the ability to understand the speech of plants, animals and birds. A woman in a garden tempting a man to do something that he knows he shouldn't do which will damage him spiritually. *snort* How original. Honestly, the best part was of Mrs. Lefay, Digory's godmother, who seems both clever and insightful.
But that really wasn't enough to compensate for Hooper's lack of critical thinking and lack of objective analysis. This was basically a set of essays by a fanboy who did not even think of writing critically about his friend's work; his focus was on praising his friend's skill while disregarding the idea that flaws even existed.
January 16, 2021
This book is about the Chronicles of Narnia. It is about how CS Lewis came to write them and what some of the analogies are. Hooper was Lewis' secretary for some of his final months so he has some personal insights as well. What does the title mean? Lewis said that most churches try to teach children about God in an ineffective way, but he was able to put some thoughts about God in his stories...getting these thoughts about God past the watchful dragons in the church. For fans of Narnia, this is an interesting book.
June 1, 2020
Hooper gives some interesting personal antidotes (he was Lewis' secretary), but as a whole, I knew much of this already (Lewis' thoughts on mythology, not reading Lewis as allegory, etc.).
September 23, 2023
I wanted to read this book for decades but was unable to find a copy of it. Thankfully, print on demand is a thing and I have been able to finally read it. It was worth the wait, though I wish I could have read it earlier. Written by C.S. Lewis’ secretary (and eventually Literary Advisor to Estate of C.S. Lewis), this is a fascinating look into the creation of the Narnia books, and includes some rare manuscript fragments not published elsewhere.
June 30, 2014
I surprisingly knew most of the facts in this book already. Either I know more about Lewis than I thought I did, or Hooper kept it very basic in this little book.
I wish he would have put in more scholarly, academic research, but I feel he wanted to keep it accessible to a wider audience. The thing that booted this up to four stars for me, is that it's a great introduction to the Chronicles. Anyone who has read the seven books and wants to know a bit more about their background, and Lewis's character, and what he was sneakily doing with everything, should really find this text. I think I'll definitely end up recommending it to someone, but it is rather simple for die-hard Lewis fans like me.
I wish he would have put in more scholarly, academic research, but I feel he wanted to keep it accessible to a wider audience. The thing that booted this up to four stars for me, is that it's a great introduction to the Chronicles. Anyone who has read the seven books and wants to know a bit more about their background, and Lewis's character, and what he was sneakily doing with everything, should really find this text. I think I'll definitely end up recommending it to someone, but it is rather simple for die-hard Lewis fans like me.
May 19, 2018
I enjoyed this glimpse into unknown elements surrounding Lewis's Narnian Chronicles, including a timeline he wrote comparing the years of Narnia against the years of this world with some details that never made it into the books.
These include bits such as, "Narnian year 302: The Calormenes in Telmar behave very wickedly and Aslan turns them into dumb bears. The country lies waste. King Gale of Narnia delivers the Lone Islands from a dragon and is made Emperor by their grateful inhabitants." Meanwhile, in English years: "Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are born."
See? Now you have to read the book too, if only to discover these fascinating tidbits.
These include bits such as, "Narnian year 302: The Calormenes in Telmar behave very wickedly and Aslan turns them into dumb bears. The country lies waste. King Gale of Narnia delivers the Lone Islands from a dragon and is made Emperor by their grateful inhabitants." Meanwhile, in English years: "Eustace Scrubb and Jill Pole are born."
See? Now you have to read the book too, if only to discover these fascinating tidbits.
July 27, 2020
I think this book is a must-read for any Narnia fans. The beginning is a bit dense but if you work through it, the rest of this, relatively short book, is really rewarding. It has a full timeline of Narnia and the World (which you can now find online) and also early drafts of the original books. Walter Hooper has a keen insight to Lewis's life as his secretary and uses this to really build up a picture of Lewis's life with great depth. He has access to his notebooks as well as first-hand experiences. It does go into depth about the Christian allegory of the books which some readers might not want to engage with, but there's plenty of information in there for all types of Narnia readers.
October 25, 2018
Written in 1971, Hooper was C. S. Lewis secretary and friend. This is one of the first written about the Chronicles of Narnia and still one of the best.
July 24, 2024
I've adored the Narnia series ever since I first watched them back when I was 7 and knew no English. As time went on, and I finally read the Narnia Series in it's original language, I became more and more interested in what the author thought of the stories and how he wrote them. I came about reading this book with the interest of reading the few manuscripts that had survived (Lewis destroyed most of his manuscripts) and also the meaning behind the series. While I do not identify with the theological meaning of the series, it is still one of my favorite.
Walter Hooper was C. S. Lewis' secretary and he's the author of this book. The book consists of a collection of essays formatted into a book, with the intention of exploring and expanding on the Narnia universe and C. S. Lewis' imagination. What was most interesting to me was how one could sense Hooper's admiration for Lewis throughout the essays present in this book. He wrote up on what Lewis meant for/by the series and provided us with manuscripts previously upublished (an early version of Magician's Nephew and also the Narnian timeline as Lewis saw it).
However, I believe Hooper's admiration for Lewis and his own Christianity may have blinded him to the faults in both the characters and the story/message itself. Aslan, although meant to be portrayed as Goodness itself by a mixture of good and bad characteristics, is still an arrogant being who can be cruel to others. He is seen being mean to the children, being unjust to others in the world of Narnia, and allowing so many cruel things to take place in this world without interfering at any point in time (when he clearly could, he just didn't want to).
Also, what angers me to this day is how people speak of poor Edmund, who was forced to betray his siblings, he never wanted to. It is cruel how Susan is left behind for not believing in Narnia, I mean, isn't Aslan supposed to love all? But he allows Susan to suffer and be isolated solely because she is a non-believer? Doesn't sound right to me: he who loves all, loves all without exceptions. How can Aslan say he loves all when he clearly doesn't.
These are some of the points I believe Hooper missed due to his admiration of Lewis . Apart from these, it is inspiring to read Hooper's admiration for Lewis, as his prose is a most delicious read. His writting flows and he is extremely good at explanations. Something else I enjoyed was how Hooper would cite all of the sources and books he mentioned: it's extremely well organized and produced academic work.
Although made for academic purposes, I do believe anyone who enjoys the Narnia series should have a read of this book!
Walter Hooper was C. S. Lewis' secretary and he's the author of this book. The book consists of a collection of essays formatted into a book, with the intention of exploring and expanding on the Narnia universe and C. S. Lewis' imagination. What was most interesting to me was how one could sense Hooper's admiration for Lewis throughout the essays present in this book. He wrote up on what Lewis meant for/by the series and provided us with manuscripts previously upublished (an early version of Magician's Nephew and also the Narnian timeline as Lewis saw it).
However, I believe Hooper's admiration for Lewis and his own Christianity may have blinded him to the faults in both the characters and the story/message itself. Aslan, although meant to be portrayed as Goodness itself by a mixture of good and bad characteristics, is still an arrogant being who can be cruel to others. He is seen being mean to the children, being unjust to others in the world of Narnia, and allowing so many cruel things to take place in this world without interfering at any point in time (when he clearly could, he just didn't want to).
Also, what angers me to this day is how people speak of poor Edmund, who was forced to betray his siblings, he never wanted to. It is cruel how Susan is left behind for not believing in Narnia, I mean, isn't Aslan supposed to love all? But he allows Susan to suffer and be isolated solely because she is a non-believer? Doesn't sound right to me: he who loves all, loves all without exceptions. How can Aslan say he loves all when he clearly doesn't.
These are some of the points I believe Hooper missed due to his admiration of Lewis . Apart from these, it is inspiring to read Hooper's admiration for Lewis, as his prose is a most delicious read. His writting flows and he is extremely good at explanations. Something else I enjoyed was how Hooper would cite all of the sources and books he mentioned: it's extremely well organized and produced academic work.
Although made for academic purposes, I do believe anyone who enjoys the Narnia series should have a read of this book!
March 5, 2022
If you are not a Christian or at least familiar with Christian theology or tradition, this book will probably be confusing to you.
As an avid fan of Lewis’ fiction and non-fiction, this book gave great insight into the thought behind Lewis’ fantastical world of Narnia. Lewis’ theology and didacticism is simultaneously candid and pleasant. Lewis said we could really only understand God and the mysteries of the faith in a mythological way. We are fallible beings trying our darndest to comprehend an infallible one. Narnia was a wonderful way to bring that imagery to life. He also conveys our pilgrim duty to heaven by way of a children’s book of all things. Genius.
Walter was also a personal family friend of ours so it was delightful reading a book he wrote. So many conversations we had about Lewis in person are condensed into this little book.
As an avid fan of Lewis’ fiction and non-fiction, this book gave great insight into the thought behind Lewis’ fantastical world of Narnia. Lewis’ theology and didacticism is simultaneously candid and pleasant. Lewis said we could really only understand God and the mysteries of the faith in a mythological way. We are fallible beings trying our darndest to comprehend an infallible one. Narnia was a wonderful way to bring that imagery to life. He also conveys our pilgrim duty to heaven by way of a children’s book of all things. Genius.
Walter was also a personal family friend of ours so it was delightful reading a book he wrote. So many conversations we had about Lewis in person are condensed into this little book.
December 28, 2020
Although this book a is composite of articles (and shows it) it is an essential reference for those who wish to know more about the origin of the Narnia books. Walter Hooper worked for Lewis for the last few years of his life, and as such knew him very well. As well as anecdotes and personal details Hooper mounts a strong case against treating Narnia as an allegory, insisting that Lewis was intending a more subtle presentation of his religious views that that.
August 27, 2024
Interesting to hear all this from someone who knew Lewis and his writing career personally.
My experience of reading this book was akin to that of 2001 A Space Odyssey. Both are the source of so much of what follows them in their respective genres, Sci-if and Lewis scholarship, that unless you read them first they feel trite and unoriginal. I know this is the opposite of the truth and yet it did detract from my reading experience to some extent.
My experience of reading this book was akin to that of 2001 A Space Odyssey. Both are the source of so much of what follows them in their respective genres, Sci-if and Lewis scholarship, that unless you read them first they feel trite and unoriginal. I know this is the opposite of the truth and yet it did detract from my reading experience to some extent.
March 22, 2021
I really enjoyed this little book -- more than I thought I would. I've read and taught The Chronicles of Narnia several times and figured this book would reinforce things I already knew and perhaps offer a couple of new insights; however, it was a little treasurebox of anecdotes on characters, timelines, and storylines from Narnia. I'm so glad I read it!
July 31, 2023
Worth reading for any Lewis, and especially Narnia, fan.
August 8, 2016
I didn't learn much. Even though I've read several Narnia books I still expected to get more out of this. It tells how Lewis used his stories to "sneak" Christian truths past the "watchful dragons" of those with an unfavorable opinion of Christianity, using fairy tales as the vehicle. It says that we shouldn't press the Chronicles for direct parallels; they're meant to be stories infused with morals that plant the seeds of Christianity, not be one-to-one parallels.
Author Hooper is a Lewis authority; he was Lewis' biographer, and was Lewis' secretary near the end of Lewis' life.
I read this because it was referenced in Inside Narnia by Devin Brown.
Quotes
Author Hooper is a Lewis authority; he was Lewis' biographer, and was Lewis' secretary near the end of Lewis' life.
I read this because it was referenced in Inside Narnia by Devin Brown.
Quotes
"But such parallels, variously transfigured as they are in Narnia, are not what the books are about. Indeed, I do not think it is specially the identifiable biblical elements which cause us to regard the Narnian stories as Christian books. Almost every page of every book is suffused throughout with moral substance of a quality which I don't believe anyone, whatever his beliefs, could fairly object to."Lewis said,
"Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him? But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about the other people are. We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him."The last is an interesting quote when considering Emeth, though I don't agree with Lewis' view of alternative (non-Christian) paths to Heaven.
August 16, 2013
I know I read this book when I bought it (probably just after the last time I re-read the Narnia books)and it must have been interesting, useful or entertaining given that I kept it, but I can't remember any details.
Now Mount Toobie is so high that a re-read is unlikely, I desperately need a clear out, and it so happens I've had a call for religious books so it's time to send it travelling. I've therefore registered it on Bookcrossing and thought I might as well note it on here too.
Now Mount Toobie is so high that a re-read is unlikely, I desperately need a clear out, and it so happens I've had a call for religious books so it's time to send it travelling. I've therefore registered it on Bookcrossing and thought I might as well note it on here too.
July 21, 2016
A work colleague (who is a truly epic guy and person in general) recommended I read this just for a deeper feel for Narnia and Lewis in general.
It turns out that it is 80%, 'An Idiot's Guide to Barnia' - it was okay, but Walter Hooper was largely getting a little too excitable. If anything, it was interesting to flesh out my understanding of Lewis' ideologies and how it shaped his views of the world (even if I think most of it was a little on the belligerent side).
It turns out that it is 80%, 'An Idiot's Guide to Barnia' - it was okay, but Walter Hooper was largely getting a little too excitable. If anything, it was interesting to flesh out my understanding of Lewis' ideologies and how it shaped his views of the world (even if I think most of it was a little on the belligerent side).
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews