Further Up & Further In: Understanding Narnia
by: Joseph Pearce (autographed by the author)
Book Description: (hardback) Further Up & Further In: Understanding Narnia by acclaimed Catholic author Joseph Pearce invites readers to return with the eyes of an adult to C.S. Lewis’ magical land entered through that most important wardrobe in literary history.
Beloved by generations of readers, The Chronicles of Narnia are thought, erroneously, by some to be “mere children’s stories.” In this volume, Pearce thoroughly debunks the error as he skillfully explains why there is nothing “mere” about such stories.
Rather, the Narnia books contain profound insights concerning the human condition. Pearce, however, goes beyond even that and illuminates the deeper riches and profound truths found therein: the highest truths, in fact, those concerning God.
Join Pearce as he explores the “grown-up” themes that are so important for a proper understanding of Lewis’ magnificent creation, including the deep and profound Christian symbolism, extensive literary allusions, and the constant theme of temptation, sin, and redemption.
The author of numerous literary works and an authority on the writings of Lewis, Chesterton, and Tolkien, Pearce is uniquely qualified to examine the deeper theological, philosophical, and historical dimensions of the Chronicles.
With Pearce as your guide, “return to Narnia,” and come to understand in new and profound ways that place which has so marked the imaginative landscape of so many. Rediscover your love for Narnia, because “wardrobes are for grown-ups too.”
About the Author:
Joseph Pearce is the author of over twenty books, including Race with the Devil, Frodo’s Journey, Merrie England, and biographies of Hilaire Belloc, C.S. Lewis, Roy Campbell, and G.K. Chesterton. He is Senior Editor at the Augustine Institute, a Senior Contributor of The Imaginative Conservative, and the Tolkien & Lewis Chair in Literary Studies for Holy Apostles College and Seminary.
Reviews:
It is by far the best (most readable, most mature, most profoundly wise, and most wonder-full, i.e. most Lewisian) of the plethora of books written about the Chronicles of Narnia.
—Peter Kreeft, Professor of philosophy at Boston College, prolific author, and C.S Lewis scholar.
Both Tolkien and Lewis believed that a book that was only worth reading by children was probably not worth reading at all. In this accessible study, Joseph Pearce helps lovers of Narnia to understand that the sense of child-like innocence, wonder, humility, and gratitude that draws us to the Chronicles is proof, not that we’ve entered a second childhood, but that we’ve matured into true adults.
— Louis Markos, Professor in English and Scholar in Residence, Houston Baptist University and author of On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis.
