by Sven » July 13th, 2005, 9:02 pm
Well, the fifth edition arrived today in the mail. I haven't had enough time to go through it completely, but I'll give my first impressions.
The preface to the fifth edition is excellent, and the Introduction has been greatly expanded. It is now a superb short essay on Lewis and the writing of the Chronicles. Ford even includes his arguements for a 245-3-617 reading order, with the first three by Lewis the Storyteller, then the 'pivotal story' of The Horse and His Boy, followed by the last three by Lewis the Moral Educator.
There are six appendices, number five being Doris Myers' wonderful essay 'The Compleat Anglican', and number 6 being an atlas with 11 diagrams, including some displaying the topographical relationships between Aslan's Country, The Wood between the Worlds, and the various worlds (including Narnia, Earth, & Charn).
I'll have to read the book in detail to see what else is new or improved. There seems to be more information on the variations between the English editions and the pre-94 American editions.
The only disappointment I had was there is very little mention of 'The Lefay Fragment'. I had hoped the estate would permit it to be copied in this edition. The only mention of it I see is a footnote in the Introduction, and a entry in Appendix one, the order of composition and publication. That leaves the only place to read the fragment being Past Watchful Dragons, which is out of print and copies of which are very pricey.
Other than that quibble, so far, it looks really good.
Rat! he found breath to whisper, shaking. Are you afraid?
Afraid? murmured the Rat, his eyes shining with unutterable love.
Afraid! Of Him? O, never, never! And yet -- and yet -- O, Mole, I am afraid!
Then the two animals, crouching to the earth, bowed their heads and did worship.