The Last Battle (rack) (Narnia) (Taschenbuch)

Lewis, in his only end-of-the-world book, tells of how in the last days of Narnia, there are two animals living by the Great Cauldron. One is Puzzle, a lovable Donkey, and the other is an evil ape named Shift. Shift, thru manipulation and deception, tricks Puzzle into donning a lion skin, making a false Aslan. This is representative of the Anti-Christ. It is about how the real Aslan and the real Tash come again into Narnia, and the final show down.

The most stirringly majestic portion of the whole book is the last part, where the old Narnia passes away, and behold! the children and all good Narnians who love Aslan are called into Heaven, the New Narnia. This is the single most precious portion of any of Lewis's fiction. It drips of Heaven. The Power and Majesty of God on High is portrayed thru these pages. He goes thru judgement day (never mind this pre-mid-post trib stuff or debate), and then how the children react to being in heaven.

An interesting concept put forth by this book is a LIMITED universalism. Emeth, who is servant of Tash, a pagan god, is found in heaven. When Aslan comes and speaks to him, Emeth says he was not servant of Aslan but Tash. Aslan says that in reality he had been serving Aslan all along, and he knew Aslan, but to him Aslan was known as Tash. In other words, Emeth's perception or view was not the real Tash, who was an evil being, but the real Aslan. To an extent, I agree that this might be possible. I feel you can have a relationship with Jesus, but know him under a different name. That does NOT mean I believe all religions send you to heaven. You still have to know Jesus, and God.

The dwarves, who are in heaven, are to stubborn to let got of themselves. They perceive themselves in a horse stall (that is where the last of old Narnia is seen. It is night, and all these people in a great circle or waiting for Tashlan, which is the fusing of Tash and Aslan, exactly what the Anti-Christ is, and the children run into the tent or stall.) "The Dwarves are for the Dwarves!" This is pride. This is what it is like on earth. What to us seems distasteful, if we would really let go of our pride and let God be God, then in the end we would have ultimate joy. That is what Lewis is saying thru the Dwarves.

Lewis also uses classical philosophy to educate children. The old Narnia is called the Shadowlands, mere shadows of the More Real Heaven. This is straight from Plato. The values we hold dear, such as truth, valour, honour, etc, are manifestations of its essence. We practice truth and valour. That is a form of valour, a shadow. But the essence of valour, that is the real thing itself. Lewis uses this concept to help the Children better understand God. I came across this in this story when I was a child; I was astounded to realize it was Plato when I was in a philosophy class in college. That is why, in being a Christian, the more you act like the Christ the more Christ is in you and part of you. The more honour you show and love you show, the more Christ is you and you are him because Christ is the very ultimate of honour, and all the other vitures we hold dear. That is why God gave us the shadow of marriage, to help us understand the very real union between God and man. We become one with God, just as man and woman become one flesh in sexual intercourse. God is such an awesome God.

In the end, we have a powerful vision of Heaven. Although it is Narnia, the ending he detailed was as much our world as Narnia. His prose is fantastic. As far as C. S. Lewis's "Mere Christianity" coming out in his fiction, this is his ultimate achievement in giving hope to the Christians on the afterlife. This is my favorite (from the Christian perspective) of the Narnia series. There is so much to learn and digest from this beautiful book. The heart of this achievement is that this is written for Children, and yet he packs so much meat into it without EVER coming across as condescending OR preachy. Truly one of the best.

(For adult fiction, Till We Have Faces is his best. Actually, I think that novel is his deepest novel, and his best).

This final volume is more or less cut in two parts. In the first one, an Ape called Shift bullies and forces his companion Puzzle the donkey to wear an old lion skin on his back and to pretend he's Aslan the great Lion. Allied with Calormenes, they start slaughtering Talking Beasts and doing other evil deeds.

To Tirian, the current King of Narnia, and to his dear friend Jewel the noble Unicorn, this seems like a most unusual behaviour for Aslan, so they set out in search of the truth. They'll call children from our world to their aid: Eustace and Jill.

Ensues a battle opposing the King's small party to the Calormenes and the Men and Beasts they've managed to cheat.

In the second half of the book, like in a mirror image of the adventures of Digory and Polly in The Magician's Nephew, we witness the unmaking of the World by Aslan (the real one this time). Like in a curtain call, all the characters (but one) from the previous volumes return for the final journey to the forever kingdom of Aslan.

Whereas the beginning was rather exciting, I found the ending really too syrupy and allegorical. It was also very shocking to see the absence of Susan explained by "she's interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations." With its oldish style, and the fact that the baddies, the Calormenes, have a definite Middle-Eastern profile, I felt that the book was really anchored in the 1950's. I must admit I'm glad to have finally finished the series.

Where do I begin? The book goes beyond comprehension, and brings a new light to allegorical fantasy. I think it especially good that C.S. Lewis injected allegory into children's literature, a thing that seems seldom done these days. This story is a delightful layout of the Book of Revelation in Narnian terms, with the final battle (meaning the end of Narnia as we have known it), and the renewal and creation of a brand new world, without pain or suffering: the heaven of Narnia.

No family or home should be without these great books. While their influence is obviously Christian, secular sections of society can also enjoy them since the author never talks about God or Christ directly, but uses imaginary creatures and words to replicate them into the world he created. With wonderful pros C.S. Lewis has communicated his feelings perfectly to the reader, both Christian and non.

Overall I would definitely rate "The Last Battle" as one of the best in the Narnia series. It still amazes me that these books are 50 years old and so timeless - here, here to C.S. Lewis!