Started reading The Magician's Nephew to James last night. As with Seuss I unconsciously revised away much of the grain of the language, especially in the dialogue, which struck me six times out of seven as stagey. And I couldn't tell you whether Lewis's inventions are truly original, or even whether he deserves any special praise for his handling of the moment Polly touches the yellow ring (ahem).

I can say that Uncle Andrew's self-absorption is both vile and charming, and that it is very dear of Lewis to reassure the reader (the listener) that the guinea pig is alive and well in the Wood Between the Worlds. Just noticing the cute H.G. Wells joke there.

I can also say that Digory and Polly have some serious erotic tension between them -- more palpable than in anything else I've read lately, actually, including Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues, Pogo Volume One, and the Washington Post. Is that supposed to be there?