Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

(2000)
J.K. Rowling

Finished Reading: 05.2010

This fourth episode of the Harry Potter saga feels superior to its predecessors in writing and plot. Having firmly established the characters of Hogwarts and the typical rhythms of the magical world in the first three books, the author seems now to expand the Harry Potter universe exponentially in many interesting directions beyond just Hogwarts and Harry's friends, bringing real villains into the light.

Rather than competing in the typical quidditch season, select students find themselves at the center of attention, competing for the TriWizard Cup. The national sport of the flying broom wielders is cast aside for an entire year, just for three days or so of watching their classmates compete at some exciting challenges. Why can't the witches and wizards keep up their favorite sport in between these events? If quidditch play is resumed next year, all the teams will be rusty from lack of practice. Maybe they have a spell for overcoming sitting on your bum all year?

The character of Mad-Eye Moody is particularly riveting, as he is more than an adequate replacement for the often vacant post of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Having experience with overcoming the dark arts himself, he is able to teach the students what they actually need to know. Too bad he doesn't end up quite right at the conclusion, but I hope he will return for some dark arts butt-kicking. Dumbledore seems to be gearing up for a stand against Voldemort and would be mad not to enlist the help of Moody.

There were so many things happening in this book that I can't even begin to comment on them all. Definitely the best Harry Potter book so far...

The Screwtape Letters

(1942)
C.S. Lewis

Finished Reading: 05.2010

This is written in a very creative format as a series of letters from one high ranking demon to a younger demon who is in training as a tormentor. (Or is the first lower ranked since Lewis describes Hell as using an upside-down system of lowerarchy rather than a hierarchy?) However organized, Screwtape is an experienced demon writing to Wormwood his inexperienced inflicter-in-training, imparting important knowledge to guide his young nephew at his task.

In the Screwtape Letters we see a human life from a demon's point of view, but don't get to know the particulars in any real detail, as we only read the responses to Wormwood's submitted progress reports to headquarters and so see a life lived third hand. This Hell-centric view of humanity reveals that there is a lot more going on than what we see, hear and think. Beyond each individual man, Lewis reveals a demon assigned to meticulous spiritual harassment, and beyond that is the whole realm of organized demon bureaucracy - each with assignments, reports and even celebratory banquet feasts to consume their conquests. The whole system is very muddy and dreary.

These demons attempt to draw man away from God (their Enemy) and their instructions and intentions are meant as the opposite to the Gospel, as Lewis shows us the other side of things. There is however, confusion as to the best way to achieve the intended results, as Wormwood is interested in tempting his man towards incredible evil, and the elder Screwtape is only interested in his pupil's success in turning his man away from their Enemy. Temptations come in many shapes.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

(1999)
J.K. Rowling

Finished Reading: 02.2010

Sigh. I really don't know what to write about Harry Potter anymore. This book is very good, just as the others are very good. Each one might actually be getting better, but there isn't anything very deep to comment on, though I was thoroughly entertained. You might even call the book gripping, really. I could comment on the characters, but we know the main ones pretty well by now, and I don't have much more to say about an old rat that turns into a greasy little man, a black dog that turns into your uncle, or a deer that stares annoyingly at you from across a lake - except, cool. Very cool. You get 'em Harry.

I like secret underground tunnels and mysterious treasure maps with disappearing ink. The Marauder's Map is like Google Latitude, except on parchment. It took the muggles ten years to figure that one out for themselves. The big question now, leading up to the next book, is who will be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher? Of course, you knew that would be an issue. Now if only I could gaze at the Marauder's Map to see him approaching...

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

(1998)
J.K. Rowling

Finished Reading: 01.2010

Let me take a moment to reflect on Moaning Myrtle and Nearly Headless Nick, two ghosts who roam around Hogwarts (independently), interacting with the students. I figure they might not get much reflection for themselves these days. (Not sure how ghosts actually work). What is more appropriate and Emo than a dead teenage girl haunting a certain toilet stall in the second floor lavatory of a dank old school, crying her eyes out, sobbing and moaning simply because she is a ghost? Talk about stage fright. She probably had skin problems, and that stall is probably covered in boy-band stickers. And then there is Sir Nicholas de Mimsey-Porpington, who died many centuries ago but escaped total separation of his head from his body due to an unfortunately dull axe incident, coming so close to being headless but now remaining nearly so. Very tragic. Let us not aspire to his fate.

I don't blame the young witches at Hogwarts for staying away from Myrtle's stall, but she is a lot better to unexpectedly run into during a mad dash for a quick tinkle between Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts than if you were about to drop your trousers and hear Nearly Headless Nick floating over from the next urinal, droning on about proper blade sharpening techniques. I don't think we cry in the bathroom enough.

Speaking of which, I wonder how the owls get on? After flying from London to Swindon, back to Hogwarts, back to London, and on to other places where the mail must be delivered, the owls have to return to their wee wooden cages in the dorms, with tired wings and what... some hay to sleep on?. Does Harry really keep Hedwig in a cage all night until he needs to send another message to ... oh wait, he doesn't have any other friends. Poor Hedwig. And does Errol just languish in his prison for weeks on end? We know teenage boys don't want to talk to their mother's very often, but this sounds like cruel slavery to me. I hope there is some sort of magic chamber that we don't know about, where owls can relax and shoots some billiards while off-duty. Maybe read the latest hoots or drink a brew. Of course, sparrows would probably deliver their messages, which is another issue for the unions.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

(1997)
J.K. Rowling

Finished Reading: 12.2009

Largely hailed as the greatest thing going these days in children's literature, I can't confirm that the Harry Potter series lives up to the hype because this is the first volume I have read, and I have not recently read any other children's literature for comparison. The book is accessible to adults as well as children, which does make it rise above other kids stuff (theoretically, as far as I know) but it is hard to comment on a highly promoted extravaganza, for I am looking into it for too much.

This is all said, but not to say I do not like the book. Only that I know too much about it going in, for I have seen the films and by virtue of simply being alive, it isn't new to me. The suspense and surprise is gone (which I greatly enjoy in a book). A positive note on having seen the movies first is that I do approve of the pre-existing images formed in my head for each character and event, as they were appropriately created on film to reflect the book.

I like that the character names are not the regular names of the people I know, and I like the characters themselves, and the way they interact. Having all this wizardness happen in the midst of our real world is intriguing, which I enjoy more than if it had been in a separate dimension. Sometimes I forget these are just kids, as the dialogue is a lot more engaging than what was ever said in my childhood. Truthfully though, I am not really into witches and wizards, maybe preferring sagas where magic happens a little on the side (Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings) to the whole concept of a school for young wizards. But I will give it a try and read books two through seven.

The peripheral things fascinate me the most, like having the mail delivered by owls. That makes me laugh.

The Silmarillion

(1977)
J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished Reading: 08.2009

Being the tale of the entire history of Middle Earth, this narration is painted with broad and lofty strokes. Great expeditions across many leagues of map are described, but how the journeyers camped out or what they ate in the evenings is not within the scope of writing. The places where dwelt many men and elves are often described only as places with singular emotion, such as "The people seemed happy there." Little if anything is said of the architecture of these places outside a few off-hand mentions of great towers, great halls or terrible pits within which you would not want to find yourself. Many a battle is fought on mighty hills and lasted for many long weary days but might be described only as such:

"And there was a great battle and many elves and dwarves were slain."

However, a few times we trip over a node on the Timeline of Middle Earth, and stumble into an interesting situation involving the people and places we find in that age. The glue that holds many disparate stories together is the story of the Silmarils. The Silmarils are three very rare and precious jewels mysteriously created by the Noldorian Elf Feanor, within which is contained the radiance of pure light - the original light of the Two Trees and older are they than even the sun. So sought after are these, that they cause many wars to be fought between good and evil and even wars between good and good (kin-strife or worse). The dark lord Morgoth is ever seeking them and often possesses all three, having their beauty for a time set in his iron crown. Kings are murdered, loves are lost, and greed conquers all. The radiance of the past is increasingly diminished by progressing shadows as evil besets all who desire the infinitely worthy and irreplaceable Silmarils.

A most fascinating aspect of the Silmarillion is that it tells us more of the early origins of the beloved characters from The Lord of the Rings. Did you know that Galadrial is Elrond's mother-in-law? She is also his great great aunt on his father's side. Elrond's great great grandmother was a divine Maia from the original creation of the world, and his great grandfather was a mortal man with only one hand named Beren. Crazy Elrond.

A particularly exciting story tells of when Beren stole a Silmaril from the crown of Morgoth and as his hand was clenched around the sacred jewel, that hand and the jewel were bitten off by a fell beast. Later, the beast was hunted down and destroyed and upon slicing open its belly, there was found within the still clenched hand of Beren and within his grasp the Silmaril, which was regained.

Another important tale is the condensed version of the journeys of Turin son of Hurin, as appears in full in The Children of Hurin. Turin accidentally marries his sister and she becomes pregnant. Neither knows the other is kin, but after slaying a mighty dragon Turin has to deal with his family issues. Upon learning of her fate from the mouth of that very dragon, the sister-wife hurls herself off a mighty cliff and falls to her perilous end. Turin takes his sword and falls upon it, and evil prevails in the land.

An additional interesting story is the Creation of the World, which began by thoughts and singing. The music becomes reality and is then lived out by the creatures of the earth.

Also told is the tale of how Sauron went from run-of-the-mill bad guy to all powerful flaming eyeball in his tall tower. He was a sort of grand vizier to a king of men, and then established his own kingdom before losing his physical body in the drowning deluge of the entire western half of Middle Earth. I'm not surprised he resorted to the safety of a tall tower from which he could keep unblinking watch for further bad weather, rising seas, and newly drawn maps of Middle Earth.

In the end, the whole of The Lord of the Rings, told elsewhere in three volumes and about 1200 pages, is summarized in the last two pages of this book. A lot happens in between those two pages, but that is another story.

The Hobbit

Or There And Back Again

(1937)
J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished Reading: 07.2009

A difficulty arises in writing about fiction, for I am torn between keeping hidden the great mysteries of plot and facts (that is to say not ruining the ending) and just telling you all the juicy details so I have something quite great to describe. You inevitably read on and are confused, perhaps uninterested in such nondescript drivel, or conversely you throw down your laptop because I have given you some hidden knowledge which burns your eyes before its time, stinging your anticipation with revelation. It is like me telling you all about my exciting trip to a certain place; where there were changes in elevation, the passage of time, maybe a little growth of my beard, and certainly some dialog which I was a part of. But if I don't tell you where I went, how long it took to get there, what brand of razor I used and how many times I cut myself using it, not to mention what choice words were overheard in certain places that serve certain beverages, you would then have both not read the book and not had a reliable description of my reading the book. You would have only heard that I had read the book, and you might suspect I think myself better than you for having done so. After all, I haven't written a single word about the Hobbit so far, and here we are moving right on to paragraph two, not nearly soon enough and finding ourselves slightly below this fabulous green dust jacket. Fantastic.

Bilbo goes there and comes back again indeed, but where does he go? There. And Back. Again. Actually just once. You see, we know hobbits well from our reading The Lord of the Rings, in which Bilbo certainly plays a part. Hobbits hate to do any exciting things at all but seem to do a great many exciting things anyway, and always with the best of company. At least the ones that get books and songs written about them. This is the adventure to begin such adventures and it ends well for the Bilbo, Gandalf and some others that we care the most about.

There is a lot of talk about beards for sure, and certain things are said about the length of them (in general regarding the hope for further growth and the avoidance of witherance on a fellow dwarf as a customary greeting) but really beards have little to do with anything here or there.

We might as well judge the book by its cover, since this one is so nice. Observing it, I suspect that some mountains are climbed or at least passed by, some trees are present in large bits of forest, and that the eagles are coming (or going). The sun balances dangerously on that far peak towards the middle, hoping you won't notice him, so I would guess the eagles are leaving that sort of thing. One shouldn't mess with the sun when he is in a mood to balance on something so cold as a snow capped mountain. If something were to go wrong, we would not be able to see Bilbo as he journeys back from there, and he might not even make it at all given the darkness and cold that would certainly follow. One thing is certain, and that is that I cannot read in the dark, and you are not sure whether I read this book at all.

The Children of Hurin

(2007)
J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished Reading: 07.2009

Tolkien began writing what would become The Children of Hurin many years before he wrote the epic Lord of the Rings. However, he never finished this bleak story set in the First Age of Middle-Earth, though he apparently worked on it from time to time. His son Christopher Tolkien has published the story from various gathered fragments and drafts discovered over the years to bring us the story of Turin son of Hurin, with the best intentions towards maintaining the original voice of his father.

While yet a boy, Turin is separated from his family and grows up in a royal household of elves. But darkness reaches across the land, and evil destroys all that was once good, near and far from home. When Turin becomes a man he leaves his adopted home and wanders Middle-Earth to seek his family, joining with outlaws, elvish folk, and dwarves along the way. He valiantly slays orcs and dragons with his mighty sword Anglachel, but it is at the eventual reunion with one of his family that he finally pulls the darkness down upon himself. We discover Turin's fatal blunder long before he does, and we can't help but watch the tragedy unfold with anticipation. There are no hobbits to misdirect our attentions.

Beginning rather slowly with histories and long narrations, the story finally gets underway with vivid description of epic battles and bloody deaths. Dragon slaying is particularly exciting, as are the romantic implications discovered in a wrongful love, downwind to the unraveling of tragedy. The Children of Hurin is a much shorter story than The Lord of the Rings, containing less detail, and relying on story movement and action without tangential chapters devoted to further develop characters. Particularly in the last few chapters, the the characters are very convincing, and the writing is superbly crafted. Though not directly linked to one another, the two stories are a complement, as they share the same fictional universe.

Joyfully, an index of names is provided at the end of the book. Turin, Morwen, Mablung, Glaurung, and Finduilas are some of the many names thrown at us, if you can remember who belongs to which.

The Return Of The King

The Lord Of The Rings

(1955)

J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished Reading: 06.2009

Sauron, the unpopular and non-elected dictator of Middle Earth is defeated when the hobbits Frodo and Sam sneak past the Orc Party of Mordor and carry the Ring of Power at last to a dark cave deep within Mount Doom. There, Gollum and Frodo struggle on a treacherous cliff to possess the ring for their own before the former falls to his death clutching his precious and one of Frodo's fingers with it, for the finger could not let go. Just as Sauron lost a finger in a similar struggle of old when the ring was first taken from him by Isuldor, Frodo is parted with the Ring of Power only at the struggling desire of another. All attempts to take the ring by force end in doom. Gollum falls into the bowels of Middle Earth where both he and the ring are gloriously un-made.

At this event, Sauron is destroyed in the tower of Barad-Dur, which is where he is hiding. The Eye is extinguished. I have trouble with this ending, as throughout the Lord of the Rings series, Sauron (the name-sake of the books) is not encountered in the first person or bodily except as a footnote of ancient lore. The Dark Lord remains in the Dark Tower gazing about Middle Earth with his Fiery Eye Telescope, trying to see what he can see, as he bides his time and gains strength for his final war to defeat all that oppose him. Somehow he didn't see this coming. Not so scary now, are you? He meets his end remotely, afar off in a tall tower and does not get to fight his foes face to face, rather he relies on armies of Orcs and evil mercenaries to do his fighting for him.

Perhaps Sauron was not fully transfigured to his former glory, and these events of the War of the Ring came to pass too early for his liking. If given more time, would Sauron have descended from his tower to march across Middle Earth among his legions of soldiers? Would he have ten fingers or nine? Is his power not now in physical strength but only in the mental persuasion of the weak towards his will?

According to ancient lore, Sauron was parted from the Ring (along with his favorite finger) on a battlefield, so he once had a physical presence and the ability to battle. What would Frodo have encountered had he made for the Dark Tower instead of Mount Doom? If Frodo used the ring for his own rather than destroying it in the fire as instructed by Gandalf, would he have had to battle with Sauron, head to head (or head to eye)? Ring Bearer vs. Ring Maker?

All I'm saying is that Sauron is a wimp for not coming down from his high tower. He is defeated by a mear Hobbit eyelash.

The Two Towers

The Lord Of The Rings

(1954)
J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished Reading: 05.2009

So many plot lines and seemingly unrelated adventures populate this volume that I cannot begin to comment on the whole of them. There are more great tales told within than would seem to fit between two covers . Thrust into action and left gasping in suspense at the end, the reader of the Two Towers notices it to be better written than its predecessor volume; describing great battles, dangerous treks through high mountain passes, and hairy encounters with an unimaginable variety of foes. The stench of defeat is common in the nose and darkness looms far across Middle-Earth. Hope is but a four letter word that isn't even on the ballot.

One storyline follows Treebeard the Ent, he of the ancient humanoid/treenoid race, older than any other creatures that exist this day in Middle-Earth. Treebeard and his gang of tall, slow-moving, slow-talking tree-like creatures, are very wise and have lived peacefully throughout the long centuries in the stuffy Forest of Fangorn, mostly just standing around like trees do. Treebeard lives a solitary life, but one day meets the hobbits Merry and Pippen who have wandered into the forest to escape deadly pursuit by Orcs. Treebeard is angered into fighting an epic battle with Saruman because that dark lord has cut down his precious trees. Orcs and their sharp axes are not looked kindly upon by quiet Ent eyes. Chuckling, I am reminded of the Lorax, who "speaks for the trees!" in Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, but that is another matter save their matching awesome mustaches.

While Treebeard might welcome the Lorax into his gang, he has companions with such names as Skinbark and Quickbeam, also ancient Ents. Along with the very forest itself, the strong Ents stride into Isengard and destroy the city by ripping it apart block by block. Every evil in it is driven out save the dark tower of Saruman which stands amongst the rubble in the now still waters from the dam that was broken. Saruman looks down panicing and seems rather feeble, having been beaten up by a bunch of trees and all.

It takes a very long time to say anything worth saying, and we do not say anything unless it takes a very long time to say, and to listen to. Do not be hasty.

The Fellowship Of The Ring

The Lord Of The Rings

(1954)
J.R.R. Tolkien

Finished Reading: 04.2009

The first of the highly epic fantasy trilogy, I am watching the corresponding movie adaptations after reading each book. Admittedly, this is my first time reading the series, though I had seen the movies when first released eight, seven and six years ago, so Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen are Frodo and Gandalf for me, and there isn't anything I can do about it and that fiery red eye is watching at me.

If a plot summary is even appropriate, it would start by stating that Frodo Baggins is a wee hobbit with big feet, a gentle half-sized creature resembling a human, living in a land of round doors in earthen homes, a place called the Shire. He comes to be in possession of a simple gold ring with cryptic markings revealed only by fire, the bearer of which wields great and horrible power while wearing the ring on his finger. It also makes him disappear, which is scary for both he and those around him. Frodo must journey to the place where the ring was made, for only there can it be destroyed - the dark land of Mordor. Along his journey he has the help of various friends of different sorts: men, wizards, elves, dwarfs, hobbits and female elves too. Together they form the Fellowship of the Ring (well, not the female elves), the likes of which has never been seen. Their quest is great and dangerous as they travel through beautiful mountainous lands and majestic cities, meeting foes and friends along the way to the ominous Mount Doom (scary drums in the distance).

Tolkien has created a high descriptive, highly involved world with its own creatures, languages, fonts and even a fold-out map which is glued to the back cover as a guide for the reader. The third book (to be reviewed later) contains appendices and indexes on the background and history of the characters and creatures we encounter in the story. The comprehensiveness is enormous.

The Fellowship of the Ring starts us in the lands from which the main characters come from. Frodo and the hobbits are of the Shire, and it is here that the story unfolds, in the middle of an 111th (elevendy-first) birthday party, of all things. Along the way we pass through glimmering Rivendell and shimmering Lothlorien, home to the beautiful elves and their girly blond hair; and then through the dark mines of Moria, home to the hearty dwarfs and their scraggly beards. The evil forces are largely unknown to most of the Fellowship at this point, though they encounter the persistent and sinister black riders and herds upon herds of disgusting orcs waving swords and shooting arrows. Sauron's fiery eye is watching, and Saruman is looming in lands unknown.

My favorite character is Gandolf the grey, an old wizard and the primary guide to Frodo. He is very wise and wields magical powers, but he seems to hold back and is unsure of his abilities, appearing not to be as powerful as one might think a wizard should be, which keeps him mysterious. He is thoughtful and caring, loving and good. He sacrifices himself to save the others from the Balrog, a beast evil enough to finally test Gandolf's powers in the shortest epic battle sequence that I have ever seen, though it takes place on a grand stone arch bridge hewed from the very living stone. He is cast into the darkness of the fiery underground pit, and there is much sorrow, but the story continues with two more volumes!

The Great Divorce

(1945)
C.S. Lewis

Finished Reading: 02.2009

In this creative story depicting the great separation between heaven and hell, the divide between God and sinners, Lewis explores the idea of the "Refrigerium," or holiday from hell. I was not familiar with this term before reading the book, but apparently it is said that those in hell are given a chance to leave for a short time, mostly choosing to visit Earth and appearing as ghosts or various haunting apparitions. The Great Divorce begins with a group of regular people waiting at a bus stop in hell. Upon boarding the bus, which is magical and flies, the passengers are taken up into heaven where most are incredibly scared out of their minds, and only a few wish to stay.  Those that want no part of heaven hurry back to the bus for the return trip to hell.

In hell, it is always raining and twilight, with the darkness ever looming. The unnamed narrator boards the bus and we follow him on his journey to heaven. Before he arrives, he meets a few people on the bus with whom he has short conversations. One man explains how the grey town that they just left is so bland and horrible because people quarrel with one another which leads them to move away from their disagreeable neighbors. Each quarreler moves his home further and further away, with no one ever moving any closer to where they started, and so the whole town is a sprawl that goes on for millions of miles. This sounds like horrible city planning to me and an accurate depiction of sinners moving further and further from Christ, which leads them deeper into hell and no nearer to the bus stop.

Upon arriving in heaven, where it is perpetually dawn and the sky is so much larger than can be imagined by comparison on Earth, the bus passengers step out and marvel at how very bright it is. The narrator notices that everything is so much more real here, and that the bus passengers appear now as ghosts, somewhat transparent. He then notices that the people don't seem any less real than they did before, though he can see right through them, but rather this new place is more real and more solid in a way previously unimaginable. The grass is hard as diamonds and hurts their ghost feet, tree leafs are unattainably heavy to lift, and there is a general fear of the rain, for if it begins to rain the ghosts will be pierced with many holes as if from a machine gun. Further, the ghosts are able to walk on the very hard water in the river, but are swept away and hurt by its power.

The narrator begins to walk around and explore this fascinating and dangerous place, observing encounters between ghosts and the Solid People, those who are of this place. Mostly these meetings are prearranged, with a Solid Person coming to meet a ghost who has just arrived from the bus. One such Solid Person is a murderer who is humble and regrets his wrong choices, and has repented. He has come to meet a ghost friend who can't believe that a murderer is in heaven and not he, since he lived a good moral life. Another ghost comes along who doesn't think we should be punished for our beliefs, no matter what they are, as long as we truly believed them, thinking all is relative and there is no real truth.

A man stealthily tries to steal some apples from a large tree, but struggles against their immense weight. He wanted to take many, but is unable to take any and sneaks off hoping no one noticed his failed attempt. He is rebuked by an angel. Another man is very disappointed in what he sees in this place, thinking heaven is not what he had hoped for, and does not think that his talents can be of any use here, or that there is anything that heaven can do for him.

A vain woman thinks only of her image and cannot stand to be seen as a ghost, so see-through. She is very ashamed. There is a grumbling lady, and a sex-seeking lady, and an artist who marvels at the beauty of heaven but wishes to return to hell because they don't need artists to paint the beautiful landscape in heaven when all can just look at the beautiful landscape for themselves. He, as so many of the others, wants to be where he is needed, placing value in his self-worth over absolute beauty and love.

One woman complains about her husband and doesn't even want to see him, and another woman wants very badly to see her son - but he doesn't show up. She has placed all her value in him. He is her identity and she would rather have him with her in hell than know he is happy up in the mountains of heaven. Another man has a lizard living on his shoulder, which is controlling his life. He doesn't want to get rid of it, but finally agrees to let an angel kill it, and when the lizard is dead the man is finally free. Transforming into a Solid Person, he rides off into the mountains.

There is a grand celebration for a beautiful and saintly woman who truly lived a life filled with the love of Christ. Everyone she came in contact with on Earth was affected by His love. In the midst of the celebrating, she meets her husband who is a shrivelled dwarf, and he can't believe she had joy in her life after he had died. He doesn't understand that her joy comes from Jesus. He wanted her to be broken and distraught from the separation of death. He wanted her to value him above all else. 

George MacDonald shows up and talks with our narrator for some time, answering many of his questions. (I am unfamiliar with this man,  but apparently he was a Scottish minister and writer that Lewis admired). MacDonald explains that to those who choose to stay in heaven, hell was not really hell at all, but rather purgatory. Those in hell have always been there, and those in heaven have always been there. The Solid People of heaven live to go higher and higher up into the mountains (which I take to be where Christ is,) but some stay down on the great plain where the has bus stopped, for the very purpose of trying to save the souls that arrive. He explains that hell is just a crack in the floor of heaven, small as an atom, and no one from heaven can go down to hell, except Jesus who once did, but those from down in hell who do come up for a visit always find something lacking and hurry back to the dark crack, despite the goodness they observe in heaven.

"For a damned soul is nearly nothing: it is shrunk, shut up in itself. Good beats upon the damned incessantly as sound waves beat on the ears of the deaf, but they cannot receive it. Their fists are clenched, their teeth are clenched, their eyes fast shut. First they will not, in the end they cannot, open their hands for gifts, or their mouths for food, or their eyes to see." (ch13)

In the end, the narrator sees that everything in life is just chess pieces on a game board on the great table of time. He then sees the perpetual dawn turn into a rising sun and his ghostly body is destroyed by the blinding light, blasted into oblivion! He awakes from his dream.

This is an excellent analysis of the human condition for sin and the various forms sin takes that keep sinners from wanting to be in heaven. Many people think that everyone wants to be in heaven and it is cruel of God to send some people to hell. What these people want is in hell, because they have no interest in Jesus. Lewis reminds us that while all are offered an outstretched hand (or bus ride), few take it. Few wanted to take the bus ride, and of those that did, even fewer liked what they saw and wanted to stay. Most moved as far away from the bus stop as possible, making it near impossible to catch a bus. Public transportation saves. We must turn fully away from ourselves in order to turn fully to God. 

"There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'Thy will be done.' All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened." (ch.9)

I'm not sure of how the depictions of heaven and hell line up with life on Earth. Does life on Earth come completely before either the grey town of hell or the green plain and mountains of heaven? Are all characters in this story dead, and this is the afterlife, or is life intertwined with death and those in hell are living there and the Solid People are saved Christians in heaven - saved though not yet dead? Is the mountain where they go when they have died, and the plain is where they are while still alive, ministering to the sinning ghosts? This would explain why no one comes down from the mountain, and why the people from hell are able to ride the bus to see what the fuss is all about. They are hearing the Gospel and choose to accept or deny it. Perhaps the sunrise at the end is the coming of Christ, at which time it is too late for any ghost. Or perhaps that is just his individual death.

"There is but one good, that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to him and bad when it turns from him." (ch.11)