One of the most memorable books I’ve read is Lev Grossman’s 2009 fantasy novel The Magicians, in which a group of disaffected young adults stumbles into the Narnia-like world of their youthful imaginings. But rather than discovering hope and meaning, they find only a new canvas on which their worst, most hedonistic instincts play out. It’s a haunting indictment of “escapist” impulses in fantasy literature. Christopher Robin—a spiritual sequel to A.A. Milne’s classic Winnie the Pooh stories centered on their human protagonist (Ewan McGregor)—springs from a similar premise, but takes precisely the opposite thematic tack. If The Magicians is a story about the loss of … Continue reading ‘Christopher Robin’