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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
I've decided to reread the Narnia books this year since I spied them on the shelf at the school I'm teaching at in South Korea. So far, I read [b:The Magician's Nephew|65605|The Magician's Nephew (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)|C.S. Lewis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1308814770s/65605.jpg|1031537] (for the first time) and [b:The Horse and His Boy|84119|The Horse and His Boy (Chronicles of Narnia, #3)|C.S. Lewis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1209165084s/84119.jpg|3294501] (for the zillionth time; it was my favorite of the series as a kid). Today I finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, which was my second favorite.
You know what all these books have in common? They get really boring whenever Aslan is around. I didn't notice this as a kid. My parents didn't expose me to religion much as a child (although they did give me all these Narnia books, so I don't think it was part of an agenda), so the Christian allegories zoomed over my head.
However, I do recall being confused on one point about this book when I was younger. When Aslan strikes the bargain with the White Witch to sacrifice his own life in exchange for Edmund's, the witch and her monsters tie him to the stone table and have their way with him. But he's only "dead" for a few hours. Younger me read that and thought "Aslan didn't keep up his end of the bargain. He didn't sacrifice his life. He lied to her. Why was he so sad? He knew he wasn't going to die for real."
Lewis throws out a couple of lines about Deep Magic and Deeper magic, but on the whole, it makes about as much sense to me as the most important teachings of the Bible. How does an omnipotent being's son being dead for a few hours constitute a huge sacrifice? Aren't we all God's children? If God created everything, what makes Jesus any more the son of God than the rest of us? Why is Jesus so much more special to God than the trillions of other people who have ever lived? I don't pretend to understand the answers to these questions, not even when people who do try to explain them to me. Overall, I think that writing the death of a major character into a book (including the Bible), only to have them be resurrected by unexplained magic a few pages later, feels cheap and manipulative, and ruins any resonance death might have in the work as a whole.
C.S. Lewis is a superb storyteller with a great imagination and wonderful ways of describing things. Unfortunately, his fixation on preaching about Jesus makes parts of these books plod along to a non-religious adult. Would I recommend or gift these books to the young kids in my life? Yeah. Would I read them again in my lifetime if a kid wasn't listening? Probably not.
You know what all these books have in common? They get really boring whenever Aslan is around. I didn't notice this as a kid. My parents didn't expose me to religion much as a child (although they did give me all these Narnia books, so I don't think it was part of an agenda), so the Christian allegories zoomed over my head.
However, I do recall being confused on one point about this book when I was younger. When Aslan strikes the bargain with the White Witch to sacrifice his own life in exchange for Edmund's, the witch and her monsters tie him to the stone table and have their way with him. But he's only "dead" for a few hours. Younger me read that and thought "Aslan didn't keep up his end of the bargain. He didn't sacrifice his life. He lied to her. Why was he so sad? He knew he wasn't going to die for real."
Lewis throws out a couple of lines about Deep Magic and Deeper magic, but on the whole, it makes about as much sense to me as the most important teachings of the Bible. How does an omnipotent being's son being dead for a few hours constitute a huge sacrifice? Aren't we all God's children? If God created everything, what makes Jesus any more the son of God than the rest of us? Why is Jesus so much more special to God than the trillions of other people who have ever lived? I don't pretend to understand the answers to these questions, not even when people who do try to explain them to me. Overall, I think that writing the death of a major character into a book (including the Bible), only to have them be resurrected by unexplained magic a few pages later, feels cheap and manipulative, and ruins any resonance death might have in the work as a whole.
C.S. Lewis is a superb storyteller with a great imagination and wonderful ways of describing things. Unfortunately, his fixation on preaching about Jesus makes parts of these books plod along to a non-religious adult. Would I recommend or gift these books to the young kids in my life? Yeah. Would I read them again in my lifetime if a kid wasn't listening? Probably not.
I was advised by an acquaintance that I should read this novel (fairy tale) so I did and find I have no interest in pursuing any of the other fairy tales in the series.
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nostálgico, rápido y entretenido. Nada más que añadir <3
This was one of the books I watched the movie of before reading it, when I was young. I must say that both those were amazing.
The story is about four siblings who vacated from London for the air raids. They went to an old professor's house where Lucy, the main character of the story, discovers the land of eternal winter, ruled by a witch, 'Narnia'.
When she returns to tell of her adventure the others don't believe her but later her brothers and sister go to hide in the wardrobe,they find themselves in Narnia, and in a position where they have to fight yet another war to free the waiting land.
The story is about four siblings who vacated from London for the air raids. They went to an old professor's house where Lucy, the main character of the story, discovers the land of eternal winter, ruled by a witch, 'Narnia'.
When she returns to tell of her adventure the others don't believe her but later her brothers and sister go to hide in the wardrobe,they find themselves in Narnia, and in a position where they have to fight yet another war to free the waiting land.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loathed this book as a child but thought I'd give this fantasy classic another chan--
Nope. C.S. Lewis' condescending tone, ham-fisted allegory, and paper-thin characters still grate on my nerves. Knowing the sexism is rooted in gender norms from another time and place does not make this children's book palatable or relevant; I still remember reading this in Grade Four and feeling a deep sense of betrayal and disenchantment at Santa Claus' glib misogyny. No thank you.
I do appreciate C.S. Lewis' passion for myth and fables on this re-read, however. Of course "Fenris Ulf" is working for the half-giantess White Witch; that's in line with Norse tales. Evoking the faun and Bacchus alludes to the uncertainty and potential danger that Lucy's first visit Narnia poses; such stories rarely end well for the human characters. Sometimes the mass incorporation of mythical flora and fauna feels like the kitchen sink, but it's clear that the author loves everything in that sink.
Edmund's redemption arc, and the reference to how he started to go "all wrong" at boarding school, also takes on a darker connotation after learning about the author's own traumatic experiences. As a child, I assumed the C.S. Lewis disliked the idea of children getting a formal education: "What do they teach them at these schools?" But now I wonder if it isn't something a bit more complicated than that.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is also full of moments that are undeniably iconic - the liminality of the lamp-post, C.S. Lewis' brief but empathetic exploration of the quiet that follows total grief, and Aslan's jubilant romp with the girls after the worst has passed. Those are transcendent moments - full of grace, wonder, and awe. More of that search for the numinous and less self-righteous diatribes in the guise of children's literature, and maybe I too would feel goodwill towards Narnia.
Nope. C.S. Lewis' condescending tone, ham-fisted allegory, and paper-thin characters still grate on my nerves. Knowing the sexism is rooted in gender norms from another time and place does not make this children's book palatable or relevant; I still remember reading this in Grade Four and feeling a deep sense of betrayal and disenchantment at Santa Claus' glib misogyny. No thank you.
I do appreciate C.S. Lewis' passion for myth and fables on this re-read, however. Of course "Fenris Ulf" is working for the half-giantess White Witch; that's in line with Norse tales. Evoking the faun and Bacchus alludes to the uncertainty and potential danger that Lucy's first visit Narnia poses; such stories rarely end well for the human characters. Sometimes the mass incorporation of mythical flora and fauna feels like the kitchen sink, but it's clear that the author loves everything in that sink.
Edmund's redemption arc, and the reference to how he started to go "all wrong" at boarding school, also takes on a darker connotation after learning about the author's own traumatic experiences. As a child, I assumed the C.S. Lewis disliked the idea of children getting a formal education: "What do they teach them at these schools?" But now I wonder if it isn't something a bit more complicated than that.
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is also full of moments that are undeniably iconic - the liminality of the lamp-post, C.S. Lewis' brief but empathetic exploration of the quiet that follows total grief, and Aslan's jubilant romp with the girls after the worst has passed. Those are transcendent moments - full of grace, wonder, and awe. More of that search for the numinous and less self-righteous diatribes in the guise of children's literature, and maybe I too would feel goodwill towards Narnia.