The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

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  What is there left to say about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? It is a book so long- and well-loved by the public that there is no point attempting any kind of plot summary or general introduction to Lewis' world. Moreover, because it is a personal favorite I cannot bring myself to criticize it, and because it has been part of my life for longer than I can remember, I cannot approach it with any sense of novelty. I cannot even recall whether I was read this or saw the BBC miniseries fi... (show more)

  What is there left to say about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? It is a book so long- and well-loved by the public that there is no point attempting any kind of plot summary or general introduction to Lewis' world. Moreover, because it is a personal favorite I cannot bring myself to criticize it, and because it has been part of my life for longer than I can remember, I cannot approach it with any sense of novelty. I cannot even recall whether I was read this or saw the BBC miniseries first, but in any case it was the book that stuck with me, and became the first piece of literature I truly loved. (And yes, I'm quite aware that I'm describing Lewis' creation in near-romantic terms!) Other childhood favorites have been dethroned, other obsessions have faded away, but I have always remained a loyal Narnian.

  In light of the recent films' attempts to turn both this and Prince Caspian into Tolkienesque epics, as well as the completely misguided labeling of the books as "allegory" by fans and critics alike, I find myself returning to Lewis' own description of Narnia as a "fairy-story." As with the folktales of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Anderson, I mainly think of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in terms of images: a parcel-laden faun and a young girl walking underneath an umbrella in a winter landscape, an imperious white-skinned queen in her reindeer-drawn sledge, a noble Lion lying shorn and dead on a cold stone table. It has a simplicity, clarity, and charm rare in twentieth-century literature.

  But unlike many children's stories with imagery that lingers, nostalgically, in one's mind, I find that Lewis' work is just as impressive now as it was ten years ago, and that I notice new things about it every time I pick it up. The writing is excellent; as I read it aloud to my younger sister over the past few weeks, I found the words tripped effortlessly out my mouth, despite the lengthy nature of certain sentences. Because he is here concerned with introducing a new world and a large cast of characters, there is not quite as much character development as some of the other entries in the series, but the characters are always real and (where applicable) human, fairly leaping off the page in their vitality. In today's books one rarely discovers such unapologetically good or evil characters as Aslan or the Witch, and yet there has never been a moment when I did not believe in them.

  I highly recommend this as well as all of Lewis' Narnia books. Indeed, I would class them in that very small but important category of books everybody should read. If you have not yet, well, shame on you! Get working. (show less)

   

   

  by Nathan Graham on Jun 04, 2009 at 08:42PM

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  Sadly, until quite recently this was the only Chronicles of Narnia book I had ever read--and that, largely, because I had seen the cartoon version as a kid and wanted to check out the text version. I don't know why I never moved on to the rest of the series! I'm fixing that now, though. Picked up the boxed set at Goodwill and am reading them between my library books (I set Narnia aside when the library holds come in). I happened upon a book in the New Books section of the library, nonfiction,... (show more)

  Sadly, until quite recently this was the only Chronicles of Narnia book I had ever read--and that, largely, because I had seen the cartoon version as a kid and wanted to check out the text version. I don't know why I never moved on to the rest of the series! I'm fixing that now, though. Picked up the boxed set at Goodwill and am reading them between my library books (I set Narnia aside when the library holds come in). I happened upon a book in the New Books section of the library, nonfiction, about a woman who read the series as a child, loved them, only later found out about their Christian underpinnings and she felt horribly betrayed when she did learn of that. I don't get that reaction (but then, I'm just going by the blurb on the back of the book jacket). For me, fictional books are alternate realities and they all combine elements of real life whether through intentional metaphor or through connections unique to each reader. I see no more sense in getting upset about Christian elements in a book than I see in being anti Harry Potter as a Christian because of its witchcraft or anti His Dark Materials Series (The Golden Compass, etc.) because of the author's stated atheistic intent. My interest was piqued by that nonfiction Narnia book, though, so I'm going to read through the series so I have some background and then check out that book. (show less)

   

   

  by Caren Penny Lee on Feb 09, 2009 at 04:49PM

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