[Eustace]
I’m ALWAYS right when it comes to Lewis.
[/Eustace]
::struts off self-importantly, trips over own shoe laces, gets on accursed ring stuck in nose, and wanders wimpering & en-wyrmed into the night::
Well, the “directions” thing was just a parable about saying daily prayers. It was a pretty weak parable too.
Philip Pullman opined that Lewis was a big ole meanie for sending Susan to hell. I’d get you the cite, but my books are wwaayy over that way & I have this ring stuck in my nose.
I don’t remember ever not having read them. This leads me to believe that I must have read them nearly as soon as I was reading chapter books. Six? Seven? Eight? Don’t remember. I read them because they were in the house, and I read everything in the house.
I’m a Christian. I find the spiritual subtext to be an asset. I do think they’ve assisted me in my spiritual journey: sometimes truths are more palatable and easier to understand when told as allegory.
I liked it. I was fearful that many of the symbols would have been changed because they were too related to the spiritual subtext, and it doesn’t seem to have happened. I hate the idea of this. Someone recently mentioned the idea of “cleaning up” Steinbeck’s fiction and re-releasing it. It is what it is, folks. It speaks of the time it was written, and I think it’s important to hear what it’s saying. Changing the words or images we don’t like seems like censorship all dressed up as political correctness.
I think it’s a terrible idea. I remember hearing that Margaret Mitchell was begged to write a sequel to Gone With the Wind and refused, saying that the story ended there. If the original creator of the story thinks it ended, leave it alone. As for sanitizing them, see above answer.
Publication order. If you read the Magician’s Nephew before TLtWatW, you lose all the wonder that comes with figuring out what really is going on. I nearly had a coronary the first time I saw a boxed set that didn’t have TLtWatW as book one. What IS this world coming to?
I don’t remember ever not having read them. This leads me to believe that I must have read them nearly as soon as I was reading chapter books. Six? Seven? Eight? Don’t remember. I read them because they were in the house, and I read everything in the house.
I’m a Christian. I find the spiritual subtext to be an asset. I do think they’ve assisted me in my spiritual journey: sometimes truths are more palatable and easier to understand when told as allegory. And more easily remembered.
I liked it. I was fearful that many of the symbols would have been changed because they were too related to the spiritual subtext, and it doesn’t seem to have happened. I hate the idea of this. Someone recently mentioned the idea of “cleaning up” Steinbeck’s fiction and re-releasing it. It is what it is, folks. It speaks of the time it was written, and I think it’s important to hear what it’s saying. Changing the words or images we don’t like seems like censorship all dressed up as political correctness.
I think it’s a terrible idea. I remember hearing that Margaret Mitchell was begged to write a sequel to Gone With the Wind and refused, saying that the story ended there. If the original creator of the story thinks it ended, leave it alone. As for sanitizing them, see above answer.
Publication order. If you read the Magician’s Nephew before TLtWatW, you lose all the wonder that comes with figuring out what really is going on. I nearly had a coronary the first time I saw a boxed set that didn’t have TLtWatW as book one. What IS this world coming to?
1. When did you first read the Chronicles, and what prompted you to do so? Were you introduced by a parent, a teacher, the 70s’ animated cartoon, the recent movie, or something else?
I first read The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe when I was in the 4th grade (in 1968 or '69). The library at my elementary school didn’t have any of the books (it was really, really small)l. However, I spent 4th grade at a different school (my dad’s ship was in the shipyard for repairs and we moved from San Diego to the Bay Area to be with him for that 9 months). That library was larger, but still only had TLTW&TW. I picked the book out myself by my usual method of slowly scanning all the books on the library shelves until I find something interesting. I didn’t realize it was the first of a series until the 5th grade, when I got my first public library card. That was a happy day! I checked the whole series out and read them all in 2 days flat.
2. Do you find the Chronicles’ Christian subtext an asset or a defect? If you are a Christian, do you feel the books have assisted you in your spiritual journey? If you are an atheist
I am an atheist now, although I would have identified as a Christian at the time I first read the books. I recognized the subtext from the first read, even at age 8, but I never found it to be intrusive. The books have had nothing to do with my journey away from religion. If we ever do a book discussion on the Pern series, my answer will be different.
3. Which of the books is your favorite, and why? Which is your least favorite, and why?
Favorite: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. It’s a quest story, which I always like. And I loved Eustace – it’s always fun to read about a brat.
Least favorite: The Horse and His Boy. Because it seemed funny to have the Pevensie children grown up. It’s a hard call, though. There are parts I love in every book.
4. Which of the books do you think is best written? If this one is not your favorite, why do you downgrade it?
Another hard call. In terms of writing I would say they are equal, or pretty nearly so.
5. Of the Chronicles’ eleven child protagonists–Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Eustace, Jill, Shasta, Aravis, Digory, and Polly–whom do you like best? Whom do you most dislike? Whom do you identify with?
I loved Edmund and Lucy the best – almost to the point of hero-worship. I identified with Eustace and Jill the most. They were brave and good, but less idealized than the Pevensies. I always suspected that, if I went to Narnia, I would be more like Jill than Lucy! I disliked Aravis the most. She was redeemed at the close of the book, but her redemption came too near the end. Unlike Eustace, I never got the chance to grow to like the ‘new and improved’ version.
6. Do you think Susan went to hell? If so, does this reduce your enjoyment of the books? If you think she didn’t, why not?
Susan didn’t go to hell – she just stayed in England. Narnia’s world ended, but ours didn’t. Susan was a young woman and would, presumably, have had time to come back to Aslan/ Christ before she died.
7. What do you think is the most valid criticism of the books? What is the series’ greatest strength?
There is a lot of racism & sexism in these books – that can’t be denied. Girls are very separate from boys and the Calormene culture (which, even in the 5th grade, I recognized as being Middle-Eastern) was very obviously presented as inferior to the Narnian (Western) culture. Sure, there are ‘good’ Calormenes, but they are always presented as exceptions. I see the sexism and racism not so much as flaws that need to be corrected, but as evidence that Lewis was a man of his times. When my own kids read the books, I discussed this with them. However, when I read the books myself, I came to this conclusion on my own – my parents rarely discussed books with me. I was reading at least a book a day at that time – they couldn’t have kept up with me. The series greatest strength, IMO, are the stories themselves, the rich characters, and the way that they blend adventure with humor.
8. Did you like the recent movie, dislike it, or refuse to watch it?
I enjoyed it well enough. It looked good. I didn’t like the changes that were made, specifically the decision to make Peter so reluctant a hero. I agree with QuizCustodet – the old BBC mini-series script, combined with the new movies improved special effects and superior casting, would have made a much better movie. That said, I’m looking forward to Prince Caspian.
9. A few years ago there were rumblings that HarperCollins might hire writers to add on to the Chronicles, possibly requring that the stories have less religious subtext. What do you think of this idea?
Horrible notion!
10. So what IS the proper order for reading the books? Publication order or internal chronology?
The books must be read in publication order, at least the first time thorough. Reading them in chronological order robs the reader of one of the high points of the series – reading The Magician’s Nephew and learning ‘the rest of the story.’
- I took a high school course called “Mysticism in Literature.” It was given by a nun with somewhat fuzzy ideas about what constituted mysticism, what constituted literature, and, AFAICT, what constituted teaching. I understand she had left the order by 1980, and have since lost track of her, so I have no idea if she’s still teaching.
Mostly, I don’t notice it, and I’m quite happy about that. During passages where the subtext intrudes itself into my consciousness of the narrative, I find it, uhhh, intrusive.
Favorite: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe because it represents my introduction to the series. Least favorite: The Last Battle, because of it being such a downer of an ending, as well as because the Narnians were such gullible dolts.
No opinion. If I’m noticing how well- or poorly-written a book is, it’s at the expense of my attention to (and enjoyment of) the story.
Pass, on like and dislike. I identify most with Shasta. Deep down, I KNOW I was meant to be King. 
No. Two reasons. First, there’s no such place. Second, she wasn’t on the train, so she’s still alive. :rolleyes: ← (that’s supposed to be a look of innocence, like, “What?” :rolleyes:)
Lewis doesn’t always have the lightest touch when he’s adding the spiritual didacticism. Greatest strength is the continuity of characters, and the story arc of the series.
Watched it with family. Liked it well enough to buy the DVD.
Terrible idea. If there were a Hell, there would be a special corner of it reserved for people wo come up with and implement ideas like this.
Order of writing and publication. Lewis didn’t know what he was talking about.
Three previews and the coding still isn’t bolding where I think it should be bolding. The heck with it. Here goes nothin’…
There was a big long thread discussing this, and Pullamn’s other criticisms of Narnia, a while back that’s worth wading through if anyone’s really interested.
Now to respond to the OP:
Any one of those questions could spark a whole thread by itself, and some of them have. In particular, I know we’ve hashed out #10 before, and “published order (with TLtW&tW first)” was the clear winner (as well as my own opinion).
It’s been too long since I’ve read the books to do the OP’s questions justice. I do remember The Silver Chair being my favorite, though I don’t remember why; maybe something about Prince Rilian’s condition resonated with me. And I seem to remember liking The Magician’s Nephew more when I re-read the series as an adult than in my initial reading as a kid; its story isn’t as interesting as that of some of the other books, but it has some wonderfully rendered scenes.
And I think the series’ greatest strength is the character of Aslan. So often when an author tries to put God or Christ or a character that’s obviously supposed to respresent God or Christ in a story, it comes off really lame or stupid or pretentious or unconvincing (if not downright blasphemous). Lewis is one of the few who actually pulls off the trick of writing a Christ-character who actually invokes a feeling of awe, love, and respect in the reader, and there are several places in the Chronicles where an Aslan appearance gave me a lump in my throat.
Oh, and as for #9 (about other writers adding to the Chronicles), if that actually happened I think there’s about a 5% chance that someone really in sympathy with Lewis would produce worthwhile additions to the series, a 15% chance that someone would write some mildly entertaining tales that, while not nearly coming up the level of Lewis’s, wouldn’t detract from the series, a 40% chance that we’d get something that would quickly fade into oblivion and we could pretend it never existed, and a 40% chance that it would turn out to be a horrible abomination.
Nothing. There’s a very common misconception that Aslan rejected Susan. He didn’t: I think it’s a very important point in the series that Aslan never rejects anyone. Susan rejected Aslan. The problem wasn’t the lipstick and nylons, the problem was that Susan allowed such trivialities to distract her from what was truly important.
On to my take on the questions:
1. When did you first read the Chronicles, and what prompted you to do so? Were you introduced by a parent, a teacher, the 70s’ animated cartoon, the recent movie, or something else?
I suppose I would have been about five when I first read them myself, since that’s about the age when I learned to read. But I think I had The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe memorized at age three, from my mom reading them to us (Dad thought they were evil, but fortunately Mom didn’t care what he thought on the subject).
2. Do you find the Chronicles’ Christian subtext an asset or a defect? If you are a Christian, do you feel the books have assisted you in your spiritual journey? If you are an atheist, how much does the subtext bother you?
I’m a Christian, and I picked up on the religious content very quickly. And I don’t think you can really separate out the subtext from the books: Take away the religious context, and you’d end up dragging everything else along with it.
3. Which of the books is your favorite, and why? Which is your least favorite, and why?
My favorite is probably Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Like many others have said, it’s a great adventure. My least favorite is definitely The Last Battle: I don’t mind the world coming to an end, but the general style of the book just seems to fall flat, compared to the others (but even at that, there’s a few beautiful scenes in it).
4. Which of the books do you think is best written? If this one is not your favorite, why do you downgrade it?
Having re-read them as an adult, I’d have to say The Horse and his Boy. The philosophy is very subtly and deftly woven through the story, so subtly that I didn’t even begin to notice it as a kid. I get goosebumps now from the exchange “‘Who are you?’ ‘Myself.’ ‘Myself.’ ‘Myself.’”.
5. Of the Chronicles’ eleven child protagonists–Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Eustace, Jill, Shasta, Aravis, Digory, and Polly–whom do you like best? Whom do you most dislike? Whom do you identify with?
My favorite is Lucy, with her simplicity and purity. I have an easier time identifying with the boys, though, and I’d have to say probably Peter, specifically.
6. Do you think Susan went to hell? If so, does this reduce your enjoyment of the books? If you think she didn’t, why not?
All we know is that, at the time of The Last Battle, Susan was not accepting of Aslan. I’d like to think that she matured out of her faux maturity. As Lewis once said, “Now I am a man, and have outgrown childish things – Including the fear of being thought childish”. Perhaps as Susan truly became an adult, she gained better perspective, and eventually came back to God (by whatever name).
**7. What do you think is the most valid criticism of the books? What is the series’ greatest strength?**With as much as I love these books, I don’t think I can answer either of those questions fairly.
8. Did you like the recent movie, dislike it, or refuse to watch it?
Given a choice between a good book and a good movie, I’ll almost always prefer the book. But I thought it was a good movie, and I’m looking forward to more.
**9. A few years ago there were rumblings that HarperCollins might hire writers to add on to the Chronicles, possibly requring that the stories have less religious subtext. What do you think of this idea?**It’s silly. Clearly what made the books so good was what Lewis put into them, and even if they get another writer as good as Lewis, that writer would better spend his time creating his own world. If they ever do such a thing, I won’t take part in the violence others suggest, but just quietly ignore them.
**10. So what IS the proper order for reading the books? Publication order or internal chronology?**It’s my opinion that all series, of books, movies, songs, or any other medium, should be approached in the order in which they were first presented. A later work in a series is created with the expectation that the audience is already familiar with the others, even if it occurs chronologically before the others.
I’ve already posted my answers, but I wanted to comment on The Last Battle. It isn’t my favorite of the seven by any means, but I don’t have the disdain for it that a lot of fans do. I do remember being terribly frustrated by the stupid Narnians while reading it for the first time. And when the heroes started dying, I had to re-read the page over and over because I couldn’t believe it. I was young and shocked that the bad guys seemed to be winning (until the very end, of course).
1. When did you first read the Chronicles, and what prompted you to do so? Were you introduced by a parent, a teacher, the 70s’ animated cartoon, the recent movie, or something else?
In my first year at Big School 
my class had a sort of mutual lending library to which someone contributed LWW and gave a brief book review. (My contribution was the less cerebral The Art of Coarse Sailing by Michael Green.) But I didn’t read the book for a couple more years. My eldest sister, who did a year at teacher-training college before she got pregnant and dropped out, had volumes 1-3 about the place and I eventually picked up Dawn Treader and read it. That was just down to reading everything in sight. I liked it a lot even though I had to struggle a bit for the context, but I soon borrowed LWW and Prince Caspian. I’m fairly sure she also had The Magician’s Nephew; the other three I had to wait a while to borrow.
**2. Do you find the Chronicles’ Christian subtext an asset or a defect? If you are a Christian, do you feel the books have assisted you in your spiritual journey? If you are an atheist,
**
It wasn’t apparent at first sight in DT, although looking back I now wonder how I ever missed it. But as spiritual influences go, I find them a drop in the ocean, albeit a very welcome drop. As you might guess, I find the Space Trilogy slightly more grown-up Xi-fi, and I also like The Great Divorce and, of course, The Screwtape Letters.
3. Which of the books is your favorite, and why? Which is your least favorite, and why?
That would be a toss-up between LWW and DT, the latter simply because you never forget your first love (and it’s a very agreeable here-be-dragons travelogue) and the former because it was Lewis’s first and freshest cut at his new world, although he struggles a little to retcon it with Teh Magician’s Nephew. Least favourite is probably The Silver Chair which just doesn’t seem to roll along quite as readily as the others - and yet it’s not glaringly worse.
4. Which of the books do you think is best written? If this one is not your favorite, why do you downgrade it?
I think DT - right from the opening line. (“There was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.”) Very episodic with no particular plot, but beautifully drawn.
5. Of the Chronicles’ eleven child protagonists–Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Eustace, Jill, Shasta, Aravis, Digory, and Polly–whom do you like best? Whom do you most dislike? Whom do you identify with?
I like them all and dislike none. Some have more growing-up to do than others - Peter seems to be inherently brave, honourable and honest throughout and Lucy is a byword for childlike trust, whereas both Edmund and Eustace begin their stories with severe character flaws - but on the whole most of them manage it, with one notable exception to be discussed shortly. As to identifying, as a youngster I was so much like the pre-dragon Eustace it was scary.
6. Do you think Susan went to hell? If so, does this reduce your enjoyment of the books? If you think she didn’t, why not?
Not necessarily, and no, in that order. I explained why in the thread someone earlier linked to, but to recap briefly, Susan was alive and well in shadow-England after the events in The Last Battle, with an entire lifetime ahead of her in which to turn to Christ. She might do so sooner or later; everyone and his brother has written a fan-fic on this theme, including me. Or she might never - and since I’ve still only heard about The Problem of Susan at second hand, I’m unsure what Gaiman’s angle actually is.
7. What do you think is the most valid criticism of the books? What is the series’ greatest strength?
Those who prefer their children’s fiction to have no Christian content at all - or, better yet, a thoroughly anti-Christian content that owes a lot to Gnosticism - might find them preachy. The continuity wobbles a bit from time to time and it’s unclear what everyone manages to live on during the hundred years’ winter. On the whole I don’t think they do badly next to the average fairy story aimed at children. And their strength is the sense of innocent wonder that pervades them all, with some exceptions obviously - such as the latter part of LB, where it becomes apparent that there’s not going to be any deus ex machina to sort everything out, and everyone will die horribly and the world come to an end… but the close of the story thoroughly compensates, I mean, when I turned the page and saw the illustration of the walled garden with a familiar-looking Talking Mouse waiting to welcome the newcomers, I remember I exclaimed out loud.
8. Did you like the recent movie, dislike it, or refuse to watch it?
It was good. It added a lot that was not there in the book, but - crucially - it did not toss out large chunks of important stuff to make room for it, and you can’t blame the filmmakers for seizing the opportunity to throw in a really rousing fantasy battle sequence that’s largely glossed over in the books. The execution of Aslan was spot-on - the only thing missing was the girls’ fearful question on finding the Stone Table empty: “Is it more magic?” and Aslan’s triumphant re-entry line. And the childrens’ uncertainty over whether to make Narnia’s woes their own was quite justifiable, IMO, and better done than all the angsty stuff in The Two Towers, to pull another film out of the ether quite at random.
9. A few years ago there were rumblings that HarperCollins might hire writers to add on to the Chronicles, possibly requring that the stories have less religious subtext. What do you think of this idea?
The part about the “less religious subtext” was contemptible and would be an utter betrayal of the original author. Either make up your own fantasy setting or stay true to the author’s vision! But something by a gifted writer sympathetic to Lewis wouldn’t be out of the question, and I’d take a guarded look at it. There are any number of ways it could go wrong, though.
10. So what IS the proper order for reading the books? Publication order or internal chronology?
Publication, natch. Who thinks anyone should start watching Star Wars by beginning with The Phantom Menace? Not that The Magician’s Nephew deserves to be bracketed with that. But if you start reading LWW when you know what the lamp-post is doing there and who Jadis is and what this fantasy land is all about, the sense of wonder diminishes. Better to let Lewis lead you into the world much as he began exploring it himself, and let MN stand as a prequel and The Horse and His Boy serve as back-fill.
1. When did you first read the Chronicles, and what prompted you to do so? Were you introduced by a parent, a teacher, the 70s’ animated cartoon, the recent movie, or something else?
My mother read me TLtwatW when I was five or six. I think I read The Magician’s Nephew next, and on my own. I have no clear memory of what order I read the rest of them in. The Place Between the Worlds creeped me out when I was a child.
*2. Do you find the Chronicles’ Christian subtext an asset or a defect? If you are a Christian, do you feel the books have assisted you in your spiritual journey? *
I found it an asset. The scene of Aslan’s resurrection was my first introduction to understanding Christ’s resurrection emotionally.
3. Which of the books is your favorite, and why? Which is your least favorite, and why?
Probably TLtWatW and The Last Battle. The first because it’s the gateway to Narnia, and the last because I profoundly hoped (and hope) to go to Aslan’s country when I die, and I loved the description of the heroic battle in front of the shed, and Emeth the Calormene. The end scene reminds me strongly of the end scenes in Lilith and Peace Like A River. Good apocalypse. The Horse and His Boy is my least favourite. Seems unecessary.
4. Which of the books do you think is best written? If this one is not your favorite, why do you downgrade it?
Huh. I have never thought of any of them in terms of writing. They are a bit cutesy in spots.
5. Of the Chronicles’ eleven child protagonists–Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Eustace, Jill, Shasta, Aravis, Digory, and Polly–whom do you like best? Whom do you most dislike? Whom do you identify with?
I liked Edmund, Lucy, and Eustace best. I thought the Polly and Jill were pretty useless. I think I most identify with Puddleglum.
6. Do you think Susan went to hell? If so, does this reduce your enjoyment of the books? If you think she didn’t, why not?
I think she did. Am I the only one? It doesn’t reduce my enjoyment of the books, because she had clearly chosen Hell (echoes of The Great Divorce). It made me sad, but it confirmed the reality of choice and action to me- you can deliberately choose something less good- in Susan’s case, to pretend that Narnia wasn’t real and didn’t matter.
7. What do you think is the most valid criticism of the books? What is the series’ greatest strength?
I suppose the racism. The sexism doesn’t bother me. I think its greatest strength is… cripes, I’m not sure. The appeal that finding a magical world has? Talking animals? Probably the beauty of the stories.
8. Did you like the recent movie, dislike it, or refuse to watch it?
Meh. It was okay. I agree with whomever said that everyone’s reluctance to fight for Narnia weakened it. I did love the Beavers, and I disliked the portrayal of the White Witch. Edmund was good, though.
9. A few years ago there were rumblings that HarperCollins might hire writers to add on to the Chronicles, possibly requring that the stories have less religious subtext. What do you think of this idea?
They will be killed, and their bodies eaten by enormous centipedes.
10. So what IS the proper order for reading the books? Publication order or internal chronology?
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Horse and His Boy
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The Magician’s Nephew
You must face your fear of the Place Between the Worlds, Lissa!
:smack: And I shall face my fear of screwing up Lissla’s name.
George Lucas?
Sorry, let me rephrase: What sane, intelligent individual…
@Lissla Lissar: I agree that Susan would slot effortlessly into The Great Divorce. Also into that level of Dante’s Inferno (or Niven’s!) where the vain and foolish are forever trying to ride the whirlwind, or whatever it is. But I think there was time enough for Susan to have a change of heart - and that, possibly, losing her entire family in an accident might have been enough of an ass-kicking to make it happen.
Right. The Magician’s Nephew should come right after Prince Caspian.
Everyone calls me Lissa. It must screw up the real Lissa if she does vanity searches. It’s too bad.
Skald, you’re definitely going to get eaten.
Au contraire. It was Aslan, after all, who invented humor. (Well, him and the Jackdaw.) He knows who loves him.
Also I am bringing pie to distract with him, just in case. Lions love pie.
I just recently bought and reread the entire series after seeing the film; I was surprised how poorly they’ve aged as I grew up. I really liked them as a child - well, some of them, anyway - so it was sort of disappointing to see how lacking they felt, particularly compared to this decade’s children’s fantasy septet. I still enjoyed reading some of the books, but they seem depressingly simple and awfully lectury compared to other children’s books I’ve reread since childhood.
I’m guessing I was probably eightish; no idea why I read them. They must have been suggested to me.
What about the people in neither category?
I’m an atheist, and generally, the books are definitely the worse for their Christian leanings. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe being the exception - it’s a pretty powerful rendition of the story of the crucifixion and resurrection. But the Christian elements to the other stories generally detracted from them, in my opinion - particularly The Last Battle, which was a hamhanded attempt at making a kiddy-friendly version of the apocalypse but simply failed as a story. Plus I have to say that his refusal to truly deal with Susan and the consequences of Christian belief - that is, to show her going to Hell (if you protest that she doesn’t, then the story ends up a little sanitized, doesn’t it? Hell exists, but no one the Pevensies know will end up there? That’s a little bit easy.) - makes the stories seem much shallower and really bereft of much spiritual significance.
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is probably my favorite - it’s simply an interesting story. Least favorite would be a three-way tie between Prince Caspian (which had no noticeable plot, besides Aslan Comes and Saves the Day), The Silver Chair (the plot was way too by-the-numbers), and The Last Battle, (which simply sucked). Prince Caspian and The Silver Chair also had a bit too much musing on “faith” for my enjoyment, particularly since Lewis wasn’t able to come up with any deeper meaning for it than “God likes fucking around with you by setting up arbitrary, pointless tests, and even when you’re doing His work by going on a mission for Him, He’s not gonna be much help.”)
I think that purely story-wise, The Horse and his Boy is the best thing in the series - but the somewhat racial overtones of the relation between the Calormenes and the Narnians and Archenlanders are somewhat upsetting. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe works very well as a fantasy story too, particularly with the moving interpretation of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Uck, none of them. That’s the biggest flaw I’ve noticed on rereading the series - the children don’t really have any personalities. There’s no character there, just sort of strained attempts at depicting various virtues and vices. There’s just very little to the children’s characters that isn’t part of the various annoyingly didactic morals the books try to impart.
It’s not clear. The refusal to say what happened demonstrates Lewis’s inability to deal with the fundamental problem of Christianity - that is, how a just, loving God can send people to eternal punishment for not believing in Him. I guess it’s a disappointment that Lewis - who has quite a reputation as a Christian thinker - is no more able to deal with this problem than anyone else.
There’s a lot, and I was really surprised and disappointed to discover that. I really treasured these books as a child (the ones I remember reading, anyway. I know I read all seven, but four of them I must have read once, quickly, and discarded, because I didn’t remember them at all when I reread them recently.) Unlike a lot of other children’s books that I enjoyed as a kid, these simply haven’t aged well with me. The writing style is at times obnoxiously precious - with his constant asides to the reader - and the characters and plots just don’t have much to them.
The world Lewis created was fascinating; I found myself quite taken with the history and geography of Narnia (and the other lands of the world). Much moreso than with the damn children.
Loved it. It was actually way closer to how I remember the book than the book itself is. It was also very beautifully filmed; the battle sequence with the White Witch was simply amazing. But mostly, the movie captured the main theme of the book - the whole Jesus dealie - without the didacticism of the book.
Uck. Franchise children’s literature rots their little brains.
Publication order, of course. The story he told was non-linear, and it works that way. Why would changing the order around improve it any?
It helped HarperCollins makes money. Which is why I once I am god-king of Earth I shall…
Nah, I’m tired of that bit too.
::tossing world conquest references into the dust bin along with slamming ROTK::