I once skimmed through the books to get exactly what you’re looking for, and the answer is, “Not much” There are not a lot of descriptions of it’s appearance. Oddly enough, some of the most detail is given in Prince Caspian. By this time centuries have passed and Cair Pairavel is a deserted ruin. When Peter, Edmund, Lucy and Susan discover it again, they are remembering it as it was in it’s prime. The sea came right up to one doorway, was there is mention of merpeople swimming up and singing for those in the castle. The great hall and the treasure room are detailed. But there’s not much more.
I was looking because I was doing a gingerbread display, and wanted to do Cair Paravel. In the end I looked at a lot of castles, and made up my own design.
You all have better recall than me! I read the book last night, and sure enough, we’ve got unicorns in Aslan’s camp, and minotaurs with the White Witch present at the hijinks at the stone table. I had forgotten about the bull with the man’s head (on the good side), that used to freak me out a bit as a kid.
The illustration of Cair Paravel still looks very English to me, solid and traditional with just enough trills to make it fairytale-like while still being functional. I can imagine someone actually using it as a point of defense.
I didn’t even know this movie was being made until I saw this thread. The trailer looks nice, but I’m also worried because I really don’t want anyone to make movies of those books and screw them up. Of course, I said the same thing about The Lord Of The Rings and that turned out OK. Then again, I was unimpressed by the first Harry Potter movie, disgusted by the second, never bothered with the third. It’s real hit or miss when the movie industry gets its hands on these kinds of stories. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.
It certainly is an impressive trailer, but did anyone else get the impression that it’s like LOTR but with more color? Big fights and running about and everything. The images I remember from reading it years ago are much smaller in scale, more subtle. I hope it’s not going to be two hours of minotaurs fighting mermaids.
Yeah, that’s what’s worrisome: the emphasis on fights and battles and such, when all that makes up a very small portion of the story. That’s the impression that comes from these trailers where everything is shown for about .00005 seconds, all quick cuts without any time for the viewer’s brain to actually register what it’s seeing. It makes it seem like the film makers are trying to hide something–the something usually being that they don’t have anything in the whole movie worth looking at for more than .00005 seconds. Again, I’m hopeful, but I’ll remain cautious, too…
It certainly looks good, based on the trailer. The casting looks promising – Peter especially looks right (I had a bit of a crush on Peter back in the day) and so did Lucy (much better than the horrid frog-girl who played her in the Wonderworks version. Aslan and the other talking animals are pivotal to the success of this movie, though and there wasn’t enough of the big guy in the trailer for me to feel completely sure that he’ll look like a real, talking lion. I feel fairly good about that, though – it did look very promising indeed. And I was pleased to see that they didn’t update the story to now, as I’d heard they were considering. I’m cautiously optimistic.
I know a guy working on it and they put so much effort into this movie! It looks beautiful and I’m amazed at all the detail put into the bits and pieces that I’ve seen. For that scene with the minotaurs, they filmed a bunch of men and then added in the horse parts in later in digital. He was telling me how he spent days on a beaver. I can’t wait to see it.
I saw the trailer in front of SW:ROTS too, and it got a great reception, with lots of people whooping and clapping. When it was over and the applause died down a bit but before the next trailer started, I couldn’t help myself, and yelled out
“GO WETA!!”
Suprisingly, several people got the reference and cheered.
(The movie was filmed in New Zealand. WETA Workshop and WETA Digital, which did all the props and special effects for the Lord of the Rings movies, also did Narnia, which is why it looks so freaking fantastic. And slightly familiar.)
I’ve never read the books and don’t plan to (too Christian for me). I’ll go see the movie though, either midnight show or first show opening day, just for the images and to see New Zealand on the big screen again.
This thread (and that after getting some from the local market, I like Turkish delight) has gotten me curious about The L, T W, And TW. I remember bits of the book from elementary school. For those who have reread it as adults, does it hold up?
IMHO That’s a mistake. A friend gave me a copy of The Screwtape Letters. I didn’t plan to read it. I’m Jewish and have no interest in Christian glurge. But, I was curious just how bad the book would be. It’s the opposite of Christian glurge e-mail. Every sentence in the book is written to teach the reader some lesson or another. But, it’s very well written and extremely entertaining. The whole book is nothing but a long-winded preachy lecture. But, it never feels like that. It feels like a gripping story about demons, the battle for souls, and the dog eat dog corporate politics of hell.
I’m not sure if I’ll read the Narnia Chronicles, but the fact that they’re a Christian allegory doesn’t have any bearing on the decision.
It did for me. But then, I do like children’s lit a lot.
My husband read it for the first time after we married (actually, he read it to me, which was lovely). He didn’t really notice the allegory. He grew up without much religious involvement at all, so he misses anything subtle.
98% of what I read is non-fiction, so if I read fiction it has to be something very special. I had never read LOTR until after I saw the first movie, and that was very special, so I’m glad I read all 3 books one right after the other within a month of seeing Fellowship. Just because I don’t plan to read any of the Narnia books doesn’t mean I never ever will no matter what. It’s possible I’ll read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe after seeing the movie.
Besides, I don’t want to be a book-reader purist who reads the book then sees the movie and bitches and complains about changes or casting or whatever. Even if I wanted to read the book now, I’d still wait until after the movie.
The Screwtape Letters sounds interesting from your description.
I don’t remember the quote exactly, but C.S. Lewis himself said something like, “Any children’s book not worth reading as an adult, is not worth reading as a child either.” I think the Narnia series holds up remarkable well - I’m in my mid-thirties and still read through the series every couple of years.
Screwtape Letters is also a classic - it’s interesting to hear a non-Christian’s take on it. I always found it entertaining, insightful and challenging.