C. S. Lewis - Narnia, etc.

[Pippa-Stef]

I wish I had your influence in the Library at School, Ming! OUr Librarian, who I must say looks to me for Book advice, doesn't like the Idea of Stocking up our "Blyton" section because she doesn't see it as very popular! We've only got the Adventure series (and I'm not sure that's even complete! )

Well I suppose, amoungest my peers, I am in the minority, although the Narnia books we recently got, haven't exactly flown off the shelves!



I'll have to do some re-shuffling!

[Viking Star]

I love C.S. Lewis' Narnia series. I've read them all many times.

I really enjoyed the adaption of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. I thought it was virtually perfect except that Maugrim the wolf had an American accent. Why oh why? No one else in the film did!

I can't wait to see Prince Caspian. Hopefully I'll see it later this week. I mentioned some time ago on the forums that C.S. Lewis taught my Dad at Oxford!

[Somita]

Wow, Viking Star! Is it true that your Dad was taught by C.S. Lewis? If so, your Dad might know a lot about the writer!

I haven't watched The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe, just planning! Prince Caspian is good though some parts of the book aren't mentioned in the movie.
Cheers,Somita

[Maggie Knows]

Not me, I can't stand science fiction and-or "fantasy" writing.

My wife is a big fan of Tolkien, CS Lewis etc. and early on she tried to get me to read that stuff but sorry I just can't make any headway with it. One holiday I managed to get thru the first Tolkien book but gosh I thought it was boring.

I don't like Star Wars type movies either.

She on the other hand is very sniffy about EB, thinks it very formulaic. Maybe she's right, but for me it's a good formula.

Our kids seem to like both styles...

[Somita]

Well, it is own's interest, Maggie Knows. Some like this and some like that. Anyway, I like Enid and C.S Lewis both.

[Petermax]

One holiday I managed to get thru the first Tolkien book but gosh I thought it was boring.

The wrath of Petermax has been invoked, we have a heretic on these forums! Did not the writings of Tolkien invoke the wonderful landscape of Middle Earth in the minds eye? The Fellowship of the Ring is admittedly something of a slow burner, but once the silly Bombadil sequence is out of the way, then the book attains a grandeur far beyond the original 1937 l childrens book that started it all. (The Hobbit)

I must have read most of the Narnia books back at primary school, we had a very well stocked library that included the works of C S Lewis, Buckeridge, Crompton and of course Blyton.

[Maggie Knows]

My wife claims my lack of susceptibility to Narnia, Tolkien etc. is evidence of deep seated personality defects, and she's probably right

I hate to upset you Petermax, especially because you're the one who has so generously uploaded all those FF TV shows on to You Tube so me and the kids can watch them...but, I just can't be excited about the adventures of a bunch of pixies and leprauchauns...

I don't like Faraway Tree much either come to think of it...

[Moonraker]

My wife claims my lack of susceptibility to Narnia, Tolkien etc. is evidence of deep seated personality defects, and she's probably right
I don't like Faraway Tree much either come to think of it...

Sounds to me that you need a plate of google buns and a visit to Dame Slap!

[Petermax]

I just can't be excited about the adventures of a bunch of pixies and leprauchauns...

Pixies and leprauchauns? Such scandalous misrepresentation, it's Hobbits, Elves and Dwarves please!!!!!!!!! Petermax is seething!

With regard to C. S. Lewis, I took my ten year niece to see The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince Caspian today at Port Solent. I cannot say if the film bore any relation to the book, my last foray was decades ago. All I can say is that the two hour twenty minute running time flew by in what seemed like forty-five minutes, the hallmark of a fine film indeed.

My niece later expressed surprise that the Chronicles of Narnia is a series of books published well over fifty years ago. Something tells me that Uncle Petermax will be making one or two book purchases for her in the near future.

[Bannerman65]

I haven't seen Prince Caspian, yet. I'll probably download it, when it winds up on the Internet.

I'm not sure if I have a favourite, here. But I consider The Last Battle, to be the saddest in the series.

[Kate Mary]

I found the film of "Prince Caspian" was a wee bit too long and some sections dragged for me but the battle scenes were brilliant, I loved the first Narnia film though.
My favourite Narnia book has to be "The Magician's Nephew", and I agree with you Bannerman that "The Last Battle" is a sad book with the exclusion of Susan from Narnia/Heaven. Taking Christian allegory too far maybe? after all it's just a kid's book!

Kate.

[Bannerman65]

I don't know if Narnia could be considered Heaven, Kate. That might be reserved for the Christian faith.

It wasn't just the fact, that Susan had matured to the point, where she didn't believe in Narnia any more (hence her not being with Peter, Edmund, and Lucy), but also that Aslan shut down Narnia, and the fact that Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy, really were killed in a train accident. Hence why Peter's Edmund's, and Lucy's spirit's were in Narnia. I can only assume, that Susan's spirit went to God.

[Mollybob]

I love the Narnia books and think Prince Caspian is a very good book. My least favourite (if you can call it that) is "The Horse and His Boy", and my favourite is probably "The Magician's Nephew".

I don't think we can say that Susan was excluded from heaven (which is indeed what the inner Narnia represented to Lewis) in the last book, as she wasn't killed in the train crash and so would still be alive on earth. It does seem to suggest that she may eventually be excluded from heaven though, unless she changes.

If you enjoy the Narnia books, why not read some of C.S. Lewis' other books. I love his space trilogy, which starts with Out of the Silent Planet. I'd recommend these books as an excellent read!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Pauline Baynes' illustrations, richly-detailed and full of movement, suited the Chronicles of Narnia perfectly, I thought. Some of her pictures had a very apt "medieval tapestry" quality about them. I was sorry to hear to hear that she died last week, at the age of 85.

Although Horace Knowles was the original illustrator of Enid Blyton's The Land of Far-Beyond, there was also an edition with pictures by Pauline Baynes. I haven't seen a copy myself but a few illustrations from it have appeared in the EB Society Journal.

Anita

[Bannerman65]

As far as I can tell with the books and films, Narnia WAS set in medievil times, with magic thrown in, for good measure.

I'm a little puzzled though, as to why Aslan would choose that time period.