C. S. Lewis - Narnia, etc.

[Yak]

I like Narnia very much too .. hmm maybe some people might like to do a Narnia readathon? I don't like it as much as Middle Earth but nonetheless I get a great deal out of the books. The Last Battle was challenging for me and to an extent I agreed with Philip Pullman's criticisms of the book, yet there was some of the most beautiful and lyrical writing of the series in there.

Prince Caspian is probably my favourite.

[munin]

Absolutely love C. S. Lewis but more a fan of Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters than the Narinia series. But have read all of them and enjoyed them, my favourite was The Horse and his Boy.

[dolly]

His writing reminds me a little bit of Edith Nesbit´s style. I know that he was a friend of Tolkien, but I prefer the stories of C.S. Lewis.

[Anita Bensoussane]

His writing reminds me a little bit of Edith Nesbit´s style.

Yes, his frequent "asides" to the reader in the Chronicles of Narnia remind me of Nesbit. C.S. Lewis was clearly a fan of E. Nesbit's books as he refers to her novel The Treasure Seekers in the second paragraph of The Magician's Nephew: "In those days Mr. Sherlock Holmes was still living in Baker Street and the Bastables were looking for treasure in the Lewisham Road." Even the plot of The Magician's Nephew is similar to Nesbit's The Story of the Amulet in some ways - both involve children journeying to other worlds by magic and, in both books, a striking-looking proud and haughty woman (queen?) from another world is transported to Victorian/Edwardian London where she causes chaos.

Anita

[Yak]

I was never able to work out quite who Jadis - later the White Witch and possibly the Lady of the Green Girtle though that one is hotly debated - was meant to represent. I have seen people try to argue that she represented Satan and yet Tash, in The LAst Battle, is clearly meant to be Satan..

[Anita Bensoussane]

I don't know whether she is meant to represent anyone in particular but we see, in the character of Jadis, how rulers can become corrupted by greed, pride and a lust for more and more power, losing sight of their true role which is to serve their community. She contrasts with a ruler like Caspian, who is motivated by a genuine love of his community. Clearly Jadis is a temptress who attempts to ensnare people with a golden apple, Turkish Delight, etc. That reminds me of the Sirens of Greek legend, or of the serpent and Eve in the Garden of Eden, or of ladies in mediaeval stories like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. So she's a temptress but is perhaps a follower/agent of Satan rather than Satan himself? I seem to remember that we learn something of her history in one of the books and that there's a reference to the Lilith story, but I can't recall the details as it's a while since I read the books. If Jadis is descended from Lilith, wouldn't that make her some kind of demon-like being, trying to take people over and use them for her evil purposes? (Sorry if any of this is blindingly obvious from the books - the details are hazy in my mind.)

Anita

[Yak]

Yes, I think that's what a lot of Lewis fans think. The Tash figure was much more .. I don't know what the term is. Much less 'human', much more blatantly evil. I always got the impression that their might have been redemption for Jadis, had she chosen to accept it, but not for Tash.

[hobbes]

I wonder how likely it is that the other books will be filmed. Prince Caspian did not do as well at the box office and Disney have pulled out of producing the Dawn Treader to be replaced by Fox. It will have to do well to get the fourth film greenlit especially as many familar characters will be absent.

The other Golden compass films have been quietly shelved too

[Yak]

Prince Caspian is a great book but I am not sure how suitable it was for filming. VDT should hopefully have a bit more 'action' to it.

[Jeffery Greyling]

I love the Narnia Chronicles, a couple of my favourites are Dawn Treader and Prince Caspian. I thought the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe 2005 movie was pretty good, but I disliked the Prince Caspian movie. I hated the way they made Susan and Caspian fall in love. It was really uncalled for. Also, I could hardly tell what was happening in the battle scene towards the end, cause the screen was too dark.

I much prefer the BBC movies, because they don't have really flash special effects. I like it better when you can create a picture of Narnia in your own mind, rather than a computer do it for you.

[Loony the Dog]

Has any one else read the Chronicles of Narnia? I started reading them a few years back and re-read the whole series recently and thoroughly enjoyed them. My favourite out of all seven -

The Magician's Nephew,

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Horse and His Boy

Prince Caspian

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

The Silver Chair

The Last Battle

- would probably be either Prince Caspian or The Last Battle. He is quite a popular author according to his website: http://www.cslewis.com/index.aspx.

Best Wishes,

Aaron

[Fiona1986]

I've just read the first two. I certainly enjoyed the second more than the first though they haven't overly motivated me to read the rest.

[Katharine]

I first read the Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe as a child, and have enjoyed re-reading it a couple of times since. It was only a few years ago that I reaslised it was part of The Chronicles.

I got myself a boxed set of them all, but so far have only read the first three. This thread has helped me decide what I shall read next.

Actually, I say I'd never come across the other books before, but parts of the Magician's Nephew seemed vaguely familiar, so I don't know if perhaps I'd read or heard it read when quite young, maybe it was on something like Jackanory? Or was it ever made into a TV series, say in the 1970s?

[Yak]

I hope you all are reading them in the proper order, ie the published order that Lewis intended and not the new order which starts with The Magician's Nephew . Lion Witch and Wardrobe is definitely intended to be read first.

I can highly recommend Lewis's Till We Have Faces, a reworking of the myth of Cupid and Psyche, to anyone and everyone. Beautiful, sensitively written book.

[Fiona1986]

I hope you all are reading them in the proper order, ie the published order that Lewis intended and not the new order which starts with The Magician's Nephew . Lion Witch and Wardrobe is definitely intended to be read first.

Really? That's interesting. I started with TMN, and then read LW&W. It seemed to make sense to me, as TMN introduced the concept of travelling to these other worlds.