“And now,” said Aslan presently, “to business. I feel I am going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your
ears.”
~ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis,
Chapter 15: Deeper Magic
from Before the Dawn of Time, pg. 164
There is a saying on TV Tropes, covers always lie. And never
is that maxim so true as it is with the spines of the volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia. I am a firm proponent for reading this series
in the order in which C.S. Lewis originally wrote and published them, which
means none of this sissy “chronological order” nonsense.
Why do I care so much? Perhaps I wouldn’t in different
circumstances. But with Narnia I feel that The Lion, the
Witch, and the Wardrobe is the most important one to read, and therefore
should be volume one. Anyone who has read the books—or seen the movies, or some
other vicarious knowledge of the series—knows that C.S. Lewis, a devout
Christian apologist, wrote Narnia as
an allegory of Biblical doctrines. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
is the most obvious, being an allegory of the crucifixion and resurrection of
Jesus. Aslan is Jesus, the Witch is
Satan, and the four Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) represent
humanity.
The symbolism doesn’t stop there, although I admit some
of the overarching themes of the subsequent books are harder to pin down. If anyone has any simple, clear-cut
explanation of what Prince Caspian and The Horse and His Boy is
presenting, I’d jump at the chance to hear it. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader deals with the problem of
temptation. The Silver Chair—which
by the way is my favorite of the series—emphasizes the importance of memorizing
what the Bible says. The Magician’s Nephew presents the
Creation story (as in Genesis), and The Last Battle is a story of the
End Times (Revelation).
In addition to this being a very good introduction to
Christianity (and even if you’re not a Christian, and never intend to become
one, it would be worth your while to know what Christianity stands for), The Chronicles of Narnia is a classic
example of children’s literature. The
moods of the series run the gamut of emotion, from fear and sorrow to
exultation and hilarity. As I’ve said
before, you know you have a good book in your hands when you can’t pick a
favorite character because you love so many.
The reader will be hard-pressed to choose between Puddleglum and
Reepicheep, Lucy, Diggory, Mr. Tumnus, the Beavers, Shasta, Fledge, and of
course Aslan himself. One of my personal
favorites is Edmund, but Eustace Scrubb is also great in all his beastly
obnoxiousness.
I said a few moments ago that The Silver Chair
is my favorite. Part of the reason is
because of Puddleglum and Eustace being in it. But the majority of the reason is Chapter Twelve: The Queen of
Underland. My summarizing it (because
the passage I love is too long to quote here) would pale in comparison to
reading the actual thing.
 |
| Illustration by Pauline Baynes for The Silver Chair, Chapter 5: Puddleglum Source: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_me60fo2eTp1riwkruo1_500.jpg |
RECOMMENDED READING AGE: 8+
PARENTAL NOTES: The reason for my recommending it to ages
eight and up is not because younger children won’t enjoy it, but because with
things like witches and wer-wolves and dragons and sea-serpents and…well, Tash,
it could be too scary. There is no
swearing aside from Uncle Andrew in The Magician’s Nephew saying the “dem.”
AVAILABILITY: One of the things I love about this segment
of my blog is it’s basically an excuse to shop for books. The “celebration of the first edition” The
Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe looks fantastic. Sadly because Borders is gone there is a
distinct lack of hardcover/dust-jacketed volumes, but I can suggest some
standards for buying the entire series:
1.
You’re going to want to get individual volumes,
not a collection of all seven novels together. This is because all the novels in one volume is very thick and too hard
on the spine for the book’s longevity.
2.
This should go without saying, but I’m going to
say it: Don’t get abridged or picture book version. That’s cheating and doesn’t count.
3.
Get the illustrations from Pauline Baynes. This should not be hard since I think she’s
the default illustrator.
4.
Get hardcover. Seriously people, I’ve said it enough that you should have this down by
now!
ADAPTATIONS: Another argument for the original order of
the books as opposed to the chronological order is that if you make the movies
in the order the books were written, the child actors age in perfect harmony
(since by The Last Battle all the children are adults, and by the time
you make seven movies the child actors have grown up) There are two sets of
adaptations, neither of which are complete.
There is an older BBC series that goes through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair. The more recent films by WaldenMedia have only gotten up to Dawn Treader. There is also an animated The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe from
the 70's complete with bell-bottom clad Pevensies. Yeahhh…that happened.
ALSO!!! There's an album by 2nd Chapter of Acts that's basically a musical waiting to be made, based on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's called The Roar of Love and it.is. incredible.
You know it's funny, I grew up in a christian household, and I read these books as a child, and I did not make the connection until years later. Then it was obvious. But I think they're just very well-told stories, with good lessons and great characters, even if you don't want to look for the allegories and symbolism.
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