RANDOM JOTTINGS

A blog about music, sports, theatre and rants

Long time blogger just moved to wordpress. Love music, theatre, movies, sport (tennis and cricket) and cooking. Two great daughters, two great granddaughters.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – Narnia

Popped into HMV on the way to work the other day and found a copy of this film on DVD for £5.  Decided it was high time I watched it and last night was the night chosen for viewing.  I loved it. Simply loved it.  My daughters, Kathryn and Helen, read these books over and over again when they were young and I well remember a serialisation on TV in the 1980’s which had them glued to the screen.

Peter

For some reason, these books have passed me by.  I love reading children’s literature, but C S Lewis has never appealed to me.  Don’t ask me why, I have no logical answer to give.  I more or less know the stories, know the characters and know what happens, but the written text has never graced my reading table.  Well, I think this is now about to change.  I am sure purists and devotees of the books have had a lot to say about this Disney version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and will find a lot to criticise, but as I am new to the books and a Narnia ‘virgin’, all I can say is that I spend a wonderful two hours and enjoyed every minute of the film.  Now must go and see Prince Caspian.

I recently read an article by Philip Pullman, another author who I have no desire to read though I know he has his devoted admirers, being very uncomplimentary about CS Lewis’ books and saying they were misogynist and archaic and showed a ‘lack of love’.  OK, I don’t have a leg to stand on here in responding to this until I have read the books themselves, but surely from what I remember when discussing these with my children, and on the viewing of the film last night, Aslan’s sacrifice is the supreme act of love, and also the way the children refuse to give up on Edmund and save him despite his atrocious behavior, demonstrates family love at its deepest?

Photo_28_hires_3   

I am off to Cambridge tomorrow, hopefully this time I will not be stuck on the M11 for six hours but am taking a book and food with me just in case, and one of the bookshops I will be visiting is one that specialises in children’s books.  I don’t want to order brand new copies of this series from Amazon, I want to see if I can rummage around and perhaps come up with the copies my children had, and still have, as far as I am aware.  I am looking forward to plunging into the heaps of books in the Secret Bookshop.

It really is such a treat to realise that I have these books to now read and discover at my advanced age. Photo_18_hires_4 Isn’t it lovely when this happens?

I have already asked a friend who is an expert on children’s literature to let me have her take on these books, but would love to hear from everyone else, please, what you all think about the Narnia books and look forward to your responses.

PS – another reason for enjoying this film, is that the actress who plays Lucy so wonderfully, is the spitting image of my younger daughter Helen at that age, and I was enchanted by her determination and festiness. My other daughter also spotted the likeness, so it is not just a fond mother’s ramblings…..

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11 responses to “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – Narnia”

  1. Elaine Simpson-Long Avatar
    Elaine Simpson-Long

    Thank you everyone for the really interesting comments and thoughts posted here. I didn’t manage to get a copy on Saturday when I went to cambridge so will now have to order a brand new one, when I was hoping to find an old battered second hand edition, but no matter.
    Seems you either love or loathe these books…
    Curzon – how exciting at 10 to discover your teacher was ‘Lucy’.
    And as usual, serendipity raises its head, and Shadowlands with Anthony Hopkins as CS Lewis was shown over the weekend. that man is a supreme actor.

    Reply
  2. Curzon Tussaud Avatar
    Curzon Tussaud

    Aged 10, I asked my piano teacher if she were the same “Lucy Barfield” to whom TLtWatW was dedicated, and was simply thrilled to discover that she was. Her father Owen was a close friend of C.S Lewis. The Narnia books, and the Holmes stories, were the audiotapes of choice when we were driving anywhere with the children, and all ages loved them. Before that, it was of course Captain Beaky and Hissing Sid.

    Reply
  3. Sarah Avatar
    Sarah

    I loved these books and the BBC tv adaption as a child, and have decided to re-read them all soon. I’ve also enjoyed the recent big screen adaptions.
    I find the discussion/criticism of the books interesting and as an atheist and a feminist might be expected to agree.But for me,the fact that the stories are so much fun overrides it all.
    If you do read them, you’ll have to decide if you read them in the order they were published or by Narnian chronology ie the order the stories occur in Narnia. Fans have fun arguing this point- for my money I think a newcomer should start with the first published book, The Lion, the witch and the wardrobe. I don’t see how you can read this and not be drawn in!

    Reply
  4. Bet Avatar
    Bet

    I was first introduced to this series in third grade. I was thoroughly fascinated by our lovely teacher, who was from England (I’m American) and when she started reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe after lunch each day, I was enthralled and that became my favorite hour of school. A few years later I found the rest of the series and read them on my own. In my high school years I bought my own set and re-read them regularly. In college I read them during exams to relax. For me the meaning and beauty of these stories has grown over the years, not diminished.

    Reply
  5. Cath Avatar
    Cath

    Loved Narnia as a child, read the whole series several times. The religious aspect went straight over my head to be honest. I went to see the movie you bought a couple of years ago and loved it, again the religious aspect didn’t worry me even though I’m a non-believer. Hoping to see the new movie next week. Pullman? Not a fan to be honest, disliked the books, thought they lacked ‘heart’ and had other issues with them. The movie was better. I too would recommend Terry Pratchett for all round brilliance and two Aussie authors, Garth Nix and Trudi Canavan.

    Reply
  6. carole Avatar
    carole

    I didn’t read these books as a child either, but I did love reading them to my children, who adored them. Haven’t seen the films but hear that Prince Caspian is good. I enjoyed reading “the Inklings’, a book about C.S Lewis and his crowd at Cambridge. He had a terrible childhood, totally loveless, I think the slight clumsiness of his style could be founded in that. I’m just glad when any child today reads or watches anything that isn’t total violence or cruelty.

    Reply
  7. Nicola Slade Avatar
    Nicola Slade

    Nope, never got on with these books either for myself or my children. Haven’t seen the films but remember the television series as being spectacular but oddly empty. But then I find that Tolkien leaves me cold too, and both authors are what my younger daughter describes as full of ‘bloke stuff with action and politics!’
    (Ok, now shoot me, Tolkien fans!) I much prefer Pullman which has such huge ideas I have to take a deep breath and plunge in if I decide on a re-read, but head and shoulders above them all, for me, are Diana Wynne Jones and Terry Pratchett. When it comes to real wisdom and compassion distilled in a story for young people, give me those two any day.

    Reply
  8. Imani Avatar
    Imani

    Yeees, this series. As an adult I think it will be a bit difficult to overlook Lewis’ preachy style in some of the books unless a) one agrees with him wholeheartedly and b) one like one’s fiction to be overtly didactic. Having typed that I do think there are two stand-out entries, these being “A Horse and His Boy” and “The Silver Chair”. Lewis lets the story reign supreme which doesn’t, funnily enough, mean his themes are suppressed in any way, simply that they develop in a more natural, enjoyable manner that makes one more appreciative (and I say this as an atheist). “The Lion…” comes right after those two. The rest are pretty uneven for me — great highs and lows.
    As for the misogyny accusations those have to do with how Lewis judged Susan at the end. I think she wasn’t allowed to get to heaven because she liked make-up and boys too much? Asked too many questions? I’m being a bit facetious but her ending is a little problematic.
    It’s basically one of those children’s books that don’t carry over so well into adulthood, unlike “The Lord of the Rings” for example, because it’s less amorphous. Therefore I don’t think daphne’s characterization of Pullman vis a vis his position on Narnia is quite fair. Lewis was never Catholic, for one thing, that’s Tolkien. (Pullman is indifferent to Tolkien’s fiction, probably because it’s not an argument in the way his and Lewis’ is.)

    Reply
  9. stu Avatar
    stu

    When I read these as a child I liked them, but even then they seemed a bit heavy handed. Re-reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe in a quiet moment I found myself forced to put it back quite quickly. Not only is it an annoyingly transparent attempt to brainwash children with the christian message, not only is Pullman right about the streak of misogeny running throughout, but also it’s not actually that well written.

    Reply
  10. daphne sayed Avatar
    daphne sayed

    Pullman is an Atheist and really hates the Catholic Church so he’d have no sympathy with Lewis who was a deeply committed Christian. Lewis also wrote marvellous letters.

    Reply
  11. Steph Avatar
    Steph

    I saw this DVD with my children last weekend and loved it too! I can’t wait to start reading the books to them (they’re 6 and 4 so not ready to read them for themselves yet…) as I remember devouring them as a child. I’m curious if my reaction to them will be different as an adult reader.

    Reply

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