![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI reread these while I was on vacation in Taiwan. I forgot so much from these books, but I still remember so much as well! And it reads so much faster now than it did when I was six. Amazing ;).
I think a lot of people complained about Peter Jackson taking out the comforting hobbity bits of LotR; I didn't mind personally, but that's because my own memories of the book focus more on Eowyn and grand battles and sacrifices. The Narnia movie, on the other hand, rubbed me the wrong way because there was too much big battle and not enough... Britishness, for lack of a better word.
When I reread the first three books of Narnia (I still think of them as the first three because I read them in that order; I'm not a very ardent defender or detractor of the current reordering), the tone is what I remember most. I remember the narrator specifying why Peter and Lucy leave the door of the wardrobe open a crack while Edmund doesn't or tea with Mr. Tumnus, I remember the smaller lion bouncing around excitedly with a mustache still drawn on his muzzle. To me, Middle-Earth was grand and heroic, but Narnia was friendly.
I'm not sure why there was this difference for me; it could have been because I read Narnia earlier than LotR (when I was 7ish as opposed to 11ish), it could be because the Pevensies and Eustace and Jill were from my world and had to think about things like school.
Anyhow, rereading, I found all these lovely little details that I had forgotten -- Mrs. Beaver wants to save her sewing machine even as the Secret Police are after them, the Bulgy Bear licks his paws at the wrong time, etc.
I know there was a lot of discussion on LJ a while back on the religious overtones of Narnia, but the oddest thing is that it never bothered me because I simply never picked up on it. My fourth grade English teacher actually read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to us and told us that Aslan symbolized Christ, but since she also refused to call me by my Chinese name and told my mom she'd name me Judy after herself if I didn't have an English name, I mostly figured she was making it up.
When I reread it, I could see where the very overt allegory was, but it still didn't really bother me. I've grown so used to thinking of Narnia as a separate place and Aslan as a separate figure that I can't quite get my head back in it. The only thing that did really bother me was C.S. Lewis' obvious dislike of a "new-fangled" lifestyle of vegetarianism and etc. (aka, Eustace's parents and his horrid school).
I was going to reread the entire series, but I left The Silver Chair behind me in a restaurant (tragedy!) and forgot to take the rest to Taipei for new year, so I didn't. I think I'm going to check them out, just to see if I still like the ones I used to. My favorites were Prince Caspian, The Silver Chair (despite the creepiness factor), The Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Nephew. I liked The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but it probably lost its novelty value for me faster. And I don't know why, but I never liked Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I think picaresque adventure tales that hop from place to place never do it for me. Also, just the thought of sailing to the End of the World frightened me, as did the magician's book that Lucy opens and can never quite remember again. And like most people, I hated The Last Battle.
But oh, it was so good rereading these! It was like meeting up with a very old friend you'd lost touch with, with the firm belief that you'd probably grown in different directions, only to find that all the delightful things that you loved about her before were still the same, and that the things that annoyed you were blunted by time passing.
I think a lot of people complained about Peter Jackson taking out the comforting hobbity bits of LotR; I didn't mind personally, but that's because my own memories of the book focus more on Eowyn and grand battles and sacrifices. The Narnia movie, on the other hand, rubbed me the wrong way because there was too much big battle and not enough... Britishness, for lack of a better word.
When I reread the first three books of Narnia (I still think of them as the first three because I read them in that order; I'm not a very ardent defender or detractor of the current reordering), the tone is what I remember most. I remember the narrator specifying why Peter and Lucy leave the door of the wardrobe open a crack while Edmund doesn't or tea with Mr. Tumnus, I remember the smaller lion bouncing around excitedly with a mustache still drawn on his muzzle. To me, Middle-Earth was grand and heroic, but Narnia was friendly.
I'm not sure why there was this difference for me; it could have been because I read Narnia earlier than LotR (when I was 7ish as opposed to 11ish), it could be because the Pevensies and Eustace and Jill were from my world and had to think about things like school.
Anyhow, rereading, I found all these lovely little details that I had forgotten -- Mrs. Beaver wants to save her sewing machine even as the Secret Police are after them, the Bulgy Bear licks his paws at the wrong time, etc.
I know there was a lot of discussion on LJ a while back on the religious overtones of Narnia, but the oddest thing is that it never bothered me because I simply never picked up on it. My fourth grade English teacher actually read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to us and told us that Aslan symbolized Christ, but since she also refused to call me by my Chinese name and told my mom she'd name me Judy after herself if I didn't have an English name, I mostly figured she was making it up.
When I reread it, I could see where the very overt allegory was, but it still didn't really bother me. I've grown so used to thinking of Narnia as a separate place and Aslan as a separate figure that I can't quite get my head back in it. The only thing that did really bother me was C.S. Lewis' obvious dislike of a "new-fangled" lifestyle of vegetarianism and etc. (aka, Eustace's parents and his horrid school).
I was going to reread the entire series, but I left The Silver Chair behind me in a restaurant (tragedy!) and forgot to take the rest to Taipei for new year, so I didn't. I think I'm going to check them out, just to see if I still like the ones I used to. My favorites were Prince Caspian, The Silver Chair (despite the creepiness factor), The Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Nephew. I liked The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but it probably lost its novelty value for me faster. And I don't know why, but I never liked Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I think picaresque adventure tales that hop from place to place never do it for me. Also, just the thought of sailing to the End of the World frightened me, as did the magician's book that Lucy opens and can never quite remember again. And like most people, I hated The Last Battle.
But oh, it was so good rereading these! It was like meeting up with a very old friend you'd lost touch with, with the firm belief that you'd probably grown in different directions, only to find that all the delightful things that you loved about her before were still the same, and that the things that annoyed you were blunted by time passing.
(no subject)
Tue, Feb. 14th, 2006 01:37 am (UTC)There were also moments in that that struck me as being more purely magical than anything in the other books-- the island where dreams come true (which still gives me the creeps), the moment when Lucy meets the eyes of a young mermaid, the story in the magician's book, and when they taste the water and find it sweet.
My second-favorite was The Silver Chair, even though it's not one of the adventures that I'd really want to have. But the way the characters are uncomfortable the whole time and squabble a lot makes it feel more realistic than the others. Also Jill is tough, Eustace is believably a good guy without having lost his essential pompousness, and Puddleglum is hilarious. And the witch is creepy. I also love the dialogue where the witch tries to convince the kids that Narnia isn't real, and Puddleglum says that he likes his made-up Narnia better than the witch's real world. I like that bit because it clearly has philosophical subtext, but can be interpreted in a lot of different ways.
(no subject)
Tue, Feb. 14th, 2006 02:03 am (UTC)I loved The Silver Chair, too, mainly because of Jill (Pole!). And you're right, it does feel a lot more uncomfortable and tough and realistic, esp with all the squabbling and disagreement and mistaken Signs and so on. The evolution of Eustace is also v interesting. And, PUDDLEGLUM LOVE. JUST LOVE. I actually liked Rilian more than most people I know, too.
(no subject)
Tue, Feb. 14th, 2006 11:29 pm (UTC)I loved The Silver Chair! I have no idea why, but I think it had to do with Jill being the protagonist because she was crotchety and not all in all nice like Lucy.