[Bond]

I find it hard to believe that a topic with The Chronicles of Narnia hasn't been started before but I haven't seen it and I'm not inclined to dig it up from the archives. Still from what has been said on another thread it seems the Narnian series has had a lot of influence in starting a great many of us off on reading fantasy.

Say anything you wish regarding The Chronicles of Narnia. Which books did you like? What did you like about it? What didn't you like? Did you realize there was a Christian motif behind the words? Did you ever formally take this up in English class? What were some of the interesting themes that you missed upon only light reading? Et cetera.

If you cannot think of anything to say about it and want a more contentious subject: Why is The Lord of the Rings held to be the giant work of fantasy from that era and not The Chronicles of Narnia? Also I notice that while many many of us have read The Chronicles of Narnia, virtually no one ever mentions the characters from the series like Aslan, The White Witch, Mr. Tumnus, Lucy, Prince Caspian etc. Are they so unmemorable?

I read these when I was very young, one of the first things I read outside of my school reading books. My favorite of the series was Prince Caspian followed by The Horse and His Boy; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and The Silver Chair. The other books I didn't consider as having a halfway decent story. When I reflect on it now the characters were not really that well drawn were they but they really exuded a Britishness about them and although not psychoanalyzed to the extent that seems fashionable nowadays they were still pretty well fleshed out with an economy of words. Do we rate this series too highly for sentimental reasons? Or too low because the plot and characterization was only part of what the author was concerned with?

[Warewolf]

I've got the boxed set sitting on my huge To Read list. I'll get around to it one of these days. I have read the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, though. Thoroughly entertaining!

[mundanemies]

I liked Narnia-books a lot when reading them at an early age and certainly didnä't catch the "message" until with the Last Battle, where it was just so (painfully, but in a good way http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif) obvious. I tied to read them couple of years back, but couldn't muster more than Caspian-books. The spark wasn't there anymore.
I remember names of characters from the Narnia-books, but in Finnish http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif It's actually a bit funny, since my memory resembles a very holey Swiss cheese in that regard. ("And the principal characters in Douglas Adams' Hitch-hiker -trilogy (in five parts - soon to be six) are...?" - "No idea. And I have both read and listened the radio-adaptation (well, actually it's the other way round) several times.")

[SusF]

Oh I know all about swiss cheese memory. Some characters from Hitchhikers were Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ford Prefect, and Marvin the robot. Forgot Ford's sidekick's name. Then there's the towel and the Pan-Galactic Gargleblaster. It's been years since I've read that series. I have the first five books in a Omnibus edition.

I just finished the Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, and can't tell you the characters unless I look 'em up. One of 'em was Susan. Being that's my own name, I do remember that one, hehehe.

The first two books of Narnia were fun, so far. The style is a bit precious, but I read a lot of that kind of stuff when I was young. No idea how I managed miss Narnia. Probably wasn't available in the school library.

Susan

[This message has been edited by SusF (edited January 05, 2002).]

[Rob B]

Warewolf, I'm in the same boat as you. My wife got a boxed set of the series for me for Christmas and it's currently on the TO READ pile (Which is about 25 books deep)

[Brendan]

Susf by ford prefect's sidekick would you be refering to arthur dent, only surviving inhabitant of earth

[Two Claws]

I remember that the Chronicles of Narnia were the first books in the fantasy genre I read. I think that they also sparked my interest in fantasy, the whole magical world in all. I think the books themselves to be very interesting, though I wouldn't say the best stories ever written. My fave's were The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I read the rest, but these I considered the best.

At any rate, I wouldn't know how CoN would compare to LotR. both, I always thought, were classic pieces of fantasy, though, honestly, I've never read LotR (oh crap!). I know the basic story, and I understand the basic concepts (i DID watch the cartoons! :P) but I've never read them. I would say CoN is better, but that's cause... I've actually read them.

[SusF]

Arthur Dent, yep that's the one. Trust me to forget the hero (sorta) of the books, hehe.

Susan

[estranghero]

I read CoN at an earlier age, more or less at the same time as the LotR.

Thinking about it, CoN comes off as more of a fairy tale (without the the negative connotations involved with it) as CS Lewis' does a soft touch on the series to proselytize on the Christian motif. Though I didn't know what it was then, I knew that it was there. I also remember reading his other non-CoN works (not the Perelandra series which I haven't read) and they had the same feeling.

LotR, on the other hand, lacked that proselyting feel-- or if Tolkien was lecturing-- it was so subtle that I missed altogether (the posts in racism in Tolkien mentioned in another thread notwithstanding). Because of this, there was a certain "edgy" (may not be the right word) quality to the series that is not evident in CoN like the harrying of the hobbits, the trials of Frodo, etc.

I'm not blasting CoN here. After all, I loved "The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe" when I first read it ages ago. And LotR still has its flaws that CoN thankfully avoids (like being too dry and academic). However, what I'm saying here is that I'm kind of wary about mediums that pass lectures with their stories, much more religious lectures, much more religious lectures that are semi-subliminal messages.

Enuf ranting...

[Caly]

I first read the Chronicles of Narnia when I was 14, so the religous allegory really jumped out at me. I am a religous person, though, so I didn't mind in the least. In fact, I admire the way CSL writes a story to introduce children to the basic concept of Christianity using characters that they can relate with. Of course it will never replace the Bible, but it is nice to show the story of Christ in an easier to relate to way.

As for the question about formally taking up the books in English class. . . oh boy, did I ever. I wrote a really great paper on the series in my Christian Classics class. I then recycled the paper and used it for Children's Lit and English Literature classes. Of course, I had to change the paper to fit each of those courses, but it recieved top marks from all profs.

The only Narnia book I don't like is The Last Battle. I like what it is trying to say about the apocolypse and heaven and all that, but it is just a hard book to read. When I re-read the books I usually skip that one altogether.

You know what *really* irritates me though? I hate that they are now publishing the Magicians Nephew as book one in the series. Sure, it is book one chronologically, but it is NOT a good introduction to Narnia. I will never understand why the publishers have decided to bill it as the first book. CSL is probably rolling over in his grave.

Caleyna