The Chronicles of Narnia

[Jeratain]

Ahh after reading Puglover's thread about Harry Potter I was gratefully reminded by the posters of C.S. Lewis' fine work on The Chronicles of Narnia. I read the series when I was in the 3rd through 5th grade. It started out that we read the "Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" in the third grade and I enjoyed it, so I asked my brother if he had the other books and he just so happened to have the full series in his room, so he let me borrow them and I read them all. It really sparked my imagination at the time. I also recall watching PBS in my youth and stumbling upon a film of the books, I believe it was the Silver Chair that I was watching on the tele.

Anyhow, of the Narnia books, which was your favorite and why?

EDIT: To add: The director of Shrek is also planning on making a live feature film based on the series. It looks to be interesting. Of course, this is old news, but if you care to see look here: http://www.narnia.com/movie/index.htm

 

[cgannon64]

I loved them, unfortunately I didn't read them enough to have a favorite.

I've heard their planning to make a non-Christian version of them, without all the Christian symbolism. The bastards are going to ruin his work! :saiyan:

 

[onejayhawk]

Dont feel badly CG, they would have ruined it if they tried to be faithful to the original intent. Professor Lewis was much to capable a writer, and the Inlings much to insightfull a forum to allow anything less than top quality out into the public. Tampering with that for ANY reason begs disaster.

J

PS If you liked Narnia, try the SF trilogy and Til We have Faces.

 

[Greadius]

My religion forbids me from enjoying tales of fantasy and magic

 

[Perfection]

I didn't like it, I'm not much of a fantasy person

 

[thestonesfan]

I liked the first one, but the next two failed to hold my attention.

How about the Chronicles of Prydain? Now that was classic fantasy!

 

[Jeratain]

Originally posted by Greadius
My religion forbids me from enjoying tales of fantasy and magic

Heh, pug's never going to hear the end of that.

Actually I found the whole Santa Claus ordeal in the first book rather mundane. It sortof threw me off in the book but since I was young I didn't think too much about it. :santa:

 

[Immortal]

Originally posted by Jeratain
Heh, pug's never going to hear the end of that.

Hey, easy. The kids got strong beliefs, so what?

Remember its a two way street, I remember a few posts by some people they'd probably care to forget..

Wasnt Lion, witch, wardrobe the second book in the series?

 

[Greadius]

Actually, I made that comment because CS Lewis is well respected and regarded within the same community that attacks Harry Potter for its content which is very similar.

What is the symbolism about going into a closet to visit a magical land all about anyway?

 

[Jeratain]

I wasn't trying to criticize pug. He's a good kid. He just seems to be getting a lot of flak for his comments, that's all I was commenting on.

Anyhow Immortal, you are correct, The Magician's Nephew was the first book in the series. Sorry for not putting them in the right order, I suppose I was just thinking about the first one I read.

 

[Immortal]

yeah, cause I voted the first option without looking, then went back and said:

OMG WTH LOL!!!! [plasma]

 

[Archer 007]

I hate them all equally.

 

[Simon Darkshade]

The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe. And like them all. Big time.
The BBC television version of Lion, Prince Caspian, Dawntreader and the Silver Chair were rather good (for their time and budget), to put it mildly.

 

[Pongui]

Those books made a hardened atheist of this impressionable little boy. Imagine if the gay community published their equivalent of The Last Battle . I enjoyed Dawntreader, though, and still might.

 

[Plexus]

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, an obvious choice. I also enjoyed The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle. But, really, I like them all. CS Lewis is probablly the greatest Christian author of the past millenia. I have liked evreything of his I have read.

Originally posted by cgannon64
I've heard their planning to make a non-Christian version of them, without all the Christian symbolism...

Is that possible?

 

[CurtSibling]

I respect Lewis and his superb writng ability.
But I dislike the agenda of his christian-filled fantasy books.

In my eyes, these books do not compare to the works of JRR Tolkien, regardless.

 

[Plexus]

I concur, Christian or not, he cannot compare with Tolkein.

 

[CurtSibling]

It's worth reading all the fantasy 'biggies' (Lewis, Tolkien, Rolwing, Martin, Jorden, etc) to get a taste for the different views on the genre.

I like most fantasy, but my tastes are more picky these days.

 

[Stile]

I voted The Last Battle, which wasn't my favorite at first, but it grew on me over time. (I also like referring to people as dwarves when they express an attitude that strikes of "The dwarves are for the dwarves.") You really can't compare Tolkien and CS Lewis because although they wrote series in the same genre they were intended for different audiences. Ask a 10-yr old who he prefers and it would likely be Lewis.

Currently I'm reading the "Out of the Silent Planet" trilogy by Lewis, where he tried his hand at Science Fiction. It's decent, but has some problems (most concerning the use of time, though he tried to fix them towards the end of the 1st book).

 

[CurtSibling]

With the upsurge from the movies etc;
Most kids will prefer JRR Tolkien nowadays, don't forget Tolkien's child-aimed paperbacks like the Hobbit, and Farmer Giles of Ham.

I think a lot of kids would be turned off by the heavy bible-slant of the whole Lewis thing.

Depends on the upbringing and place, I guess...

I know it turned me off.