Kaitlin Reads Narnia: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE

I am slowly but surely working my way through The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time ever, and I recently read THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE. This is the only book in the series I have read before, way back in fifth grade. All I remember is being traumatized by the scene with Aslan and the stone table, and I refused to read any other books in the series.

I fared much better this time around. :)

For anyone who doesn’t know, THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE introduces us to the Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy), who find their way into Narnia through a magical wardrobe in the house where they’re living with the mysterious Professor (a grown-up Digory from THEMAGICIAN’S NEPHEW). Lucy, the youngest, discovers Narnia first and is teased by her siblings who don’t believe her. But once Edmund ventures into Narnia and into the path of the White Witch, things begin to snowball. Literally. The Witch, who calls herself Queen of Narnia, has cursed the land with constant winter (but no Christmas!) for as long as anyone can remember.

The only threat to her endless rule is a prophecy that tells of four humans who will end her eternal winter, and once Edmund lets it slip about his three other siblings, the Witch sees her chance to stop it. She convinces Edmund to lure the other children into Narnia so she can kill them all and keep control of Narnia forever. The Pevensie children find themselves in the middle of a war, fighting for a country they never knew existed but now will never forget.

This book is AWESOME. One of the blurbs on the back of my copy calls the stories “deceptively simple,” and I agree. They’re only 100 pages in my volume (I have all seven books in one), and the writing style is straightforward, but there are so many themes! I noticed all the biblical symbolism this time around, most of which went over my head when I was younger. I also enjoyed seeing the connections to THE MAGICIAN’S NEPHEW. Because I read TMN first this time around, I went into THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE with knowledge of the White Witch’s past, who the Professor was, how the wardrobe came to be and why in the world that lamppost is in Narnia.

As soon as I finished reading the book, I watched the movie adaptation done by Disney a few years ago. I’ve seen it multiple times but have never been able to compare it to the book before, and I was surprised how faithful an adaptation it was. Almost nothing was left out, and since the book is so small, things were added. But everything that was added made sense. I really liked the expansion of the children’s backstory, how Peter steps into the father-role and Edmund resents him for it. A few action sequences were expanded as well (gotta have your battle scenes!), which I enjoyed too.

All in all, five stars for the book! I have a ton of other things to read right now, but I’m hoping to move onto THE HORSE AND HIS BOY soon!

Kaitlin Reads Narnia: THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW

Even though this technically wasn't the first book written for the series, THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW is the earliest piece of the Narnia timeline and is put first in the collection I own. It shows how the world of Narnia was created and introduces us to several of the characters we will meet in the next book, THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE.

The story follows Digory (the titular character and the future Professor the Pevensie children live with) and his neighbor Polly, who are sent to the mysterious Wood between the Worlds by Digory's uncle Andrew. Uncle Andrew has been experimenting with travel to other worlds and has created magic rings that transport the wearers. He tricks Polly into touching one and guilts Digory into following to rescue her, setting into motion the creation of Narnia and its dangers.

One of my friends insisted that THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW is her favorite book in the series, and I can see why. I felt a childlike awe as I read, like I was getting a peek behind the curtain at Narnia's earliest days. I read THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE in fifth grade, so I remembered enough to make connections between the two books. We learn where the White Witch came from and how she got to Narnia, we see Aslan's true power, and we even figure out how that famous wardrobe came to exist. This book contains obvious parallels to the book of Genesis from the Bible, including allusions to the Garden of Eden, one of my favorite scenes in THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW.

The book is pretty short (I read it in two sittings before bed), and I was engrossed the entire time. I felt like a kid in the best way possible, but I was also able to make more adult connections and understand the Christian undertones being woven throughout. The scene where Narnia is created...just gorgeous! Overall, I loved it! I can't wait to re-tackle THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE soon!

A Narnian confession

Let me just get this out of the way right now: I have never read The Chronicles of Narnia. 

Okay, that isn't exactly true. In fifth grade I read THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE. I wound up being so traumatized by the scene with Aslan and the White Witch at the stone table that I refused to read any more in the series. And I haven't. Until now!

I had to write a critical paper on a book called THE CORRECTIONS for a class last month, and in this book, there are a TON of references to C. S. Lewis and Narnia (a prescription drug called Aslan, a young character reading the books). I decided to write my paper on Narnia's influence in the book. One problem: I haven't read the series.

As any reader would do in a time of crisis, I drove to Barnes and Noble and picked up this bad boy:

That's right! All seven books in one! Isn't the cover beautiful?

I skimmed the scenes I needed for my paper (I had enough general knowledge of the series to know which pieces to include in my essay) and then went back to the beginning of the series. My paper has been handed in, and now I can relax and work my way through all seven books!

Since then, I've finished THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW, the first book in the series. I'll post my review tomorrow, but spoiler alert: I LOVED IT! I'm having a ton of fun with this series already, and it makes me feel like a giddy little kid again.

Okay, let the shaming commence. How many of you are long-time Narnia fans? How many years ago should I have read this (I'm guessing about 15)? Or did any of you have Narnia-free childhoods like me?