| $@%&! level: None “Bedroom” level: None Violence level: Medium-Low Back Cover: “Narnia ... the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy ... the place where adventure begins. Lucy is the first to find the secret wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first, no one believes her when she tells of her adventures in the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund and then Peter and Susan discover the Magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. In blink of an eye, their lives are changed forever.” |
I can't even begin to count the number of deep and serious academic works that have been written about this one, short children's novel. You wouldn't think C.S. Lewis could actually change the world in only 186 pages, but he did. He really did. All that stuff the clever academics have written about is really in there, and it's fascinating, if you like that kind of thing. And actually, although I normally hold to the theory that writing academic papers about the things you love just spoils them, I find many of the things they point out pretty interesting. For instance, Aslan is the Turkish for Lion, and the Witch gives Edmund Turkish Delight (so the Witch is, in a way, providing a false subsitute for Aslan). And, of course, I do enjoy the obvious parallel with Christ. (Note to all Harry Potter haters: Yes, it can be about witches and magic and still teach children good morals, and even be about Christ! Take a deep breath. I know the concept might be hard for you to grasp.)
But the thing is that even if that kind of thing doesn't get you all excited, you can ignore it. It's still a good children's fantasy novel, following (or possibly creating; Lewis was contemporary with Tolkien, after all) many of the classic children's novel plotlines, from the secret magical country to the unexpected grand quest and battle to save the new-found world. Once all four children find their way into Narnia together, the plot just sort of takes off and doesn't stop.
I also love that the way it's told is as if a live story-teller was speaking directly to you. He doesn't break the fourth wall too often, but you definitely know that there is someone telling the story, and skipping to the important parts, and explaining when things might not make sense. It's sort of cool, and you don't often see that these days outside a first-person narration.
And by the way, if you've seen the movie but not read the book, read the book! The movie actually did a pretty good job, but come on. It's an easy read, and you get so much more out of it!