Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

April 16, 2012

Narnia

I struggled to find a topic for  the letter N for weeks.  A number of subjects went through my head, none of which floated my boat.  I couldn't think of what to write about that began with N, in which I took an interest.  I nearly settled on doing a post about the New Wave music of the early 80s that I loved, but my M topic was already music-related.  Then it hit me with a big fat "DUH!!"  Narnia!!!

My first experience with these books was in the 8th grade.  My English class straddled all of the lunch periods for the day, so my teacher set it up that the first lunch was our 'silent reading' time.  Then our class had second lunch.  3rd and 4th were for our one hour class.  Mrs. Webster had tons of books available to read and one day I picked up The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis.  I fell in love with it, but I had no idea it was part of a set of books.  

That summer of 78 started cold and rainy, and I ended up spending most of my time reading in my room.  My dad was gathering stuff for a Lions Club yard sale and brought home boxes of books.  In one of the boxes, I found one called The Horse and His Boy, also by C.S. Lewis, so I snatched it up to read.  It was then that I noticed the list of 7 Narnia books on the dust jacket.

My parents, being the practical people that they were, didn't believe in buying books if you could get them from the library.  I pestered my mom to take me there so that I could check out the rest of the series.  That was pretty much the theme that whole summer.  Checking them out constantly and reading them over and over. And over.  I don't think anyone else had a chance to read them that summer because I had them!!!  Needless to say, I was sooooo excited to get the entire set for my birthday in November!!!  Did you know that the British editions are different than the American ones?  C.S. Lewis rewrote parts of them for the American release.  And yes, I own both versions.  Of the 7, Voyage of the Dawn Treader is my fave one and I was greatly disappointed in the movie that came out a few years ago.  While "LWW" and "Caspian" stayed true to the books, "Dawn Treader" veered wildly off plot, which I ranted about HERE.

I found the poster of the Map of Narnia at a shop in Hyannis the in the summer of 1979, and I used my allowance to buy it and have it mounted on foam board.  I may be 47, but it still hangs on my wall to this day.


I still love to read these books every now and again, and can't help but wish that C.S. Lewis could have fleshed them out more. I kinda wish that J.K. Rowling could take a crack at them and make them as long as her Potter books!!!

16 comments:

  1. NOOOOO! Not Rowling! She's a rotten writer! I only read the first one, and was so disappointed, not just at the poor use of language, but at the wasted ideas and squandered imagination.

    On the other hand, I've never read the Narnia books at all...

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  2. Yup, I remember reading the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe over smmer vaca as part of the library summer reading challenge. I remember liking it a lot, too. I never read the rest though, because the books to read were assigned. I've seen the first two movies, but not the third. Never even knew there was a third one. Gonna have to check it out.
    -Debbie

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  3. My daughter has read all of these books and loved them. I personally loved the movies. I am a big Harry Potter fan and have read all of those books many times. Great post!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  4. Oh my goodness, your blog post brought me back to my childhood! I read the Narnia books again and again and again and again and again... my favorite was always "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" but I read them all, every single one of them.

    It looks as though we have a lot in common. Music, laughter, jewelry, Narnia... and I haven't even looked at your previous posts yet!

    So glad I stopped in here via the A to Z hop <3

    *~* Julia *~* http://beautifullywhimsical.blogspot.com *~*

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  5. In defence of J.K.R. The writing does actually mature along with the story. I held off reading 'Harry Potter' for so long, just to buck the trend, but after reading them I was so glad I finally had.

    Jojo, I never knew the US versions differed to th UK? I love the fact you still have both sets and the poster (which I also love the look of!) - and I never would have guessed you are a C.S.Lewis fan! I remember 'The Ln, the Witch and the Wardrobe' being read to us at school when I was about 6 years old. Loved that story. Wonderful post :)

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  6. Oh, no no no, don't let Rowling get hold of the C.S. Lewis books! She would utterly ruin them. I see nothing of Christianity in her writings. The symbolism of the Lewis books would be destroyed in her hands.
    My grandchildren and great grandchildren have all read Or had read to them the Chronicles of Narnia.
    I shudder to think of Rowling's fingers meddling in Narnia.
    Your post was really interesting. Best regards to you.
    Ruby aka Grammy

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  7. Not a Potter fan or a Narnia fan, but I agree that we don't want to see Rowling anywhere near the books you love. LOL!

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  8. Anonymous1:01 PM

    Had all the Narnia books, would rather saw off my own head than see the movies on the grounds my imagination wove it's own pictures when I originally read them and I don't want anyone to 'spoil' that.

    I have a feeling I'm the only person on the planet who has NEVER read or seen a Harry Potter, basically because I'm not inclined to ;0)

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  9. I've heard a lot about these books but haven't gotten around to reading them. Should I? Or am I past the age?

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  10. I was never much of a fantasy reader, but I have seen at least one of the movies. Sweet, but I wasn't utterly impressed - I guess the book will always be better, huh?

    I guess in that circle of friend, Tolkien was the *wordy* one while Lewis just said lots with fewer words!

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  11. Narnia is quite popular today!

    I am trying to read all the A to Z blogs, but coming back to the ones I really like.
    Looking forward to seeing what you do all month!

    Tim
    The Other Side
    The Freedom of Nonbelief

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  12. I've never read the books, but have seen the movies. I know, books are always better than the movies! I will put them on my list!

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  13. The Narnia series was awesome! Now that I've read your post, I'm going to have to reread them. Also have the Harry Potter series on my reread list...even though I've read them five or more times. Great post.

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  14. There is something addictive about Narnia, although I was more into Tolkien myself, nice post.

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  15. Those Pauline Bayne illustrations - so evocative and that poster is a thing of beauty.

    One of the things I love about the Narnia books is their economy, so I wouldn't want them different.

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  16. I used to read them to my children and I loved the films. Your map is so magical.

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