The Chronicles Of Narnia

[theoldlibrarian]

Any chance of a link to the article Oldlibrarian?

Article

Clip from documentary

[Doughnut Jimmy]

Thanks

[Jan Van Quirm]

Hmmm!

Not convinced with either of those although the case for Jupiter/TLTW&TW; Mars/Prince Caspian; Sun/Dawn Treader and Moon/Silver Chair have their attractions, but what about the other 'stand alone' stories of which we only get Mercury was it for Horse and his Boy (also the Mare and her Girl), but we'll skip the gender prejudices since they're of their time and at least the ladies (Hwin and Aravis) got virtual equal billing, though obviously Shasta and Bree are the leads in that.

Despite what's being said in there about Tolkien being dismissive of Narnia, he and Lewis were very good friends before, during and after Lewis wrote the 7 books and in fact Lewis was more famous than Tolkien at the time (The Hobbit had some success after it's publication but LotR didn't have much mainstream success until George Unwin brought out the late 60's paperback). What Lewis and Tolks did have was a friendly rivalry and they constantly challenged each other's techniques which did lead them both into some of their finest writing. But in Lewis' case this was actually The Cosmic Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra and That Hideous Strength) which of course also had the good/evil theme but I'd say had far more identification with an astronomic/astrological approach than Narnia. For a start the first 2 were respectively set on Mars and then Venus.

This insight into Lewis' literary motifs is fairly misleading as well. There's an awful lot known about both Lewis and Tolkien in relation to their academic circle's club, known as The Inklings, in which neither of them were the most successful commercially for quite a long time. They both had a fondness for myth and medievalism and together they defined the processes of 'mythopoeic' writing - that is in inventing a fictional myth-based world. That interest has obvious bearings on both Narnia and Tolkien's Middle Earth but it also led to a bet between the two academics to write a commercial book about space travel and time travel. They flipped a coin I think and Tolks got time and Lewis got space. Of the two Lewis was more faithful to the basis of the bet but Tolkien's lure to archaic myth led to the formation of Middle Earth and the rest, as they say, is history.

My final argument on Lewis and Narnia remains unchanged whether or not the planetary themes a goer or not. This means nothing to the writing which in Narnia's case hasn't stood the test of time as a children's book. I loved the books when I was 8 and I liked the imagery of the more profound ones as I went into double figures - I thought they were sophisticated and grown up. And then I read Tolkien and found the passion and the depth that Lewis never had. Tolkien was the better writer no question of that in my mind.

I think Lewis' literature was the more adventurous and compelling conceptually and I wonder what would have happened if he'd met Joy Gresham before he'd written the Narnia books - the main problem with them looking back as an adult is that Lewis wasn't a father and had had a very unhappy childhood. Tolkien had 6 kids and he wrote The Hobbit and less well-known books for them...

[theoldlibrarian]

Hmmm!

Not convinced with either of those although the case for Jupiter/TLTW&TW; Mars/Prince Caspian; Sun/Dawn Treader and Moon/Silver Chair have their attractions, but what about the other 'stand alone' stories of which we only get Mercury was it for Horse and his Boy (also the Mare and her Girl), but we'll skip the gender prejudices since they're of their time and at least the ladies (Hwin and Aravis) got virtual equal billing, though obviously Shasta and Bree are the leads in that.

Despite what's being said in there about Tolkien being dismissive of Narnia, he and Lewis were very good friends before, during and after Lewis wrote the 7 books and in fact Lewis was more famous than Tolkien at the time (The Hobbit had some success after it's publication but LotR didn't have much mainstream success until George Unwin brought out the late 60's paperback). What Lewis and Tolks did have was a friendly rivalry and they constantly challenged each other's techniques which did lead them both into some of their finest writing. But in Lewis' case this was actually The Cosmic Trilogy (Out of the Silent Planet; Perelandra and That Hideous Strength) which of course also had the good/evil theme but I'd say had far more identification with an astronomic/astrological approach than Narnia. For a start the first 2 were respectively set on Mars and then Venus.

This insight into Lewis' literary motifs is fairly misleading as well. There's an awful lot known about both Lewis and Tolkien in relation to their academic circle's club, known as The Inklings, in which neither of them were the most successful commercially for quite a long time. They both had a fondness for myth and medievalism and together they defined the processes of 'mythopoeic' writing - that is in inventing a fictional myth-based world. That interest has obvious bearings on both Narnia and Tolkien's Middle Earth but it also led to a bet between the two academics to write a commercial book about space travel and time travel. They flipped a coin I think and Tolks got time and Lewis got space. Of the two Lewis was more faithful to the basis of the bet but Tolkien's lure to archaic myth led to the formation of Middle Earth and the rest, as they say, is history.

My final argument on Lewis and Narnia remains unchanged whether or not the planetary themes a goer or not. This means nothing to the writing which in Narnia's case hasn't stood the test of time as a children's book. I loved the books when I was 8 and I liked the imagery of the more profound ones as I went into double figures - I thought they were sophisticated and grown up. And then I read Tolkien and found the passion and the depth that Lewis never had. Tolkien was the better writer no question of that in my mind.

I think Lewis' literature was the more adventurous and compelling conceptually and I wonder what would have happened if he'd met Joy Gresham before he'd written the Narnia books - the main problem with them looking back as an adult is that Lewis wasn't a father and had had a very unhappy childhood. Tolkien had 6 kids and he wrote The Hobbit and less well-known books for them...

I do not have time to read this now but I've saved it for later reading

[Jan Van Quirm]

No hurry OL - be interested to hear your views

[SimStars13]

I've always loved the Narnia books, although they get dreary after repeated readings I never really thought about the religious stuff that much.

As to the planets theory - I read the book that talked about it and I really love the ideas and the imagery that it describes. Although the book it dull and is mainly about Lewis' other books it's a good read if you love the Narnia series or are interested in C.S.Lewis' life

[Jinx]

I've always loved the Narnia books, although they get dreary after repeated readings I never really thought about the religious stuff that much.

I've read these books so many times now, I should audition for a part in their next film. I think for me the story is just too inviting.
Narnia is free for all to explore. That really appeals to me. When I was a kid I felt like I could go exploring anywhere in Narnia and never get lost, and I still feel like that today.

As to the planets... well I really have nothing there. *shrugs shoulders nonchalantly*

[Ash]

Narnia is a brilliant series of books and the recent film adaptions have been surprisingly good. I am hopeful they make The Magicians Nephew into a film as it is my favourite book in the series.

[captainmeme]

I love The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe for the great amount of Christian allegory behind it (I'm a Christian). I think C.S. Lewis was greatly inspired to write these books; allegory books are really hard to write, as I have found out over the past 3 years. He really was a great author!

[TheTurtleMoves]

I loved these books. The Horse and His Boy was my favourite. I still like to read them

[Wrecks]

Its kind of sad for me, cause when growing up and on into my late teens. I was a big reader. Yet I never came across these books. Heck never even heard of em until the first film came out.

[konnichiwa]

Looks like the convo is kinda dead but I guess it's fine to post none the less

I love Narnia books, they're my favorite book series even with the religious stuff (I'm not religious, not one bit) since I think Lewis wrote the books well and they're nice to read. My favorite book from the series is The Magicians Nephew which I love because it shows the beginning of Narnia and explains why the Witch is in Narnia. My least favorite is actually The Silver Chair since I liked it more when the books had the "original" kids aka Peter, Susan, Edmund & Lucy (but in Magicians Nephew it was cool cuz Digory & Polly were cool).

[Tonyblack]

Oh yes, I liked The Magician's Nephew as well. It's a shame those first couple of books tend to get overlooked.

[konnichiwa]

Yeah, I don't really understand why that happens though, since it's such a great book >>