Mansoor's review
The Chronicles of Narnia
by C.S. Lewis
Narnia! Good call! Good review, too. But where do you stand on the thorniest question raised by the Chronicles: should the books be read in order of their publication, or in the order of their internal chronology? The Star Wars movies raise a similar question, but there the answer is simple: pretend the last 3 movies never happened.
You can't seperate the religios-ness from the books - even the first one. The whole series is meant to teach the principles of christianity through allegory. Aslan is not only a metaphor for Christ - as we find out in later books - he is Christ. Only, in the world of Narnia, he chooses the incarnation of a lion rather than a man.
I didn't suggest separating the religiosity from the books. I just said that it's more overt in some of the books, and that, on a per-book basis, the obviousness of the religious allegory positively correlates to the suckiness.
Awesome review! I agree...I'm reading the Narnia series for the third time. I read the series first when I was a child. Now that I'm older and more cynical, I suppose, I get an eerie feeling from reading them. Their devotion, as you mentioned, borders on creepy. I also noted the racial insensitivity as well and it saddened me, especially since the series is read around the world. Thanks for such a great review!
Mansoor's review
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis
Mansoor's review
The Magician's Nephew is easily the best story of the Chronicles. First of all, it's the least overtly religious. There is a creation-of-the-world element, but it's not our world so it seems more fantastic than religious. Not only is there a veil over the religiosity, there's so much creativity in this story: the magical rings, the in-between place, the Deplorable Word, the founding of Narnia.
Starting with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the religiosity becomes noticeable, with the Witch as Satan, Aslan as Jesus, and the Emperor as God. And because of the talking, fighting animals, the fantasy seems aimed at children. I might have enjoyed it more at age 12.
The next story in the series, The Horse and His Boy, takes a dark, ethnocentric turn with its unfavorable depiction of the Arab-like "Calormen" (shoes turned up at the toe, scimitars, suffixed phrases of praise, "son of" lineage declarations). In The Voyage of the D...more
Starting with The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, the religiosity becomes noticeable, with the Witch as Satan, Aslan as Jesus, and the Emperor as God. And because of the talking, fighting animals, the fantasy seems aimed at children. I might have enjoyed it more at age 12.
The next story in the series, The Horse and His Boy, takes a dark, ethnocentric turn with its unfavorable depiction of the Arab-like "Calormen" (shoes turned up at the toe, scimitars, suffixed phrases of praise, "son of" lineage declarations). In The Voyage of the D...more
Narnia! Good call! Good review, too. But where do you stand on the thorniest question raised by the Chronicles: should the books be read in order of their publication, or in the order of their internal chronology? The Star Wars movies raise a similar question, but there the answer is simple: pretend the last 3 movies never happened.
You can't seperate the religios-ness from the books - even the first one. The whole series is meant to teach the principles of christianity through allegory. Aslan is not only a metaphor for Christ - as we find out in later books - he is Christ. Only, in the world of Narnia, he chooses the incarnation of a lion rather than a man.
I didn't suggest separating the religiosity from the books. I just said that it's more overt in some of the books, and that, on a per-book basis, the obviousness of the religious allegory positively correlates to the suckiness.
Awesome review! I agree...I'm reading the Narnia series for the third time. I read the series first when I was a child. Now that I'm older and more cynical, I suppose, I get an eerie feeling from reading them. Their devotion, as you mentioned, borders on creepy. I also noted the racial insensitivity as well and it saddened me, especially since the series is read around the world. Thanks for such a great review!