Nate Weger's Blog - Posts Tagged "chronicles-of-narnia"
Chronicles of Narnia Review
It seems to me that the best judge of a children's book should ironically be, children.
Chronicles of Narnia for me was a highlight of my childhood and I can still remember the feelings I had when I read those books; unable to go to sleep until I had read 'just one more chapter'. The feelings were very much feelings of excitement and joy and a certain way I have never been able to acquire those feelings again in the same way.
I grew up in a Christian household which is why they probably were on my family bookshelf to begin with but I think I (the youngest of 4) was the only one to really become absorbed in them.
If I read them now, of course, I can see all of the Christian imagery that Lewis deftly wound into the chronicles but when I read them as a kid I had very little clue.
Is it just good writing that creates a good book? Lewis of course was an Oxford graduate and a first rate intellectual but there have been thousands and thousands (millions?) of intellectuals that could not have written a book that is so widely accepted and loved by religious and irreligious alike.
Lewis, like his contemporary and friend Tolkien, both studied the great stories of history and the reoccurring themes or as Jung would say, Archetypes in them and then took those themes and metaphors and buried them deep in their own works. And guess what happened? Kids, teenagers, adults and seniors love the chronicles of Narnia and LOR like the generations of people before them in history loved their versions of those stories.
Ultimately, that was what led to Lewis' own conversion from atheism (with the help of Tolkien) as he asked 'why as humans are we attracted to these stories?' realizing that the stories in the Christian religion are echoed through out all great literature.
The 'Chronicles of Narnia' and LOR were the beginning of what we know as modern fantasy literature and they greatly influenced anything written in the genre today. Most of today's fantasy doesn't have the Christian themes buried in them and they have to rely on Nietzschen existentialism to replace them but in my mind they never can get the same level of magic and joy Lewis and Tolkien were able to produce in the soul of an 8 year old years ago.
Chronicles of Narnia for me was a highlight of my childhood and I can still remember the feelings I had when I read those books; unable to go to sleep until I had read 'just one more chapter'. The feelings were very much feelings of excitement and joy and a certain way I have never been able to acquire those feelings again in the same way.
I grew up in a Christian household which is why they probably were on my family bookshelf to begin with but I think I (the youngest of 4) was the only one to really become absorbed in them.
If I read them now, of course, I can see all of the Christian imagery that Lewis deftly wound into the chronicles but when I read them as a kid I had very little clue.
Is it just good writing that creates a good book? Lewis of course was an Oxford graduate and a first rate intellectual but there have been thousands and thousands (millions?) of intellectuals that could not have written a book that is so widely accepted and loved by religious and irreligious alike.
Lewis, like his contemporary and friend Tolkien, both studied the great stories of history and the reoccurring themes or as Jung would say, Archetypes in them and then took those themes and metaphors and buried them deep in their own works. And guess what happened? Kids, teenagers, adults and seniors love the chronicles of Narnia and LOR like the generations of people before them in history loved their versions of those stories.
Ultimately, that was what led to Lewis' own conversion from atheism (with the help of Tolkien) as he asked 'why as humans are we attracted to these stories?' realizing that the stories in the Christian religion are echoed through out all great literature.
The 'Chronicles of Narnia' and LOR were the beginning of what we know as modern fantasy literature and they greatly influenced anything written in the genre today. Most of today's fantasy doesn't have the Christian themes buried in them and they have to rely on Nietzschen existentialism to replace them but in my mind they never can get the same level of magic and joy Lewis and Tolkien were able to produce in the soul of an 8 year old years ago.
