C.A. Gray's Blog, page 46
September 11, 2020
Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis
Today’s podcast comes from this blog review of Prince Caspian.
The post Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis appeared first on C.A. Gray.
September 9, 2020
Review of A Wizard of Earthsea
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I remember that this book was recommended to me many years ago, before I really read much high fantasy. Now that I’ve been getting more into it, and it was on sale in Audible, I decided to give it another try, particularly when I read the synopsis that a wizard’s pride was his downfall. That seemed like a unique twist.
I actually was pretty into the story for the first half of it or so, even though the characterization was never particularly compelling (which is my usual complaint about high fantasy). Despite that, Ged’s single character trait of pride was still interesting enough, and his blunder of rending the tear between worlds as a result of this was extreme enough that I kept reading. Ged’s spell pulls a “shadow” from the other world, a nameless evil that nearly kills him.
After that, Ged is of course so humbled that for awhile he barely uses his power at all. When he does, it’s to seek out the shadow and expel it from Earthsea, or die trying. I think I lost interest in Ged once he was humbled, probably because that was his only unique character trait. The rest of the story was quite predictable.
My rating: ***
Language: none
Violence: none
Sexual content: none
Political content: none
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September 4, 2020
The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis
Today’s audio review comes from this blog review of A Horse and His Boy.
The post The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis appeared first on C.A. Gray.
Review of Prince Caspian
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It’s odd reading these in their chronological rather than their published sequence… I’ve always read this one second before, but I really think it adds a lot to read them in the story’s true sequence.
Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy star in this one as well, but they’re called back into Narnia what feels like a year after they left the last time, but thousands of years later in Narnia. Now, the Telemarines rule in Narnia, and the old ways have been suppressed. Prince Caspian is the true king, but his uncle is a usurper and pretender to the throne. He had Caspian’s father killed, and once he produces an heir of his own, he tries to have Caspian killed as well.
Meanwhile, Caspian isn’t even sure he believes in Old Narnia anymore: all the old talking animals, dwarves, giants, dryads and naiads, Aslan and the kings and queens of old… though he desperately wants to. We meet Caspian through the eyes of a dwarf who comes to fetch Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, and then takes them to Caspian to fight against Miraz and his army. It’s some time before Aslan enters the story, but he always does at the critical moment in which all may otherwise be lost. But unlike the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Aslan doesn’t just charge in and make everything right. He lets the people fight their own battles, he just makes sure that people arrive when they should, and have the proper aid they need when they need it.
It’s so creative, how each of these stories tells a very different angle of the world of Narnia, but with a common thread.
My rating: *****
Language: none
Violence: none
Sexual content: none
Political content: none
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August 28, 2020
The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
Today’s podcast review comes from this blog review of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
The post The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis appeared first on C.A. Gray.
August 24, 2020
Review of The Horse and His Boy
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I recall this being one of my favorites of the Chronicles of Narnia from way back when. Now I feel like they’re all my favorite!
The royal twins separated at birth trope makes an appearance in this story, but as it might have been the first time in my life I ever actually heard it, it seemed fresh at the time. Lewis clearly borrows from Middle Eastern culture in his description of the nation of Calormen, but it’s quite believable. The story takes place during the reign of Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy in Narnia, though Peter is the only one who never makes an appearance in the story. We learn more about Archenland, Narnia’s neighbor and ally. This time through I found myself wondering how so many humans had made it into the world, though, since the previous two books made such a big deal about the fact that there were no humans at all.
My favorite part of the story is how Aslan explains Shasta’s experiences to him after the fact–how Aslan himself, seeming to be an impediment (a wild lion) drives him to go exactly where he needed to be on multiple occasions. It seems like such a great allegory of how the Lord guides our lives, even when we don’t recognize that it’s Him.
My rating: *****
Language: none
Violence: none
Sexual content: none
Political content: none
The post Review of The Horse and His Boy appeared first on C.A. Gray.
August 21, 2020
Review of the Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe
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My mom used to read to me when I was little. I’d curl up beside her while I embroidered pictures and patterns on a tattered old pair of my jeans… and the Chronicles of Narnia stands out foremost in my mind when I think of these memories.
I grew up in church, so I knew about Jesus. But I really felt like I was introduced to him in the character of Aslan, so obviously a type of Christ. This is primarily a parable of the passion and resurrection of Jesus, though there are a lot of fun whimsical details that make it identifiable for kids, and things get tied up in a nice neat little bow far more than they do in the gospels themselves. But that is to be expected, if the gospels are true–art mimics life, but life is often not nearly so poetic as art. I love how Lewis paints the idea of Aslan’s willing sacrifice in Edmund’s place as “deep magic from the dawn of time,” which the Witch (a type of Satan) knows, and gloats over, thinking she has ultimately won. But what she doesn’t know is that there is a “deeper magic from before the dawn of time”: that if an innocent dies willingly in place of the guilty, death itself will work backwards. Aslan is resurrected, the kids fight against the White Witch and her minions, and the kids sit on four thrones in Cair Paravel as prophesied in Narnia’s Golden Age. Can’t get more victorious than that! And it’s so much more enduring than just a regular story, at least the essential parts of it are.
I’ve reread the Chronicles of Narnia many times in my life, and I’m sure will reread them many more to come.
My rating: *****
Language: none
Violence: none to speak of
Language: none
Sexual content: none
The post Review of the Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe appeared first on C.A. Gray.
The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis
Today’s podcast review comes from this blog review, The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis.
The post The Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis appeared first on C.A. Gray.
August 14, 2020
Agent 355, Marie Benedict
Today’s blog review comes from this blog post of Agent 355.
The post Agent 355, Marie Benedict appeared first on C.A. Gray.
August 13, 2020
Review of The Magician’s Nephew
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I listened to the version that was read by Kenneth Branaugh… such a fantastic voice for this!
I’m listening with new ears now that I’m writing my own chapter readers for the same age group. Action-packed, whimsical, and while the characters are good for the age range, they’re not the central focus. This is the true origin story of Narnia, a retelling of Creation in Genesis–but not a perfect retelling. God is Aslan, the lion who later represents Jesus in the rest of the stories. I felt like I truly understood God as a kid when I read Aslan: C.S. Lewis managed to capture the character of Jesus from the gospels so, so well. Just incredibly beautiful and compelling. He sings creation into being, rather than speaking it, and then all creation as it is formed sings with him. The serpent is played by Jadis, who later becomes the White Witch in “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.” The two main characters, Diggory and Polly, bring her into Narnia right at its inception, because Diggory broke the spell that bound her in a dying world out of sheer curiosity and spite. There is an apple that serves as both good and evil (as in Genesis it’s called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil), and sort of a garden, but not exactly. There’s just enough that’s different that it doesn’t feel like a straight retelling.
It’s up there with my favorites in the series, might be my favorite! (Technically it was book 6 of 7 but it’s a prequel so I read it first this time around.)
My rating: *****
Language: none (though he says ‘dem’ in lieu of damn a number of times)
Sexual content: none
Violence: none
Political content: none (it’s a classic)
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