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Heidi The Hippie Reader's Reviews > The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia, #1)
by C.S. Lewis
by C.S. Lewis
Heidi The Hippie Reader's review
bookshelves: favorites, fantasy-and-sci-fi, book-to-screen
Mar 01, 2012
bookshelves: favorites, fantasy-and-sci-fi, book-to-screen
read count: 1
This is the story of four siblings who stumble through a wardrobe into a different world. They discover magic, monsters and their destiny.
One Christmas, when I was 11 or 12, my mother gave me The Chronicles of Narnia. It ignited a lifelong love of fantasy fiction and reading.
"Peter! Susan! It's all true. Edmund has seen it too. There is country you can get to through the wardrobe. Edmund and I both got in. We met one another in there, in the wood." pg 40.
I get the criticisms of this series- that it is heavy handed with its symbolism.
But, when I read it as a child, all of that slipped right over my head. All I knew, was that this was an adventure and I loved it.
The White Witch is one of the best villains in children's literature: "As for you," said the Witch, giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge, "let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors. Drive on!" And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." pg 113.
She opposes Aslan, a great golden lion and the ruler of Narnia, who hasn't been seen for an age: "And now," said Aslan presently, "to business. I feel I m going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears." And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it." pg 161.
The film did a solid job capturing the magic of this story, but nothing compares to the book.
"Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia." pg 186.
In fact, just writing up this review makes me want to read them all again.
I'll see you on the other side of the wardrobe...
One Christmas, when I was 11 or 12, my mother gave me The Chronicles of Narnia. It ignited a lifelong love of fantasy fiction and reading.
"Peter! Susan! It's all true. Edmund has seen it too. There is country you can get to through the wardrobe. Edmund and I both got in. We met one another in there, in the wood." pg 40.
I get the criticisms of this series- that it is heavy handed with its symbolism.
But, when I read it as a child, all of that slipped right over my head. All I knew, was that this was an adventure and I loved it.
The White Witch is one of the best villains in children's literature: "As for you," said the Witch, giving Edmund a stunning blow on the face as she re-mounted the sledge, "let that teach you to ask favour for spies and traitors. Drive on!" And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself." pg 113.
She opposes Aslan, a great golden lion and the ruler of Narnia, who hasn't been seen for an age: "And now," said Aslan presently, "to business. I feel I m going to roar. You had better put your fingers in your ears." And they did. And Aslan stood up and when he opened his mouth to roar his face became so terrible that they did not dare to look at it." pg 161.
The film did a solid job capturing the magic of this story, but nothing compares to the book.
"Once a King in Narnia, always a King in Narnia." pg 186.
In fact, just writing up this review makes me want to read them all again.
I'll see you on the other side of the wardrobe...
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| 07/17 | marked as: | read | ||
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Joshua
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rated it 4 stars
Jul 17, 2017 11:15AM
I will admit that re-reading them as an adult, I felt the criticisms of ham-handed symbolism more deeply. But I so agree with everything here - the book was formative for me, and still remains a marble piece of literature.
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Thanks Josh :) What age did you first read them?
Glad you liked it Heidi. For some reason I have never read these. My grandson's did and liked them. I only saw the movie that was made of the first one. I thought it was terrible and so did my grandsons. At this stage of the game I've got more than enough books on my TBR list already.
My mom read them to me first - maybe the first ones she read to us? When I was seven-ish I think. I first re-read them when I was like 10-12 and then I re-read them again just a few years ago. My appreciation for The Magician's Nephew increased dramatically as an adult.
