Chronicling the Chronicles (of Narnia)

This winter break, I took it upon myself to take advantage of my oodles of leisure time to read The Chronicles of Narnia. If you live under a rock, The Chronicles of Narnia are a highly allegorically didactic children's book series CS Lewis wrote to familiarize kids with many concepts from Christianity. If you live under a boulder, CS Lewis was the chair of medieval literature at Caimbridge while also one of the best Christian thinkers/writers of the 21st century. These are my thoughts on the books and the allegories I liked best. That means yes, there will be some spoilers, but I tried to avoid them.

This post lists my favorites vaguely in order, followed by a book by book breakdown of my thoughts. Lastly, I did this post, for me as a reflection, not necessarily for you. But if you get takeaways as a result, huzzah. It should be said this post is not in the least bit funny.

List of preference, from greatest to least:

1. The Magician's Nephew
   
2. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
   
3. The Silver Chair
   
4. The Last Battle
   
5. The Horse and His Boy
   
6. The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
   
7. Prince Caspian

Keep in mind that competition between favorites 1-5 is fierce, with the lion, the witch and the wardrobe a little behind, with Prince Caspian hands down at the bottom.

The Magician's Nephew

• I loved this book. I found the narrator's tongue-in-cheek comic tone throughout the book to be hilarious. In fact, it reminded me a lot of my roommate Ben Johnson's writing style. (Ben's response: "Yes, my influence spreads far and wide.") This book details the creation of the World of Narnia. I didn't get much allegory out of it, but wasn't necessarily looking for it and got lost in the riot that was Uncle Andrew. In the first book (although it was the sixth one CS wrote), Lewis already demonstrates for the reader his ability to create complete characters.

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe

• My favorite quote from this book is the popular, "'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver...'Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. but he's good. He's the King, I tell you,'" a point which the movie did not stress enough. All to often Christians (myself included) focus on loving God for his grace, but forget that God is not Santa. He is merely some gentle gift dispenser. When I think that God's will is greater than mine and that He can change me fulfill His will for my life rather than mine, I am a bit scared. Moreover, we see through Edmund what sin really is. It is more than doing wrong, it is blatantly choosing fleeting evil instead of God and truth. (Romans 1:25). In light of this (which I view as a big slap in the face to God), our redemption is so much more amazing/nonsensical.

The Horse and His Boy

• This one is often dumped on as the dullest of the bunch. I disagree. I found the exotic setting captivating. When viewed with a modern lens, this book would probably be decried as blatantly racist. Many of my professors I'm sure would raise a hullabaloo upon reading this. I, however, was okay with it. Lewis creates a country whose culture and values are the antithesis of those of Narnia. Shasta, the main character, finds himself stuck in this world, in which he feels he doesn't belong. He ends up fleeing to Narnia despite many setbacks. When all is going wrong, Shasta, in his greatest weakest, finds himself face to face with Aslan, who says, "I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the tombs. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at night, to receive you." (Romans 8:28) We don't, and can't, understand why all things happen, but we must remember this is for God's glory, not ours. I always default to the metaphor I learned once of cleaning a fishbowl. If you've ever done it the fish hates getting relocated from it's comfortable bowl into a small cup/plastic baggy/whatever you use. It may even get hurt in the process while you scoop it up/grab it. It doesn't know that you are doing it because you care deeply for it, and you know that if it continued in its state, it would languish in a dirty tank, and maybe eventually die. God's love ftw.
  
• Also here I found a little lesson on identity. A reach maybe? You tell me. When Shasta identifies himself/defines himself in Calormen (not Aslan's country), he is a slave. However, when he comes to Narnia, he discovers he is a prince. When we try to define ourselves in our abilities and things of this world, we eventually, if not always, find failure and sadness. We can only find value in ourselves when we base ourselves in God. Reach? Maybe, but I was prone to see it as it is a glorious thing I've been learning.

Prince Caspian

• So. I didn't really like this one much at all. I don't remember it very well. I thought the trippy field dancing thing was weird. It didn't entertain me that much. Safe to say, I didn't find that many take-homes in it. However, it did have this quote, "You come of the Lord Adam and the Lady Eve,' said Aslan. 'And that is both honour enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar, and shame enough to bow the shoulders of the greatest emperor in earth."

Voyage of the Dawn Treader

• Eustace is an arrogant, argumentative cousin of the Pevensies with whom Edmund and Lucy must live. If you've seen the recent film adaptation, they did a perfect depiction of the frustrating little boy. Before the three of them are dragged off to Narnia, he constantly gives them hell for believing in Narnia. You see, he is a boy who reads only nonfiction and has a hankering for knowledge. Yet in his hurry to devour facts and figures, he fails to absorb the unseen and activate his imagination. I find it ironic, that despite thinking himself a clever boy, he fails to realize for a good half of the book that they are in Narnia, and as such they have no hope of contacting the British consulate or means of knowing of things that exist only in our world. Needless to say, he is a brat. However, an unfortunate happenstance befalls him, and he is turned into a dragon. Consequently, he changes as a person, learns the value on companionship and compassion, and eventually is changed back into a human again by Aslan. I loved this image depicting the amazing transformative powers of Jesus/the Holy Spirit.
• Also, I thought of Eustace's pestering the Pevensies a lesson in how Christians may get flack from the world for believing what we believe. From a strictly secular viewpoint, many of the (true) stories in the Bible must seem like absolute hogwash, just like a friend raving about a magical world would.

The Silver Chair

• It starts out with a good allegory for sin, methinks. Aslan gives Jill four signs she must follow. He says they will be harder to remember/do in Narnia. After the first sign, Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum encounter a form of the White Witch/Jadis/Queen of the Underworld. She is reminiscent of the snake that killed the queen of Narnia. She tells them to go to the giants' castle and they will give the three of them a king's feast and warm beds. They are venturing through the northern part of the narnian world, and this sounds delightful. Of course, the witch is simply leading the kids to their doom (she sends the kids to the giants' castle just in time for the giants' annual feast, which includes humans as delicacies). On the way to the giants' castle, they pass/screw up the second and third signs. From the perspective of the reader, their err is utterly obvious. But that's how sin works. We ourselves are often blind to it while it is painstakingly obvious to an outside observer. That's why it is important to live in fellowship/accountability and build each other up in Christ. Morever, sin seems good at the time. Jill, Eustace, and Puddleglum all pine for a respite from the cold and a warm meal. Yet in the end it would spell doom if not for a narrow escape.
• Our trio eventually finds themselves in the Witch's realm: the Underworld. This is a world devoid of light where the Witch has the heir to Narnia's throne trapped in a spell. The trio free the prince whilst the witch is away. But she comes back and starts trying to put them into a spell, convincing them that the underworld is the only world, and the world above and its sun are only imagination. She nearly succeeds, but Puddleglum valiantly rebuts, "One word, Ma'am,' he said... 'One word. All you've been saying is quite right, I shouldn't wonder. I'm a chap who always liked to know the worst and then put the best face I can on it. So I won't deny any of what you said. But there's one thing more to be said, even so. Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things--trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Supose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that's a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We're just babies making up a game, if you're right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow. That's why I'm going to stand by the play-world. I'm on Aslan's side even if there isn't any Aslan to lead it. I'm going to live as like a Narnian as I can even if there isn't any Narnia. So, thanking you kindly for our supper, if these two gentlemen and the young lady are ready, we're leaving your court at once and setting out in the dark to spend our lives looking for Overland. Not that our lives will be very long, I should think; but that's small loss if the world's as dull a place as you say." My favorite quote of the series by far. I don't think it needs an explanation.

The Last Battle

• The last two books I both read in one sitting on the drive back from my ski trip in Colorado. That made it harder for me to determine if my engrossment in them was due to the continued reading or their veritable goodness. Nevertheless, The Silver Chair and The Last Battle were both very enjoyable for me. As I have been writing this in one sitting, not much accompanying explanation will be included in this one.
  
• "'Yes,' said Queen Lucy. 'In our world too, a stable once had something inside it that was bigger than our whole world.'"
• Emeth, a calormen, who got into heaven, explains his encounter and resulting actions to the Kings and Queens of Narnia. "'And since then, O Kings and Ladies, I have been wandering to find Him and my happiness is so great that it even weakens me like a wound. And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me Beloved, me who am but as a dog.'"
• The final depiction of heaven gave me great joy. It is safe to say this series has made me love Jesus more. Furthermore, it has made resonate even more with me another of CS Lewis's quotes: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."

That is all for now.
Toodles.