Thoughts on the Chronicles of Narnia books
As seen in my reading log, I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia books since late last year.
I read these books out loud for my six year old son. He's a sucker for everything in the fantasy genre. Just like his old man. As I'd never read these books myself, I was only too happy to order the books and get started once told me he wanted us to read some adventure stories.
We recently finished The Last Battle, which is the seventh and final book in the series. Here are some thoughts on the books.
Both of us enjoyed the books
Feels pertinent to begin with this: Both the six year old and myself enjoyed these books. A lot! As we were finishing up the final book, it was not without some sadness on my part that our journey through this magical land was about to come to a close.
The six year old, on the other hand, didn't understand why that would make me sad. Oh, to be six again!
Favourite books
All of the books were good. After reading all and bit of space to digest them, I think my favourites are The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Horse and His Boy.
Eustace is, obviously, the most interesting of the English protagonists throughout the series. Although it's his companionship with Jill that brings him into his own, I liked that Dawn Trader is that it pares Eustace with (most of) the original cast and Caspian. The locations and characters they meet throughout the voyage are also particularly memorable. And, of course, Reepicheep! (Or Rippipip, as he's named in the Norwegian translation.)
The Horse and His Boy stands out from the other books. I can imagine it's not the most popular of the series, but I really enjoyed the way it came across as a native story from the world of Narnia. It feels less like an outsiders view of what takes place than the other books. Shasta, Bree, Aravis and Hwin are also a memorable character constellation.
Characters
I think C.S. Lewis' greatest strength as a writer is to give texture and depth to characters, despite the brevity of these books. How he manages to convey so much about so many of the people and animals you meet throughout with so relatively few words is beyond me. But he does.
Every book is filled with a host of great characters. I've already mentioned a few of my favourites above. The six year old was particularly fond of Rumblebuffin the giant, and Puddleglum, the marsh-wiggle. ("Myrvrikkeren Dysterpytt" in Norwegian.) And he loved Reepicheep, too!
Aslan
Deserves a special mention, as far as characters go. The scenes involving Aslan are my favourite parts of the books. Not because what Aslan does, but on account of the way Lewis makes Aslan appear epic, mythical and larger-than-life. I quickly became aware of how much I enjoyed these parts of the stories, and tried to be more forensic when reading them — to try and understand how Lewis does it.
It didn't work. Whenever there was a scene with Aslan, I got consumed and forgot all about studying it. All the way up until they came further up, come further in.
Further up and further in
Speaking of, I'm not sure about the ending.
On the one hand, it was perfect. When the Friends of Narnia needed help, Aslan brought them to Narnia. Not to help them, directly, but for them to help Narnia. That they should get rewarded with residence in Aslan's land, with all of the friends the made along the way, is perfect.
On the other hand, the tragic way they ended up there made me sad. And the circumstances made it somehow feel "premeditated" — especially considering who wasn't there. Which, in turn, ended up coming across as a message that the only true salvation (from this dreary existence the rest of us are confined to) is the ultimate escape.
Perhaps that's just my nihilist tendencies shining through. I'm sure there are other, far more positive takes. One day I might go looking for them.
All in all, though, I'm very happy to (finally) have read these books. That I got to share the experience with my six year just makes the experience that much better.