Chronicles of Narnia

[taijasi]

In light of the recent Chronicles of Narnia movie, I'd like to start a discussion of C. S. Lewis and his contribution to modern Christian thinking. I know he wrote a lot of other books, Screwtape Letters being one of my favorite, but the Narnia books were my absolute favorite for the first half of my life. I enjoyed his sci-fi works, but speaking of Narnia ...

Even as a non-conventional Christian, I was always enchanted with the colorful picture Lewis painted, engaging every child's imagination with the same magic and captivation as Rowling manages in her Harry Potter series. Folks who have seen the BBC movie (or shows?) from the 70s (?) tell me that the current movie isn't really any better, but I've only seen the latter, so my perspective is limited. The movie in box offices now, however, was very good, imo. I thought it was quite true to the story, even if Jadis was a bit underdone (I always picture her as much larger, more domineering, and somehow less able to conceal her "evil-ness").

Anyway, what I particularly like about the books - and this movie, is Lewis' conveying of the Christian message and morals ... without being preachy, and without forcing any particular interpretation upon the reader (or viewer). Some have said they are unimpressed with Aslan in the movie, but I found Him "realistic" enough to bring tears to my eyes, if that makes sense. Lucy did that even more, when Edmund poked fun at her for spite.

What else might be said about C.S. Lewis, the Narnia books, or the movie(s)?

Andrew

[wil]

I love the closet.

That in order to enter you have to go into that still silent place...but more importantly you have to close the door.

And when you return, you are right where you were, you just have a different perspective, one that you can not explain to anyone that has not been there.

Such a fun movie.

And Screwtape Letters, been thinking about rereading, it has been a long time. Wasn't the book actually a compilation of a newspaper serial?

[lunamoth]

I've not read the Chonicles, but I would like to to see if they would be good for my girls when they get a bit older. I would like to see the movie. I liked Mere Christianity, the first work I read by Lewis, but found the Screwtape letters much too shrill and preachy. I read another book by him recently, can't recall the name, but it was more or less the story of his journey from Christianity to agnostic to atheist back to Christianity. Kind of long winded, but interesting.

peace,
lunamoth

[Thomas]

You might want to look around online for 'The Inklings', a group of friends who used to meet in their rooms at Oxford to discuss,m among other things, literature and Christianity.

The most famous Inklings were C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, but there were others.

Thomas

[Faithfulservant]

First time I read the chronicles I was 10.. I had no idea that it was anything other than fantasy fiction.. Till I read the Last Battle which is by far my favorite book in the series. Then I got it without being told.

[Quahom1]

I've been waiting quietly, for someone to bring up Narnia. I wanted to see if anyone else saw what I saw, when I read the books (that was a long time ago). I've yet to see the movie.

However, one of my sons over in Iraq wrote and asked if I could send all the books to the Chronicles, since he hasn't read them since he was 10, and when I said sure, then some of his buddies asked if I could send them the same. Seems they want to all read the books first, before seeing the movie.

Seems they are hungry for something that takes their imagination to distant places, and still gives a subtle message of...hope? Who knows, but they want the books.

I thought it would be an appropriate Christmas gift to some men in green and camoflage...

C.S. Lewis is quite a person. From aethiest to Christian, to powerful messanger, all directed at children (of all ages).

v/r

Q

[path_of_one]

I love the Chronicles and thought the movie was pretty good, though the best of movies nearly always fail to meet the quality of a really well-written book (in my opinion). And my vision of an amazing fantasy film has pretty much been set by TLOR trilogy, which may never be duplicated in its intricacy again.

At any rate, I look forward to reading more of CS Lewis. I recently read The Great Divorce and it was fantastic- I recommend it for anyone. It's a very interesting short fantasy novel about a guy who takes a bus ride to hell and then into heaven, and contains a lot of very interesting ideas about the afterlife with which I concur. And it's just a great read as well- very entertaining.

[Ghaniel]

I saw the movie last night! I was moved to tears when Aslan sacrificed himself, allready knowing that C.S Lewis has said that the story has links to the Bible. I watched the earliest series when I was younger and was struck by the likeness to the Bible. Adam, Eve, Aslan sacrificing himself...

God is descried as the Lion of the tribe of Juda! Wonder if that inspired Lewis.