Saturday, March 19, 2011

Abducted by The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe

It is time for my #4 post for my week long marathon of posting!

But before I forget I want to remind every one to sign up for my 1 year anniversary giveaway. You can win a $15 gift certificate to Amazon!!! All you have to do is be a follower of either my blog, my friend KATE'S blog, or both. It is that simple! To enter just click on the abduction below and it will take you to the form to submit. The giveaway started yesterday and runs through April 12th. Then I'll announce the winner in my 1 year anniversary post on April 13th!




Now today I am going to do my long over due post on The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe By C.S. Lewis!





This post was supposed to be a part of the Chronicles of Narnia read-a-long that SHE IS TOO FOND OF BOOKS is hosting. But I failed epically to post when it was due so I'm posting it now, two weeks late, and then I do my post for The Horse and His Boy tomorrow!

I loved this book! I read it for the first time years ago, long before the movie version came out. But I will say that this was one instance where the movie was a perfect adaptation from the book. There were some differences but they were small and personally I felt that they helped the story. Obviously the movie showed more of the battle then what was given in the book, but that was awesome because you got to see all these crazy creatures running around.

And because I love the movie so much it is hard for me to read the book now and not be picturing the film in my mind. Especially when it comes to Lucy and Mr. Tumnus. Who wasn't picturing James McAvoy? I mean COME ON! He was perfect! And when you read the book you are reminded just how small a roll Mr. Tumnus really was. I mean, not in quality of course (Mr. Tumnus is crucial to the plot) but in terms of how often he is actually seen in the story. Lucy comes to Narnia that first time and we meet him. She comes a second time followed by Edmund, but we as the audience stay with Edmund and only hear later that Lucy went to Mr. Tumnus's house. By the time all the children come to Narnia, Mr. Tumnus has already be taken captive and we don't see him again until the end. But with the movie, James McAvoy is so endearing and charming as Mr. Tumnus that you instantly feel as bonded to him as Lucy does.

One part of this book that I have always hated is the scene when Edmund first goes to the White Witch's castle and he draws the fake mustache on the lion statue. Don't get me wrong, I completely and totally understand where Edmund was coming from and why he did it. He was a little boy, in a strange land, he was scared, and he needed to do something to comfort himself and establish some form of power or control over the situation, even if it was only in his head. BUT, as the reader, knowing that was a real creature, taken captive, turned to stone, taken away from it's family and friends and life. I mean that was a real lion!!! It was an animal with a heart and soul and everything! And for all we know it could have been dead! And there is Edmund drawing faces on it! I mean maybe I am over re-acting but even when I was a kid I remember thinking there was something so cruel about that moment!

One thing that struck me as odd having just finished The Magician's Nephew, was the Professor's reaction to the children going to Narnia. I mean I always thought it was so fantastic that he just accepts that the kids are being truthful. That whole scene when Peter and Susan go to him about Lucy and he defends her, has always been one of my favorites. But, since I had JUST finished the other book it got me to thinking. Why wasn't Professor Kirke more cautious with them? Why didn't he warn them about the dangers of going to Narnia? I mean just think about it...

Professor Kirke went to another world as a little boy, he almost died, he almost lost his best friend Polly, he woke up an evil witch and then managed to bring her with him back to London, where she attacked his Aunt and if she had come upon his mother would have for sure given her such a fright she would have died instantly! Then she terrorized the city for a day, got in trouble with the cops for stealing and being a menace, broke a lamppost, and she hit a cop! Then he finally got her back to the other world only to have her be set loose in Narnia. So Professor Kirke knew that she was in Narnia and knew she was evil. He also knew of the troubles one can find themselves in if they mess around with magic. So why didn't warn them?

Well, that is simple...i guess. He didn't warn them because at the time Lewis wrote The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe he had yet to write the Magician's Nephew so maybe Lewis didn't even know how bad an experience Professor Kirke had with his adventure.

He didn't warn them because he trusted the magic was calling to them for a reason?

And I guess, the most obvious answer would be that he didn't warn them because he knew that in the end all the good of Narnia would out weigh the bad.

But I mean, still, come on! I'm just saying a little warning would have been nice!

That is all I have for now!

Have a great rest of the day and I will see you all tomorrow!

2 comments:

Kate @Midnight Book Girl said...

I think maybe he wasn't really worried about them going to Narnia itself. Perhaps he trusted is Aslan to keep them safe? But I think that Lewis probably had some idea in his head in regards to The Magician's Nephew, although maybe he hadn't planned quite the dangerous adventure that Digory and Polly ended up embarking upon...

Andrea @ The Overstuffed Bookcase said...

I read this book as a child, and it's still the only book of the series that I've read (I know, I need to read them all, and I plan to). But what I mostly remember from reading it as a child was the Turkish Delights that the witch gave to Edmund. At the time, I had no idea what Turkish Delights were, and I thought they were made out of turkey meat. I read it again as an adult, but I still thought of some kind of bite-sized snack made out of turkey meat and other ingredients when I read that part. And right now I'm kind of craving some turkey... ;)

 
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