The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis

[Vorchia]

I bought this book last week and read it on the train but its definitively a kid's book. Its much too simple and too predictable for me. It's been recommended to me so many times I expected something more then the simple short fairy tale it really is. As much as I like fantasy it has to be well written and of high literary quality, like Tolkien's or Edding's or it simply doesn't work.

[Azonthus]

Well, you have to keep in mind that CS Lewis wrote these for his niece, Lucy. They were meant to be childrens stories, but are still great books to read. To a Christian, there is some very strong Christ symbolism present in Narnia with Aslan and how Aslan gave his life to save Edmund.

I still enjoy the books and read them on occasion. Lucky for me, we just found my original set! I'm so happy=) It had been lost when we moved from Colorado, but we've been doing some MAJOR house cleaning and just found them. Now I can give Megan the set I got from the thrift shop and keep my old ones.

[Vorchia]

Yes cleaning up the attics and basements can make you find back things you almost forgot you had, lol.
I don't look for symbolisms in books and I can never figure out the MEANING of a story. I always need to be told by someone else. lol Of coruse THAT has to do with the fact that my knowledge on religions and myth is severely limited though I do read about it every now and then. >_<

I know it was written for a child but still...

[SilvanoshiS]

LWW was not my personal favorite of this series. This book was blown waaay out of proportion to the rest of the series. It's like book 4 in a 7 book set. As for the symbolism, read the last battle. The christian symoblism is so prominant that a blind man can see it (pardon the expresson). it is a good series, and is a good read as a whole, even if it was written for kids.

[jerseydagmar]

C.S. Lewis meant for the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to be the first book. However, recently many companies have been changing the order of the series. Which I think is unfair. Depsite it being a kids book I loved it. I have all seven books and I read them from time to time.

These were the books that got me into fantasy, so to me they are the best.

Now I read the Dragonlance series, and anything by Margerat Weis.

Jersey

[SilvanoshiS]

I don't think it was the forth book, cronologically speaking in book time. I thought the Silver Chair and the Magician's Nephew came before it. Anyway, I was going off the order I read them (whatever number was on the side of the book), and that was a long time ago. I could be mistaken. I'll check the order when I go home this weekend.

[utoraptor3000]

i love all the narnea books!

[Azonthus]

The order that CS Lewis intended them to be read in, and the order he wrote them in is:

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Silver Chair
The Horse and his Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle

Horse and his boy is an awesome book=) I think it's my favorite in the series!

If you want to read them in chronogolical order from the creation of Narnia to the end of Narnia, they are:

The Magicians Nephew
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
The Horse and his Boy
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Silver Chair
The Last Battle

[Vorchia]

I'm not one for symbolism anyway. When we had to do bookreports in secondary school we always had to figure out the 'main thought' of the book and I never once managed to. I just can't. Sure I can usually tell what the morale of the story is if there is an obvious one but does anyone know how to figure out and define the main thought of a book? I've done countless of bookreports but I DO NOT see symbolism and 'thoughts' in any book I read unless they state them in a foreword. I just don't SEE it. I can't help it, any such subtleties are lost on me, I need plain direct wording, straight to the point or its lost on me. A witch butchering a lion doesn't have anything to with religion to me. Jesus died for all of humanity, not forn one child and was crucified, not killed on a sacrificial altar. *shrug* I can follow your reasoning but on my own I'd never have associated it with it.

We watched part of the Narnia movie yesterday. It was awful. It was completely unfit for the agegroup the book is written for so we had to stop the movie because it wasn't suitable for the children it'd been hired for! If there's a movie made after a children's book written for primary school kids you'd expect a PG rating... Thankfully I read the book so I could tell mom to switch it off BEFORE the white witch butchers Aslan because after seeing the way the movie was done (and the reaction of my sister to the various scary bits) I feared what THAT was going to look like and what impact it'd have on my little sister. It was worse then any of those bad and violent TV shows they make kids watch...
I regretted paying ten dollars just to be able to read the much recommended book (which turned out to be worth ten cents, not ten dollars) and I regret letting my parents hire the movie for my siblings... After all, I'm the one who gets the blame for saying it was fit for them!!

[Buttercup]

I just got done reading the first four books in the chronological order (with my son) and I too was expecting a little more. But, i did pick up on a lot of the symbolism and actually rather enjoyed the read. I am of the mind that so what if a book is written for kids?! If I enjoy it, that's enough for me! ;D Anyway, I won't get into the religious aspects but I really liked reading and then coming to a part and thinking to myself, "Oh, I get that!" Normally I don't really go for books with a lot of thinking required to pick up on the symbolism, but C.S. Lewis seems to have a knack for drawing a person in, regardless of the age. I plan to continue to read the rest of the books later this week!

[Vorchia]

A book written for kids is just not entertaining to me.

[Buttercup]

Well, maybe it just takes a small mind like mine to enjoy it....instead of me brainwashing my son, he is brainwashing me!

[Azonthus]

I rather enjoy finding the symbolism in books. But then again, I think that's part of the difference between Vorchia and me- she's a scientific/logical thinker and I'm an abstract/instinctual thinker. I often miss what's right in front of me because I'm looking for a hidden meaning!

As far as reading 'kids books' goes, I re-read a lot of them last Feb when my tendonitis was really bad and I had to avoid work, computer, and school. With nothing to do, I went back to my bookshelves and read books I haven't read for years. One of them was The Secret Garden, which I just loved. Others were my Narnia books. I went through the whole series and actually liked them better this time than when I read them in middle school. I wish more books written for 'adults' kept the intregue and innocence of the kids books.

[Vorchia]

Its still possible for find adult books that do not scenes that'd be unfit for little kids... They just get harder and harder to find, which is why I make literature lists. It makes the excavation of good books from amid the mountains of rubbish easier...
I liked the Secret Garden when I was little.

[Cat]

This book (and series) is one of my all-time favourites. Of course I have a different understanding and appreciation for them now than I did as a child, when I didn't even realise that there was Christian symbolism right in front of me. I think they're beautiful, and show a love for god that's not necessarily tied to one kind of religion, or one denomination. They're beautiful and not preachy, and can be appreciated by people from all walks of life.