Thursday, March 22, 2012

My Favorite Books: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Last week, I introduced this column, and I have to admit that I didn't think it through as well as I wanted. This week, I'm writing about a book that really introduced me to the whole fantasy genre, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.



Why is this one of my favorite books?

As I said above, this is the book that really introduced me to the fantasy genre. I've told the story before about how my mother would read us all a chapter of LWW every day at the dinner table. I was about 12 or 13, and it just sparked something in me. I think it was the idea that you could just walk through something ordinary, like a wardrobe, and enter into another world. That was something that caught my imagination.

What I didn't know when I first read it.

I had no idea when I first read any of  The Chronicles of Narnia that C.S. Lewis was anthing other than a darn fine fantasy author. I had never heard of any of his philosophical or spiritual works. I am embarassed to admit that I still haven't read much of his other writing.

I also had no idea  that the chronicles were allegorical. Now when I read them, I can see a lot of the hidden meaning. I think it's kind of cool that Lewis was able to convey a lot of the themes of Christianity in a series of books that are such good reads.

When I was writing The Deliverers, I had a hard time trying to get across the theme of Eric struggling with his father's death and his feelings of guilt. It was only after I stopped trying so hard that the message was able to come through naturally. Go figure.

I also didn't know that C.S. Lewis anf J.R.R. Tolkien were good friends, and that they were part of a writing group called The Inklings. This group of Oxford professors would gather to listen to each other read whatever they were writing at the time, and offer critiques. Believe it or not, I had no idea who Tolkien was. I would a short time later!



Why I would recommend this book to others.

I would recommend this book because of it's simplicity. There aren't a lot of wasted words in this book. It's very simple and direct, just a good story without a lot of window dressing. This book allows you to paint the pictures in your mind. I love that. There's nothing like imagination for making a book come alive.

Also, who wouldn't like to go to another world, and become a king or queen? Lucy, Peter, Edmund, and Susan liberated an entire country, just by being who they are, and remembering who they are. What a great message!

4 comments:

  1. I also loved this series. I haven't read anything else by CS Lewis- but I thought his books were so amazing. I loved being transported to another world.

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    1. He also wrote a science fiction trilogy, although I haven't read it.

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  2. The Third Book the boy and his horse was even better, must come as a movie.

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    1. I agree. The Horse and His Boy would be a great movie. Shasta and Bree would be a great movie duo. There are some great life lessons in that book. It's also interesting to see how the Calormanes live! Thanks for reading.--Greg

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