My Lifelong Love of The Chronicles of Narnia
When I was older, I came upon The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe in book form. I was delighted, of course, and ate it alive in one sitting. I remember scotch taping pages back into the cover. One day while I wasn’t looking, the tattered copy quietly disappeared.
At 13, my father shared my interest in Narnia. He bought me the entire 7-volume set, complete with case, for Christmas. It took me about a week to read them all. When I finished The Last Battle, I put it down and took a moment to think about this epic tale and everything it meant.
I realized that C. S. Lewis was a man who believed very deeply in the Christian point of view. He didn’t take it to extremes. He wasn’t a zealot. He wasn’t preaching, or sermonizing. He simply believed. He breathed life into his faith and shared it with the world in the Chronicles of Narnia.
In my mind, I could clearly equate Aslan and his willing death to Jesus. I could see the children that visited Narnia as different prophets and heroes of the Bible. At 13, I was still a Baptist, and Narnia solidified my faith in a way no amount of Sunday school could.
As an adult, I found, and yearned to own, the BBC’s adaptations of the first four volumes: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the Dawn Treader; and The Silver Chair.
I waited impatiently for the final three to come forth. It wasn’t until I was in my 30s that I learned the BBC never made it past The Silver Chair. I lost the set my father bought me, but I acquired it twice more. This time, I’m determined to keep up with them. I also found and bought the BBC set, collector’s edition.
We went to see Star Wars Episode III in the theater. My boyfriend is a lifelong Star Wars aficionado. His older brother used to sing the theme to him at night to put him to sleep. I usually crack pretty hard on the previews, but when an elegant, cold and aloof woman in white appeared on the screen, I froze. I watched, open-mouthed, as the world I’ve loved throughout my life flashed before me on the screen. I knew what the title of the movie was before the trailer got around to splashing it in front of us. I was bouncing in my seat and squealing by the time that happened. My boyfriend put a hand over my mouth because I was chanting, “It’s Narnia! It’s Narnia!“
We were about twenty minutes into Star Wars before my heart slowed down. I could not wait to see the movie. It didn’t matter to me if it was good or not. The live action versions from the BBC were made before CGI replaced Mr. Ed’s peanut butter and Jim Henson’s creature effects. When the movie came out in December of 2005, I was too strapped for cash to allow myself to go see it. I work for the local cable company, however. I knew I would see it eventually, and I wouldn’t have to justify the expense of a theater trip to do so.
Finally, a few weeks ago, my girlfriend purchased Narnia On-Demand. I parked myself in a corner of the couch and let myself become a child again. I threatened my kids with imminent death to keep them quiet so I could immerse myself in Narnia.
Honestly, there were things I would change, if I could. There are points I would leave in the story, and parts I might take out. However, when the final credits rolled, I smiled and nodded.
“Close enough,” I said quietly. “It’s close enough.”
The confidence needed to take something so extraordinarily written to visual form is awesome. My joy in Narnia could indeed be on the level of hyperbole. The chronology of the story of Narnia is sometimes lost on those who haven’t spent more than the nominal amount of time visiting. The seven books are,
The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle
�.in the order Lewis wrote them. The sets I saw before the movie came out offered the books in chronological order, like this:
The Magician’s Nephew
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Final Battle.
The story follows the model Tolkien set, where the heroes leave and all magic goes with them to another world of eternity and rest. Lewis didn’t blatantly copy Tolkien’s model, he simply molded it into his own style. Lloyd Alexander did the same thing, and his Prydain Cycle stands as one of the benchmarks of fantasy fiction of the 20th century, alongside the other two authors aforementioned.
I’ve seen some harsh words put forth critiquing the movie. I’ve seen a few articles touching upon the Christian theme running through the Chronicles. All I have to say is this:
Wait. It was the first one. It has to get better. And if it doesn’t, if it simply flops as some expected, what harm is there? Those of us who have loved and lived with Narnia in our hearts will be satisfied with the visual representations.
Why?
Because it’s close enough.
