While impossible to prove, reading The Chronicles of Narnia in childhood would have given me a richer understanding of life. For one thing, I would have better understood the puzzling gap between the adult world and the kaleidoscopic realm of the imagination. Narnia’s roster of spectacular heroes and villains could have been at my disposal to apply to real things in my life. The stunning qualities of the leonine meta-hero Aslan would have provided another cache of magnificent qualities to foster youthful courage. And the explosive joy at Narnia’s conclusion might have strengthened my heart during challenging times.
At least that’s what I will say when I open next week’s Zoom meeting of my local book club where our February selection is The Chronicles of Narnia. I joined this club following a spontaneous conversation with one of its members while both of us waited in line at a post-Christmas sale just over a year ago. After enjoying two lovely in-house meetings of this club, characterized by lively company, serious discussion, and tasty treats on the table, the shutdown shut us down.
Suddenly our limitless Zoom business account at Professor Carol, acquired to facilitate the the launching of virtual conferences, had a new use: I went from being a fledgling member of the book club to the Zoom-Mistress! Then, in the 2020 December meeting, when asked to choose a book for the 2021 season, I picked The Chronicles of Narnia.
To my surprise, not one of those ladies in the meeting had read it! Nor, actually, had I, until I finally grabbed my husband’s old set and started reading it aloud to granddaughter Patti. Traveling to Narnia together with Patti proved to be a fine voyage.
Of course, I had heard a lot about Narnia within articles I read and in conversations when we joined our colleagues for late-night suppers at conferences. As the talk grew more enthusiastic, I picked at my salad, reluctant to admit my ignorance while wondering how I, a voracious reader since my first Dick and Jane, never read this classic?
Probably my mother’s Polish-Jewish background and the struggle of life in the Brooklyn tenements did not allow her the luxury of stepping into Narnia’s enchanting world. That’s my best guess.
But worry not: she gave me plenty of books. The most influential of these was a beautifully illustrated copy of Alice in Wonderland. I ran to this book whenever I was sad, although I don’t know why. Perhaps it was because the White Rabbit had useful things to offer a child’s mind, as does Alice herself. In retrospect, Alice was my strongest literary role model back then. I liked her overall lack of fear, her impetuosity and quirky responses to quirky situations, and her solutions to dilemmas like choosing the liquid that would cause her to grow too large or too small.
Related: Michael Dodds interview on Narnia and Music of the Spheres
But no character in my childhood books matched the thrill of Prince Tirian and Prince Caspian! No figures existed like the indomitable Reepicheep or the vicious White Witch! No adventures I read could match sailing to the End of the World. And Lucy, oh Lucy. I needed you in my childhood.
Furthermore no books I knew presented so clearly the interactions of juxtaposed characters, be they heroes or villains. Then too, if I had understood why Susan grew too old to return to Narnia and too old to see Narnia as real, it might have helped me grasp the difference between the boring adult world and the delicious freedom of a child’s imagination. Honestly, if I grabbed up every book I had as a child, I still could not squeeze out anything equal to The Chronicles of Narnia.
And that’s before we consider Aslan. Where else exists a literary character to match Aslan? For that matter, is he just a literary character? There are reasons scholars fill pages discussing The Chronicles of Narnia generally, and Aslan in particular. His fierceness, patience, and surrender to suffering, make him not just a meta-hero, not just a symbol for virtue and wisdom, but a symbol for Christ. I am told that someone can read Narnia and not regard it as a Christian metaphor, but I’m not sure how.
So what will happen when our book-club meets over Narnia this coming week?
Since it was my title, I’m supposed to make a little presentation before the general discussion of the book begins. What will I say? What if they were bored or found it trite or childish? Perhaps they’ll simply say: “Well, that was interesting. Glad I finally read it . . . now who’s hosting our next discussion in March?” Will someone embrace me on the Zoom screen and rejoice that Narnia now lives in her imagination?
We’ll have to see. After all, Narnians do not suffer timidity well, so I should drop my doubts and trust my confidence from the opening log-in. C.S. Lewis could not have known the enduring power of this work, much less imagined it being discussed by bibliophiles courtesy of technology like Zoom. But surely he would be happy for those of us who, as grown ups, finally have been able to luxuriate in Narnia’s glory.
A blessing to read at all, but, yes, perhaps greater in childhood. My grown children listened at bedtime for over a decade and encourage any friends who have not yet met Mr Tumnus to read the books now. If you are not also familiar with the Swallows and Amazons series, look into that next!
Lovely sentiments about Narnia. I didn’t read the whole series until my 30s. SO glad I did. Not sure if it would have been better in childhood, but probably. I’ll take it any way. Thanks for sharing this Carol. I want to join your book club! :)
Was going to suggest Michael Ward’s book which ties C. S. Lewis’s scholarly interests to his Chronicles but see you are aware of it! I read in one of my biographies of Lewis that he had told a friend after writing six of the books that he had one more to write with a twinkle in his eye, and he himself never mentioned “The Discarded Image” of our world that he had incorporated into the Chronicles. It took Michael Wood many years later to work out the connections. Lewis must have really enjoyed writing Narnia with his secrets hidden in each book!
Thank you for sharing. I have the pleasure of listening to these stories again with my youngest as my children have quite an age gap. Focus on the Family Radio Theater is a must, we own the series. It is simply spectacular. Listening to these the first time as an adult and hearing the stories for the first time made me feel like a kid again. It was a thrilling experience for this homeschool mom. This series showed me how to love learning, something I wasn’t shown as a child. I hope you’ll update us with the outcome of your book club. I would love to be a floy on the wall for that conversation. Thank you also for your newsletters. I don’t always get a chance to read them, but when I do, I am so delighted. Warmly,
I believe that Lewis would be thrilled that so many are still enjoying the Narnia series. It is a timeless classic. I encourage you to read the Magician’s Nephew. Some consider it the first book of the series but I think it’s better to read 2nd. It’s the book that ‘explains’ Narnia.
My husband read it to our boys back in our homeschooling days (they’re in college now). Definitely a favorite! I will be introducing my class at the new classical school I co-founded to the Magician’s Nephew in our literature next school year. I can’t remember reading that one myself, so I look forward to it!
I actually enjoy and appreciate Narnia more as an adult than I did as a child. It wasn’t that I didn’t like fantasy, because The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings have been my all-time favorite books since childhood. I’m not sure why I didn’t love the Narnia books equally as well, but I think I found them confusing as a child. Or maybe it was the cover art for the set we had, which I didn’t like at all. Much as I try not to judge a book by its cover, illustrations can influence and/or impact our reading experience. At any rate, I LOVED my reintroduction to the series as an adult, and so enjoy their richness and depth. I’m happy to say that my children love them as well! (And the set I now own has different–and better–cover art then the set I grew up with.)
Being raised in Germany in the 60 and 70s I never heard of Narnia until I was an adult and now I have read it to my children and we love it. The books I read were Heidi ( and other stories from Johanna Shirley) ,also books from Astrid Lindgren,esp the brother Lionheart… I also read the unending story,but something wasn’t right with this story,until I discovered it had 2 snakes at it’s foundation as a medallion,so opposite of Narnia ,that has Christ as it’s foundation.I love those allegorical stories I have enjoyed reading with my children homeschooling like The princess and the Goblins and the White Horse…. faszinating…I think CS. Lewis got his foundation from McDonald’s books ..
I love Narnia, and will never stop. So thankful that I discovered the joy of Narnia as a child. Similar to your Alice, Prince Caspian was one of the five books I owned growing up and read over and over. They are magical to read as a child, but they are classics for a reason, in that they grow with you as you grow, and you come to appreciate them more and more over time as different parts will speak to you and later maturity. So glad another soul out there will understand what my favorite t-shirt says, a whisper in challenging moments, “courage, dear heart.” 💛
I love that Adam Andrews on BiblioFiles said his number one book hero is Reepicheep. I’ll never forget his swimming for all it’s worth! And the scene where Eustace is trying to peel off his own scales and it just won’t work — when my young daughter pointed out this scene, I knew she understood the gospel!
Anybody, who enjoys C.S. Lewis’ “The Chronicles of Narnia,” should read the work by Michael Ward and learn that “The Chronicles” are far from only a collection of children’s stories. In his doctoral dissertation “Planet Narnia: The Seven Heavens in the Imagination of C.S. Lewis” Michael convincingly demonstrates, or proves, as a better term, that Lewis wrote each story to encapsulate and elucidate the medieval imagination of the seven heavens. In the Epilogue to his last book, “The Discarded Image,” Lewis wrote:
“I hope no one will think that I am recommending a return to the Medieval Model [of the Universe]. I am only suggesting considerations that may induce to regard all Models in the right way, respecting each and idolizing none.” Another Model being the modern physics Model with its Big Bang Theory.
But in case you find it too much of a task to read his original, extensively documented and still very entertaining 347-page doctoral dissertation, Michael had also the good sense to write a much shorter popular version of his thesis, called “The Narnia Code: C.S. Lewis and the Secret of the Seven Heavens” (193 pages), which then was transformed in a delightful and very watchable 50-minute documentary, “The Narnia Code: Discover the Mystery Behind the Beloved C.S. Lewis Series.”
Heaving read and viewed those two, you will be compelled to take up Michael’s magisterial work anyway. But, above all, you will be so impressed by the genius of C.S. Lewis, who was a great academic medievalist in addition to being a great apologist for Christianity, that you may even agree with Michael’s assertion that Lewis was a more brilliant author than his best friend Tolkien, who, in a sense, was deceived by the “simplicity” of Lewis’ literary creations, no doubt, partly by Tolkien’s own editorial arrogance promoted by his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.