Narnia

I watched 'The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" on Monday night. It's not a bad adaptation of the book, although personally I feel that The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe is overrated - my personal favourite out of all the Narnia books is "The Magician's Nephew", which recounts the creation of Narnia by Aslan. Narnia (the movie) does suffer from what some reviewers have called 'LOTRs envy' - the white witch's army looks a leeetle bit too much like Sauron's army (all ugly and malformed and snarly). And I have to say, there's just something intrinsically funny about talking animals - but remember, people, this book is for children. That's why I was quite irritated with the sniggering people in the movie theatre. COME ON, you Americans, it's not like you have the most sophisticated sense of humour in the world, so lay off, ok? It's for kiddies. It isnt LOTR, and unlike the Harry Potter series, CS Lewis never wrote the books with the intention of having them made into Hollywood blockbusters meant to appeal young and old. Oh and I could also be annoyed because I was watching it thinking of Aslan the Lion = Jesus, and NO SNIGGERING at Jesus ok? *gives glarey look of death* Plus, I like CS Lewis a lot. End of argument.

The bit I like most in the prequel to The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe i.e. the Magician's Nephew is the part where Aslan creates Narnia. When you read the bible it goes, And God said, 'Let there be yada yada yada" and it was so, and what CS Lewis does is flesh out how the earth and the stars and the heavens and the waters and all living things come into being. Aslan actually sings a song, which changes depending on whether he's calling forth the trees or the little wildflowers, and the way his voice and the effect it has on the children (one of whom grows up to be the Professor in the second book) is described is incredible.

"The Lion opened his mouth, but no sound came from it; he was breathing out, a long, warm breath; it seemed to sway all the beasts as the wind sways a line of trees. Far overhead from beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again; a pure, cold, difficult music. Then there came a swift flash like fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the choldren's bodies, and the deepest, wildest vouce they had ever heard was speaking: 'Narnia, Narnia, Narnia. Awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.'"

Another bit which made me weep (on the plane on the way from Singapore to Boston, so the guy beside me probably thought i was either desperately homesick or plain crazy) was the part where Digory, one of the children, is tempted by the White Witch to disobey Aslan and steal one of the apples from the tree of life for his ailing mother. Perfectly good intentions - but one is reminded that God says I desire obedience, not sacrifice. He made the painful choice of abandoning the hope of saving his mother's life to obey Aslan. And Aslan looks him in the eye and says simply, I understand, I have felt grief too. And this great big lion sheds a single beautiful tear of understanding and empathy and love for this anguished little child. Isn't this all we hope for? That at the end of all this - this life, this long journey of pain and confusion and anguish and fear, of thwarted hope and unrequited affection - all we want to hear from our Lord are the simple, eternal words - 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Well done.'

"Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over them and entered into them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just around some corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well."

Will be in New York over the christmas break. Lish and Ben and Tim and Velma are coming, and Diana and Joanna and I are going down to New York. We'll all be camping out at Kenneth's place (muahaha). Should be a whole load of fun :)