From Spare Oom to War Drobe

Read this to finish off the Narniathon - it was nice to revisit the stories, and Langrish had some interesting commentary to make, but there was way too much plot summary. The book cannot be for someone who hasn't read the Narnia books – they wouldn't be interested in all the sources for something they have not read yet, and reading Langrish's paraphrases would only spoil the experience for them – and for someone who has read them, is it really necessary to go on at such length? It was more of a book-length paraphrase with a few notes scattered within, than an original book in its own right.

And most of the notes were about comparisons to literary sources of similar motifs and plotlines, which were interesting, but there is so much more to say. What about Lewis's life? What about what was going on in history and society? What about theological ideas? The latter is touched on a bit, the others hardly at all.

Some good things:

I had not noticed how full the books are of blood, vs. the bloodlessness of Tolkien, so that was an interesting point. Battles and blood have always been something I skip over and don't imagine very thoroughly though.

“Lewis is most successful when he works within the framework of his imaginary world, not when he tries to break out of it.” (Introduction) True.

“This isn't a story ‘about' repentance and baptism: this is the experience of which repentance and baptism are the symbols.” (Voyage of the Dawn Treader, about Eustace's undragoning) A neat way to put it, and points up the importance of seeing the stories as something in their own right and not just allegories.

Further to that, she quotes Lewis writing of Bunyan, “We ought not to be thinking ‘this green valley where the shepherd boy is singing, represents humility,'; we ought to be discovering, as we read, that humility is like that green valley.” (The Silver Chair) This is why the Narnia books succeed, when they do: they give us an experience of discovery of imaginative realities. When they try too hard to hit us over the head with Messages, as in The Last Battle, they don't work.

“What I drew from the Narnia books has stayed with me for life: the colour, richness and beauty, the breadth, depth, and glory of the world.” (The Silver Chair) My sentiments exactly.

The critique of The Last Battle is good. Again, I didn't notice the inconsistencies or stupid strategic moves of Tirian as a battle leader, because I never care much about battles and cannot keep geography or strategy straight in my head. I must say that I never get bored with Lewis's battles, though, unlike Tolkien's. He keeps up the storytelling pace marvellously.

I entirely agree with Langrish's critique of the treatment of Susan (the worst thing is that her family seems to write her off completely), and Emeth the Token Good Calormene, who really has no likeable qualities and also worships a horrible demon.

Oh, in the Horse and His Boy chapter she points out that Calormene can't have any magical or beautiful qualities, which could certainly well have been borrowed from the Oriental stories Lewis was imitating, because it is conceived of as the Anti-Narnia. An artistic mistake on Lewis's part, I think, which is why Horse is so dull and disappointing compared to the other books – but completely in line with his ideological program, the worst thing about Narnia.