The Chronicles of Narnia

The Core RPGC Main Forum
21

Originally posted by Nulani
C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien weren’t only professors at the same University ( Oxford ) but also members of the same ‘Writers Club’ and, if I recall correctly, good friends.

Even more, Tolkien convinced C.S. Lewis to become Christian. I’m not sure what beliefs he had before that, though I know he loved Norse mythology.

I liked the Chronicles a little. The books were decent, but they seemed more like cover-ups for Christianity lessons than stand-alone stories. However Christian I am, I’m not a fan of that approach.

I would rather read a book that tells its own story, from a Christian’s perspective. Any good story is fine for me, as long as the book portrays what’s right as right and what’s wrong as wrong. Lord of the Rings does well at that. J.R.R. Tolkien repeatedly said that he wrote the trilogy in order to tell a good story, not to teach people morality. I just finished The Three Musketeers. It too has an incredible plot, along with a very cool hero.

Xwing1056

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Yeah, I love that series.

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>Any good story is fine for me, as long as the book portrays what’s right as right and what’s wrong as wrong.

I guess people like to read stories like that because it can be so hard to tell in our real lives.

24

Read them a few years ago. They are indeed very well-written. C.S. Lewis also goes about creating a fantasy world very carefully.

25

Originally posted by Sorcerer
That would be the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s a cool book, I hope you enjoyed it.

Heh. I did. The moive to it was…weird.

26

Originally posted by Sir Percival
If recall correctly, there are live action BBC productions of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair. I have seen these. I also understand that there are animated films of some of the books, but I have not seen any of those.

I’ve seen an animated version of The Lion. It was like Jim Carrey had made a movie at his family reunion; overacted, innapropriately cartoonish (even for that cartoon incarnation). Don’t bother with it.

Originally posted by Xwing1056
[b]Even more, Tolkien convinced C.S. Lewis to become Christian. I’m not sure what beliefs he had before that, though I know he loved Norse mythology.

I liked the Chronicles a little. The books were decent, but they seemed more like cover-ups for Christianity lessons than stand-alone stories. However Christian I am, I’m not a fan of that approach.

I would rather read a book that tells its own story, from a Christian’s perspective. Any good story is fine for me, as long as the book portrays what’s right as right and what’s wrong as wrong. Lord of the Rings does well at that. J.R.R. Tolkien repeatedly said that he wrote the trilogy in order to tell a good story, not to teach people morality. I just finished The Three Musketeers. It too has an incredible plot, along with a very cool hero.

Xwing1056 [/b]

Wasn’t it Lewis that converted Tokien? Much of LOTR’s mythology is gleaned from Norse material (Earendel, for example).

As for the Musketeers, I loved the book, but whatever you do, don’t stop there. There are more about the Musketeers, and others to look into, by Dumas and others, like The Count of Monte Cristo, Scaramouche, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Prisoner of Zenda, tra la la, la la, la la… Good stuff. Read any of them?

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The story I’ve heard is that Lewis was originally an atheist, read through the Bible to try and disprove but instead turned Christian. That story probably has some spin on it. Going along, I think Lewis was Christian before he met Tolkein, but it was Tolkein that converted Lewis to Roman Catholicism. I’m sure there’s something out there like a respected biography that tells the actual story.

28

Originally posted by Kraken
Wasn’t it Lewis that converted Tokien? Much of LOTR’s mythology is gleaned from Norse material (Earendel, for example).

Tolkien converted Lewis, definitely. Tolkien was born Anglican and became Catholic at a young age. Lewis became an Anglican, after long talks with Tolkien about mythology and how it relates to the real world.

As for the Musketeers, I loved the book, but whatever you do, don’t stop there. There are more about the Musketeers, and others to look into, by Dumas and others, like The Count of Monte Cristo, Scaramouche, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Prisoner of Zenda, tra la la, la la, la la… Good stuff. Read any of them?

I liked the Count of Monte Cristo even more than the Musketeers. I haven’t read Scaramouche, but it’s a nice movie. The rest I haven’t heard of. Are they pretty good?

Xwing1056

Edit: Slight typo.

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Percival. I love you.
The Narnia series was the only book series (other than Doom) I’ve read. I LOVED every single one of those books.

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I had the Chornicles of Narnia read to me when I was young, and I enjoyed the stories completely. C.S. Lewis is an excellent writer. I intend to read Mere Christianity some time. It isn’t fiction, but I have heard nothing bad about it.

31

Originally posted by Xwing1056
I liked the Count of Monte Cristo even more than the Musketeers. I haven’t read Scaramouche, but it’s a nice movie. The rest I haven’t heard of. Are they pretty good?

Have you seen the movie Roxanne? It’s based on Cyrano. Basically, Cyrano has a huge nose, so he’s regularly insulted and regularly gets into duels. As such he is a master swordsman. He’s a great character, like Scaramouche, but his physical defects are real. I don’t know anything about The Prisoner but that it’s a classic swashbuckler, and that my college library doesn’t have it.

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Originally posted by Xwing1056
Even more, Tolkien convinced C.S. Lewis to become Christian. I’m not sure what beliefs he had before that, though I know he loved Norse mythology.

Really? I can find almost no trace of Norse mythology in this series? Graeco-Roman mythology and mediaeval romance are far more prevalent as influences in the Chronicles of Narnia.

33

Originally posted by Sir Percival
Really? I can find almost no trace of Norse mythology in this series? Graeco-Roman mythology and mediaeval romance are far more prevalent as influences in the Chronicles of Narnia.

It’s true. He said, “. . .and from Idealism I had come one step nearer to understanding the words, We give thanks to thee for thy great glory. The Norse gods had given me the first hint of it; but then I didn’t believe in them, and I did believe in the Absolute” ( this is an interesting essay ).

Xwing1056

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Loved the series to death, still dust them off and set up some classical music and just read the whole series in one big go, damn thats the best way to waste time I have come up with yet :slight_smile:

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The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is one of the few books I really like. When I get home I may try to find the cartoon of it I saw in school (after I read the book). The othe rbook that I actually enjoyed reading was The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. And to end the questions, I’m not much of a reader. I don’t really like reading. I’ll read articles from time to time, but I don’t read much. It amazes me at how much you all like to read. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

36

I don’t know why I like to read. Maybe it’s because for the first ten years of my life, I used it as escape literature. But now, I like to read, and see what amazing lands and characters can be found in books.

…Damn, now I have to go read all my old book series again. runs off to look for The Book of Three

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Heh I read that entire series seven years ago. I gotta go back and reread em. Good stories.

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Isn’t everyone sposed to read the Narnia Chronicles in the first grade?

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I think I’ve read some of this series. doesn’t it start with the Lion the Witch and the wardrobe or something. If it does I’ve read the first 6 or 7 books.

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The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is the third book, if I remember right. I dont remember the what the first one is, but I know it isn’t the LWW.