Narnia

Okay, before I say anything about the subject I have chosen to write about, I would like to remind everyone that my blog is not a place for religious debate. I respect everyone's right to choose whatever they want to believe in. So, this is a precious (rare) glimpse of a few of my religious beliefs. I do not share them to invite criticism, bashing, or as I said before - debate. This is merely intended to be a pleasant review of something I love. Okay? Now I'll proceed.

I love C.S. Lewis' books. I haven't read all of them, but my two favourite are 'Til we Have Faces' and 'The Great Divorce'. 'Till we Have Faces' is a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche, told from Psyche's older sister's perspective, and 'The Great Divorce' is an idea of the afterlife - a bustrip out of hell. Really interesting.

But today, I watched the new version of 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. I had been putting it off because I knew I would be brutally disappointed. I don't think I was as disappointed as I was expecting. Sometimes I forget that these books are intended for children, even though they have such serious undertones. So, essentially, it was a children's movie ... and that's okay. It's just that when I was a child and my mother explained the religious symbolism involved in the story to me - it rocked me to my very core. Somehow, I always expect to have that same emotional experience when I read or watch a version of this story, but I have to say that I thought the BBC production moved me more than the Disney version (and they had a smaller budget).

I am always sorely worried that the nature and necessity of sacrifice will be removed somehow from the story. If that were to ever happen - the story would be worthless to me. But that depends on an author's point of view. For my own part - it's nice to tell a fun story, but I dream of telling stories that are not only amusing, but also the kind that inspire the human spirit to greatness and virtue. Naturally, I'm really far off that, but I'm going to live for many years and as long as that remains my goal - I can't help but move closer to it.

My favourite of the Narnia books is 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. That book is worth all of the others to me. I LOVE that book so much! I love Eustice and his story is special to me no matter how many times I read it.

C.S. Lewis is also a bit of a hero for me as a writer. Toward the end of his life he used to write his books by writing them, then going over them once with a pencil to make corrections and then sending them to the editor for publication. I love that. I want to be just like that someday.

It's strange too, because even though we're both Christians - we're not the same religion.