#246: Narnia, Part I

[dxf]

Then there’s the Snoop Dogg(y Dog) song “Djinn and Juice.” Droppin’ magic on that ass!

[Fallen_Crusader]

Ummm…now with a correction…

Lewis got the space-travel story and Tolkien got the time-travel story. Lewis wrote ‘Out of the Silent Planet’. However, Tolkien’s time-travel story was not LotR. It was called ‘The Lost Road’. He never really finished it, though. Segments of it were published posthumously. If it’s any consolation, it was Middle-Earthish.

Glad to see you caught that one 'Talos, saved me from feeling bad and saying it myself.

Random Narnia story, apparently a co-worker of my mom’s friend’s son went to Halloween as Mr. Tumnus. My mother needed me to go see the friend to explain who the kid had been.

I took a class on CS Lewis in college, and my memory isn’t perfect, so take the following with a grain of salt. I’m pretty sure CS Lewis didn’t like calling TLTWTW an allegory, rather an imagining of how the Jesus-story may have gone in a world that was not our own. If I remember the passage correctly, Lewis said that for TLTWTW to be an allegory, Aslan would had had to reject a pride of evil lions to side with the children and then be sacrificed for them, or something along those lines. But I do admit my memory on the subject is fuzzy, and it might have been another writer commenting on Narnia. Tolkien had big issues with allegory as well, preferring what he called applicability to allegory.

BTW, the White Witch was always a witch, called herself a queen, but nobody good ever recognized her as a Queen.

My favorite of the Narnia books was always The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I never got hung up on the nautical terms (actually I learned a lot more from it), and there was a lot more moving about for mini-adventures. I also think it might have something to do with the old BBC version of the books, which I bought last year. They were amazing in my childhood, now the bad costumes rub a bit, but they were well done.

With the Narnia books translated to movies, I really have a problem nit-picking between the movies and the books. I’m doing my best to restrain myself from that, but if you want an earful, I can always add it later

Last little point I wanted to bring up,

Mini-rant about the Space Trilogy.

I never felt that the so-called space trilogy really should be counted as science fiction. To me, reading it in college long after I’d read the Narnia books, it really read like Narnia-In-Space to me. Now, I also am quick to waver about how good sci-fi Star Wars is in terms of “science fiction”, but the only thing that makes the space trilogy a ‘space’ trilogy is that they travel through space. Mars is called Malacandra, Venus Perelandra, it might as well be a door to narnia than a spaceship through space (which is even abandoned in the second book, where essentially angels carry a box with Ransom in it to Perelandra).

Random little fun fact on the space trilogy, Ransom was based of off Tolkien.

[Audra]

As a newcomer, I just want start off with huge thanks to Chuck, Sean & Audra for the cast. You guys are just amazing & I’m so glad I found the cast & forum.

…(snippage)

Also, anyone interested in more Tilda Swinton coolness should check out Constantine (though I’m sure many of you already know if it)–she plays a great, if insane, angel Gabriel.

Welcome, Kiki Rowan! Glad to have you here! I had no idea Tilda Swinton was in Constantine. I’ll have to check it out - sounds like a cool role.

… I think Narnia, much like The Canterbury Tales or The Farie Queene, should be something one should read through their entire life. A you grow older, you start to understand, or more likely have revealed to you by your personal experiences yet another layer of meaning.

Agreed! I love Canterbury Tales but Loooooooved Spenser’s Faerie Queen. And I do need to re-read the Chronicles of Narnia soon - it’s been about 17 years.

… After listening to the cast I purchased a Narnia box set and will be diving into the stories again for the first time since the second grade. I look forward to your next two podcasts on the subject and any other discussion on the topic with the community.

Thank you again for all your hard work putting the segment together (and many thanks to Chuck for his awesome editing skills)

~Shooter Out

Shooter, thanks for your kind words. I’m really glad you are enjoying the Narnia arc. I hope you enjoy reading the set again; you’ll have to share what stands out to you differently now than before.

Thanks also for mentioning Chuck’s contribution. I brought it up on Twitter last week and ended up sounding like I was looking for compliments. :eek:
Chuck really did do a lot of cleanup work on my segment. For just that one cast, he probably spent 10-12 hours of audio editing. He can make anything sound better than the original!

I loved the primer Audra! Remembering the hammock and the sunlight through the trees was very “C.S. Lewis” of you.
…

Thanks! I’m glad that didn’t come off as corny. Chuck found some terrific “summer” sounds to put in the background that perfectly captured the feeling I was trying to convey. “deep smiling inhale” Ahh, sweet summer days.

…Now, I have to be honest. I had never intended to watch any of the Narnia movies. But, Audra’s segment turned me around. So, I held a semi-marathon of Part 1, The Golden Compass, and Percy Jackson. The last two have been on my list of To Watch for a while.
…
“Georgie Henley is the principal actress in the role of Lucy. Near the end of the film, her older sister Rachael Henley plays her grown-up alter ego. Early in the film, when Mr. Tumnus refers to Lucy as a “Daughter of Eve”, a confused Lucy says her mother’s name is Helen, who is the mother of the two actresses.”…

Terrific! I haven’t seen the other two movies, either. I have wanted to see The Golden Compass for a while but maybe I’ll read the book first.

LOVE the info on Georgie Henley. She is the most beautiful, sweet person as Lucy and just seems perfect for the role. And I did think the adult Lucy looked an awful lot like her- great to know it was her real sister!

1. If you want to know more and fall completely in love with Tilda Swinton, read up on her personal life. She’s a total hero. …

Cool! I will! I know nothing about her yet.

My own personal Narnia story is actually shockingly personal… but here goes:
…
I’m still not a Christian but Aslan’s sacrifice still moves me. And so far as twentieth century theology goes, C.S. Lewis is still pretty awesome. His story–and thanks to Audra for the refresher/briefing–inspires me to take time to be reflective and try to live with integrity.

Starbuccaneer, your story really moved me. I can relate to a lot of the feelings you described. The Chronicles of Narnia had a very similar influence on my moral development as I was growing up. And on not being Christian but still being moved by Aslan’s sacrifice… it’s as if you were speaking from my own thoughts. Thanks for sharing your story.

HAH! Thank you for that.

On Narnia:

I reread the series last year, so I love that you’re talking about it. Very awesome. Audra, you are a virtuso at analysing literature, and it’s always fascinating to hear your thoughts on it.
…
These are my battered old Narnia books that were given to my by an older cousin, so they apparently were published way before I was even born! (A look at the sleeve tells me they’re published in 1970. The price tag is still on it, and the box set cost US$16.95. 17 bucks! Dang.)

Whatever my thoughts are on C.S. Lewis and some of his other books on religion (which is actually kind of a weird and fascinating read if only because of how much I disagree on his thoughts on Christianity and religion), and maybe because I first read them when I was young and therefore didn’t see the connection til I was older, I try to enjoy Narnia in a more simple way, as a story first and foremost, and not dwell upon what I know of C.S. Lewis since then. It is definitely a bit of a different experience reading it as an adult vs. reading it as a child though since you can’t ‘unsee’ the connections as much - but regardless, I still love the series and treasure them (especially these books. I have a big thing for older book illustrations/covers) to this day.

Coco, thanks! Glad you are enjoying the arc. I’m certainly not a Lewis expert but tried to draw together some useful information to inform our conversation of the movies/books.

That set of books is the same set I had as a kid! I can see what you mean about missing the older style book covers.

My LtWatW story mirrors many that have been discussed before. I first fell in love with the animated movie and would bawl like a baby at the sacrifice scene. Then I got the exact complete series of books that Coco showed, but never got beyond Dawntreader though. I guess eventually I’ll give the later ones a second chance; probably when the daughter is old enough to enjoy them…

You will love them, I think! I could go on about the later books in the series forever. Just read them when you get the chance. You’ll be glad you did!

You should really try out both The Silver Chair and The Horse and His Boy. Both of them are truly excellent–new characters having new adventures that are very much in the spirit of Narnia. I think that The Horse and His Boy is my favorite one, actually. And Dawn Treader next, but apparently that’s weird in this crowd. :rolleyes:

The Silver Chair and the Horse and His Boy are perhaps my top two, as well. I think LWW may be the best all-around story, but the Horse and his Boy really resonated with me. I’m not sure I could order them properly. I haven’t meant to be negative about Dawn Treader; I might have just been impatient with the sea terminology as a kid.

There’s a really good series of books out there (marketed to Young Adults) titled The Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud. At first I thought it would be a Harry Potter rip off, because the premise is a young boy discovers the world of magic, blah blah blah. But it takes a very different turn from HP. The main Djinn in all three books is Bartimaeus, and he is actually more interesting than the main kid who learns to be a magician. I highly recommend the series- it is well written, smart, and funny.

Thanks for the recommendation, Reg! Another one you guys might want to check out is the (pre-Harry Potter) Crestomanci (sp?) series by Dianne Wynne Jones. The first book is the Nine Lives of Christopher Chant, then Charmed, then others I can’t remember. It’s again about a kid who discovers he has magical abilities, but it’s a different sort of feel from the HP books. Maybe a little more gritty in dealing with family dynamics, and more of a lonely tale since there’s no school support system for the young wizard. Still the books are absolutely excellent, and I found them completely absorbing as a 12-14 year old.

[Topgun]

Giving Narnia Part 1 another listen, and just now realizing the great summer sound effects were on the podcast (I listened the first time around while outside) and not live! Editor Kudos for the perfect blending of narration and atmosphere!

It was wonderful listening as Audra spoke on a subject she knows and loves so well. Tremendously interesting and informative, and the first book is now on my ‘to be read soon’ shelf.