it started out as a feeling....

I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome they are.

I got the entire Narnia book boxed set when I was.....seven? 

But I have a confession..up until this year, I had only read The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew. I didn' participate in the Narnia craze much. To be honest, I thought it was sort of boring. They ran around, saw beavers, shot arrows, ate bread? Also, at that time, I was more into real-life books(or as real as 7 year old literature can get.) Like Nancy Drew, Beverly Cleary, Marissa Moss, etc. I did see The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, but only cause we got free passes.

And as I got older, I never really picked it back up again. I didn't dislike the ones that I had read. They were pretty good, actually. But they weren't really as...sensational..as I would like. I didn't think they had much of a tied together plot or suspenseful enough. Like the ship in Dawn Treader...just wandering around from place to place. And I really thought it sucked that there were only one or two steady main characters in each story. The four Penvesie's only have 2/7 books together, after all.

Earlier this year, I had exhausted all the other sources of entertainment, and I decided to read the rest. And what did I discover? No, I didn't really love them as much as I loved, say Percy Jackson. I was a little above the target reading age, methinks. Except for The Last Battle, they weren't suspenseful or dramaful enough to be a really gripping read for me. It wasn't boring or anything, but they got out of trouble usually just as quickly as they got into it.

But I quickly discovered that the Narnia books have a really breathless charm that makes you really love the series and the characters and Narnia. Kind of like magic, I think. Narnia is a place where we all really really wish we could live. Not because we would have magic, or powers, but because everybody there operates on a code of honor. The guys are real gentlemen. Beauty always abounds and good triumphs over evil. 

Qualities like that aren't really given a lot of credit in the "modern" world and entertainment. Today's world values riches and power and strength and sarcasm and witty comments and sneaky cunning. 

Narnia resonates with readers because we know it's how our world ought to be.

Also, Narnia has this really indescribable feeling of going on and on forever (even before The Last Battle.) It's a feeling lent by the passage of time throughout the books.  No sane author would dream of having so much time pass in between books that they had to create new characters for almost every book.But they are Chronicles, I guess. Of course, I'm heartbroken with Lucy and Eustace when they return to Narnia again and again and the people they loved are dead and gone. But as the song goes.."No need to say goodbye."

Yesterday I watched Prince Caspian for the first time. Those are really, really good movies, though not the best to watch with a bunch of little kids, as I was doing. The movie added even more meaning and depth to the book. Plus, Caspian and Dawn Treader were my two favorite Narnia books, so they'll probably be my two favorite movies. The storm on Miraz's castle was a good addition, though really really sad.

I never really was into Narnia or grew up on Narnia as a kid, and I'm sad I missed Caspian's and Dawn Treader's release in theaters. So hop on the bandwagon before it's too late. Do the Narnia thing.

Disney taught me to never stop believing in my dreams.

Harry Potter taught me that love and friendship dominates all kind of evil. 

Lord of the Rings taught me though we’re all different, our hearts are the same and we can overcome anything together. 

Percy Jackson taught me that there is a hero in every one of us.

Artemis Fowl taught me a selfish life is empty regardless of how many earthly riches you may have.

Narnia taught me we must grow up and leave our childhood behind but never forget it. 

Love books,

Amaranthine