I have been consumed in proving how remarkably atrocious Prince Caspian "the movie", from the series of "The Chronicles of Narnia" books, is and how it was manipulated by...hmm,, I am not sure upon whom I should bestow the credit?? Uh...Hollywood possibly??
About two months ago, we eagerly rented Prince Caspian to watch. I actually wanted to read the book first but I thought that my kids would be grown and gone before I finished (I am a slow reader...sometimes!). We watched it and I loathed it. High King Peter's character seemed amiss and Queen Susan kissing the prince almost out of nowhere seemed, well, just ridiculous. After this night, I would plunge myself into "The Chronicles of Narnia". My dilemma was, I could not just read Prince Caspian (it's the fourth book) so I would have to start at the beginning. All together The Chronicles of Narnia are seven books.
So, I started. I could not stop. I was intrigued. I was thrust into such a beautiful world. A world I am not sure I have spent much time in. The world's name....imagination. Over the past two months, I have read five books out of the seven and it has changed my life.
The imagination and beauty of Narnia has opened a new world for me. I watched the trees today with my children and saw the leaves dancing in the wind and almost seeming like they were waving at you. The colors I see when I peer out the window are bold and bright as if they were brand new and I was seeing them for the first time. As my husband cuddled me the other night I thought in my head of a oversized, soft and furry, blue and purple scarf that snuggled so close and kept me so warm, was so pleasant and would protect me.
Thus far here is my review....C.S. Lewis is an amazing writer. Prince Caspian the movie was abominable. Yes, I can use a big word like this because it exactly describes what I thought about the movie. I do not see how they will ever be able to make another movie in the Narnia series because they compromised the story on many different levels. This explains why I was remarkably confused after watching it.
My advice: read the book and read other books. Most movies today lack substance, good examples, imagination, and creativity. Big Daddy B asked me if I wanted to watch a movie the other night (mind you, I love to watch the same movie over and over again because I used to love movies) and I shyly replied, "Do you think we could read instead?" These were foreign words coming out of my mouth but nevertheless they were true. My desire to read and tap into my imagination have brought me to a place I have never before been in my adult years. Falling in love with Narnia has been natural as it seems to remind me of my Creator and his God-breathed Scripture. I will have more to come about Narnia soon......
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Great! I L-O-V-E the Narnia books. And while I did enjoy the movies on some level - I love how you put it - they did compromise the story. Prince Caspian the movie was not Prince Caspian the book. The Narnia books do, in a very real and creative way, give you a taste of the possibilities of what creation might have been like and of what it will be like to be reunited with our Creator. I actually sat down at the library recently and read the last chapter of The Last Battle, because in such a very concrete way it captured the excitement I was feeling about the return of Jesus; and even though we don't know exactly what that will be like, it fed my imagination to think about what that might be like. :)
ReplyDeleteLOVE LOVE LOVE narnia! I am so glad that we are reading it at the same time because we are able to have amazing conversations about it!
ReplyDeleteI think this series is so awesome because it pulls you back to God's Word. :)