The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

[woodface]

So I finished reading 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' today and yeah. It's an okay book, but the writing style doesn't really suck you in. I found it somewhat lacking to be honest. The characters remain pretty shallow, I think Aslan is by far the only character in the book that you feel you know most about.

I think a lot of its flaws can be simply blamed on the time it was written in. The style and first person narrative just didn't sit well with me and while the book is fast paced, it didn't exactly keep me on the edge of my seat. Of course, that might have to do with seeing the movie so recently. Although, I think the characters get way better characterisation in the movie than they do in the books.

And omg, how much do I want to thump Lewis for that whole "girls shouldn't fight" crap? I know, I know. It's normal for that time but gah.

Comments

[amykay73.livejournal.com]

I got the complete set of books for Christmas, and read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe soon after. I completely agree with your review. It was a quick read, and I didn't really get why it was raved about. I still haven't seen the movie, and I can see how it could be a good movie, but the book story didn't WOW! me.

And yeah, I rolled my eyes at the 'Girls shouldn't fight' crap too.

[ilanala]

That's definitely one of those books that's interesting if you read it as a kid but doesn't hold up well as you get older. The style, the characters and the story are all pretty simplistic. I think a lot of people are very attached to it because they read it when they were young and found the idea of Narnia amazingly cool, but none of the Narnia books are really all that great.

[daisycm83.livejournal.com]

Yeah, see, Narnia is something you have to love as a child to really adore as an adult--because you're right, the characters *aren't* really filled out and the writing style is iffy. Between the period it was written in, the age group it was written for, and the Christian ideals it's really trying to present as a metaphor, it just...would be too much, I think for a lot of adults to be introduced to it and see the beauty.

It's sort of like "The Princess Bride" or "Wizard of Oz" or things like that--if you aren't introed to them by a certain age, they lose something in translation.

Still, read "Horse and his Boy". It has NOTHING to do with any of the others, but there is Aravis and she puts that whole "girls shouldn't fight" thing to shame.