In previous reviews, I’ve explained that I don’t generally read every book in a series consecutively. There are so many books that I want to read, so I prefer to read a few different books in between each installment.
This is why I’ve only read 4 of the 8 books so far in the Anne of Green Gables series.
However, I decided last weekend that it would be a fun experience to read the entire Chronicles of Narnia series without giving myself the usual break between books.
Of all the Narnia books, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the only one I know I’ve read before. But that must have been years ago, when I was the age a person should be when first reading the Chronicles of Narnia.
Reading through the book as a 30-year-old, I knew that, in order to be fair, I’d have to take a step back and look at it for what it is – a children’s book.
At its core, it’s a very simple and easy to read adventure story that moves quickly from event to event. There’s no wasted time in introducing the characters, and each chapter moves the story along at a brisk pace.
Four siblings – Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy – discover a magical world called Narnia while attempting to hide in a wardrobe. They find Narnia to be under the spell of the White Witch and in a state of perpetual winter (but never Christmas).
The rest of the book is them searching for Aslan, who is pretty much God in the form of a Lion, in order to defeat the White Witch and bring peace and happiness back to Narnia.
Narnia is full of talking animals, centaurs, fauns, Father Christmas (because you can’t say “but never Christmas” without Santa showing up eventually), giants, and other fun mythical creatures.
I feel like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is an entertaining enough book for children, but I would rather spend my time now reading other books. Even for children, I feel like there could have been more time spent developing the characters. I realize you don’t want to lose the child’s interest as they read, so having the plot move quickly is probably a good thing. But still…it felt a little too zippy.
Denver Nay Blogs 