TheChroniclesOfNarnia

Doppoetry

The Last Battle | C. S. Lewis

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so-so

Reading this last book felt as if you were at the beach, building a big, beautiful sand castle and a toddler ran up and trampled all of your hard work, and then said toddler ran off giggling. I am fully aware that it‘s a product of its time but I also don‘t think that excuses this piece of literature from being criticized and discussed in contemporary terms. Nor does it excuse the harmful material in it. --

Doppoetry There is so much to unpack here. I did not care for the ape and donkey subplot at all, this was the least believable plotline in a fantasy novel I have ever read, there is only so much stretching of the imagination that you can have before it just comes off like utter nonsense. 2w

Doppoetry The ending of the world starts, with people and animals killing everyone and being killed left and right with a “trust me bro” type explanation of “I saw it in the stars” I imagine it‘s a not-very-subtle reference to armageddon. We see more racism with more of the stand in Middle Eastern people invading Narnia, there is a lore dump and it‘s revealed that Narnia has fallen and all the people are dead. The last surviving king of Narnia is devastated 2w

Doppoetry -- He then Aragorn‘s his way through enemies, feels bad, surrenders, and then ends up dying. We also reach a new low with blackface, because that really is what these books were missing. In the end, everyone who has ever existed goes to superheaven, except for Susan, of course.
(edited) 2w

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Doppoetry There is that revelation that the kids all died in a train crash and now they are in perma superheaven and it‘s supposed to be a happy ending but it reads like a delusional mess. Acting like Christianity is the only ‘valid‘ religion harms this work more than it helps it. I understand it‘s essentially religious fanfiction, but acting like these books are for “White Christian people only” is not doing this book/books any favors.
2w

Doppoetry Susan (who is probably like 21 now) is “No longer a friend of Narnia” because she is now mostly interested in “stockings and makeup” and having a social life in the real world. I don‘t want to read TOO much into this as a commentary on women in general or people who lack faith and focus on other things. But considering how Lewis treats this character throughout the series--
2w

Doppoetry -I don‘t doubt that he had some personal issue with anyone who isn‘t as devoted to Christian Teachings as him. Growing up is a part of life, everyone grows up. To hold that against this character is bizarre. I can‘t even begin to unpack everything wrong with how Susan is treated in these books, nor do I particularly want to.
2w

Doppoetry I will only say that the overall message of “Susan is not barred from superheaven completely, but will be accepted into superheaven if she starts to blindly believe in everything Aslanjesus stands for and stops thinking about temptations (aka living her life)” isn‘t it.

2w

Texreader Agree!!!! Such a downer for the series. 2w

TieDyeDude Bummer. I remember my mom had a box set of this series. I always planned on reading it, but never did, and I don't have a lot of interest in it as an adult. (edited) 1w

Doppoetry @TieDyeDude I would not recommend it, now that I've gotten through the whole thing. There are better works of fiction for children out there from the same time period. (edited) 1w

3 likes10 comments

Doppoetry

The Silver Chair | Clive Staples Lewis

so-so

So far I liked this one the most, it felt like it took a page out of Tolkien's Hobbit. There was a grand-scale adventure with an end goal in mind and the adventure felt natural rather than “we have to do this because the plot demands it“. This would have been a solid 4-star hands down, except for the sexism that came out of left field at the moment.

“The school was bad because a woman was in charge, by the way“ isn't exactly a gotcha.

Doppoetry I really liked Puddleglum, he's exactly the type of character I feel for and it was nice having an adult character to take action and be a voice of reason and a type of mentor character.

I'm not sure how to feel about Lewis basing the character on his Gardner and giving him all these negative traits. (not that a character shouldn't have flaws, but his treatment in the book is a bit unkind) 2w

Doppoetry I know I sound so redundant and probably come off so hateful towards this piece of fiction but the narrative of “Strong woman/woman with authority = bad“ bothers me a lot. We shouldn't teach young boys, hell, young kids in general to blindly follow faith, or teach them misogyny from a young age, this is harmful, considering the world we live in today. 2w

Doppoetry I don't think religion in itself is bad, quite the opposite. Religion is important to many people, and there is nothing wrong with learning about morals and knowing general peace and where your soul goes. What I don't like is when men start misinterpreting or interpreting a religious text in order to manipulate people, especially young children who don't know any better. 2w

Doppoetry Sorry, this turned into a rant, onto the final book! 2w

4 likes4 comments

Doppoetry

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: The Chronicles of Narnia | C. S. Lewis

so-so

I didn't particularly like or hate this one. This had the skeleton of a good nautical story in there but a lot of it felt unpolished. Lewis drew from Homeric influences as well as Norse and Irish mythology and folklore, so that was interesting.

I have to keep telling myself that this is children's lit, and not judge the lack of... everything too harshly, but then The Hobbit exists. but I digress. It just doesn't have that “ummph“ moment.

3 likes

Doppoetry

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: The Chronicles of Narnia | C. S. Lewis

The soft void creature is overseeing my work #catsoflitsy

rubyslippersreads 😻 2w

8 likes1 comment

Doppoetry

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: The Chronicles of Narnia | C. S. Lewis

#Bookreport

📚Currently reading:

🎧Lud in the Mist
🎧Rise of the King
🎧Dawn Treader

Progress:
Really needed to catch up on my reading goal so I started the Narnia books and have been getting through one of them a day. Hoping to finish Dawn Treader later today. Lud has been a delight to read through and i'll get back to Drizzt novels after Narnia in a few days. Will probably finish all of the remaining Narnia books this upcoming week.

5 likes

wordslinger42

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia | Clive Staples Lewis

A little whimsical coloring and reading today 💜✨📖

curiouserandcurioser @wordslinger42 gorgeous, as always💜 2w

peanutnine Oh wow I love your shading! 2w

wordslinger42 @curiouserandcurioser @peanutnine Thank you!! 💜 2w

24 likes3 comments

Doppoetry

Prince Caspian | Clive S. Lewis

so-so

I was really hoping I would like this one, but it was really disappointing. It started off strong but it kind of fell apart in the middle, and then Aslan was doing some weird stuff towards the end that no one bothers to explain.

The plot of the whole book is so gross. What do you mean the rightful king of Narnia has to be human, despite every creature being sentient? What do you mean those who are nonbelievers are 'relocated' ???

Doppoetry Do you know those “Which dead author would you like to bring back and talk to“ questions that pop up from time to time? I would like to bring back C.S. Lewis and slap some sense into him. 2w

Texreader Your last comment—😂. I agree this book didn‘t hold up compare to the others 2w

Doppoetry @Texreader I think some of his ideas were outdated even at the time he published this 😅 2w

6 likes3 comments

Doppoetry

The Horse and His Boy: Book Three: The Chronicles of Narnia | C.S. Lewis

so-so

Aside from the blatant racism and an array of problematic things, this was a neat little story. The horses were so sassy and proud, and it was a bit amusing.

I think an unintentionally funny sentence was “And then they get married but not to each other“ and Lewis made it sound like Cor and Aravis got married only to quarrel more easily with each other. not gonna lie both got a snort out of me.

6 likes

Doppoetry

The Horse and His Boy: Book Three: The Chronicles of Narnia | C.S. Lewis

I just started this and boy oh boy has this aged poorly...

6 likes

Doppoetry

The Magician's Nephew | Clive Staples Lewis

so-so

I told myself I would never read these books, but here I am. The story was simple and to the point. While there is nothing wrong with Christian values, this book feels like it wants you to blindly follow and trust in those values, without questioning, and that's where the problem stems from.

Doppoetry The antagonists aren't antagonists because they are motivated by anything specific. You are meant to just trust that they are bad because “trust me, bro.“ I found the portrayal of the “white witch“ to be pretty misogynistic. I can see people arguing over the opposite, where he had given a woman power over a man and some children, but it has left a bad taste in my mouth. 3w

5 likes1 comment

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