[Review] Narnia : The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis

Title: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (The Chronicle of Narnia, #2)

Author: C.S. Lewis

Publisher: Harper Collins
Published: September 1^st, 2009

Pages: 202p

ISBN13: 9780007323128

In summer, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, four brothers and sisters went to visit an old house belongs to a Professor, a big house with so many rooms that look creepy and mysterious. When they played hide and seek, Lucy, the youngest one, went upstairs into an empty room but a big and ages wardrobe. To hide herself, she stepped into the wardrobe and happy to touch the fur of hanging coats, she took more steps further till she felt something different, a soft and powdery and extremely cold, snow under her feet and snowflakes falling through the air. Lucy just entered Narnia and accidentally, she met a faun named Mr. Tumnus who offered her tea and cookies. Hours passed by and time for Lucy to get back, but when she was out of the wardrobe nobody know she was gone, it was like there was no time difference between the times she was gone and be back again. But when she told them about Narnia, nobody believes her. Not until one day, when they felt someone was chasing them that they were forced to hide in the same wardrobe and suddenly arrived in Narnia. Narnia was covered with endless winter. Many years had passed since the last human went to Narnia and as Aslan said at dawn of time in Narnia that the evil already in it. It was only about time that she became more powerful and did something evil on the land where animals can talk to each other. If Digory and Polly (see The Magician’s Nephew review) arrived in Narnia using magic ring, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy just found another way to the land of youth. The prophecy said that when Adam’s flesh and Adam’s bone sits at Cair Paravel in throne, the evil time will be over and done. It has long been foretold that two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia. 

From the four of them, Edmund was the difficult one, he was untruthful and insecure. Peter was the older and their leader and protector, Susan always very cautious of everything, and Lucy acts towards anything based on sincere heart and she also the cheerful and the brave one. In Narnia, everything will change them. They will become more mature at the end of the story. For Edmund, I guess he was meant to go through all the troubles for him to be the way he supposed to be.  Well, sadly to say I didn’t enjoy reading this book, not because the story, but having watch the movie first, makes this one less enjoyable for me, because I knew what will going to happen next. So I guess there is not much to say about it. Lewis wrote in amazingly details description, so reader will have no problem imagining Narnia. If the Magician’s Nephew was hold the same concept of the moment of creation in the book of Genesis, this one also followed the story from the bible, it was the crucifixion. I am looking forward to read the next book.

I stop here to watch the movie one more time. I will continue write this after see it first.

There are not many differences between the book and movie version, the plot resembling in every relevant part, but the movie can present more of real picture of imagination, the character seems more real. I love seeing Lucy’s smile out of her sincere and valiant heart. But still, picture is very limited in describing something as magnificent and divine as Aslan. So I stick to Aslan as Lewis describes him, rather than the one in the movie.

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