Chronicles of Narnia Challenge wrap-up

Yesterday marked the conclusion of the Chronicles of Narnia reading challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know. If you click on the logo, it will take you to Carrie's conclusion post and you can check out everybody who used Mr. Linky to post their own wrap-ups.

How did I do? I did the exact opposite of what I planned. I said I was going to be relaxed about it and read one book, maybe more. Instead I got all competitive with myself and read all seven. I enjoyed them very much but rushing through was probably not the best way to read them. Although if I remember right I am in good company as I think Carrie did the same thing her first time!

What I didn't do...I did not go Google and learn about the Christian imagery. I decided this first read just to enjoy them and see what popped out and then, later go look and confirm or refute what I thought. I will need a good resource for this project. I'm waffling about whether to go out right now and search or to wait and see if Carrie holds the challenge again next year and do it then.

I also did not watch the movies. I discovered that my children own both movies - yes, the days of mom prescreening what they watch have passed - I don't even know what we own anymore. Again - am not going to jump in and watch them right away. Now that the challenge is over, I'm taking a Narnia breather!

Here are links to my reviews if you are interested in my ramblings...
The Magician's Nephew
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy
Prince CaspianThe Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

Now, I'll say THANK YOU to Carrie at Reading to Know for hosting a great challenge!

The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis

From the Back Cover: The conclusion of the saga that began with The Magician's Nephew… Narnia … where dwarfs are loyal and tough and strong -- or are they? … where you must say good-bye … and where the adventure begins. The Unicorn says that humans are brought to Narnia when Narnia is stirred and upset. And Narnia is in trouble now. A false Aslan roams the land. Narnia's only hope is that Eustace and Jill, old friends to Narnia, will be able to find the true Aslan and restore peace to the land. Their task is a difficult one because, as the Centaur says, "The stars never lie, but Men and Beasts do." Who is the real Aslan and who is the imposter? Enter this enchanted world countless times in The Chronicles of Narnia.

The series started with creation and now it ends with judgement day. The idea of being misled by false leaders takes up most of the story. Tash has to be Satan. In the end, Aslan shows God's mercy as he forgives the soldier who has lived his life serving Tash. (That is one of my grumpy points of faith, that you could live a life of debauchery and then be welcomed to the fold at the last minute - just doesn't seem fair! I know that jealousy shows a serious void in my quest for sainthood.) The Dwarfs are those people who insist that they are smarter than God -the ones that demand proof, science.

"They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their minds, yet they are in that prison, and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out."

The representation at the end of heaven is lovely - everything I would hope for.

This book is my seventh for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

This is the end of the challenge, tomorrow I'll get to my wrap up post.

The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

From the Back Cover: NARNIA . . . where owls are wise, where some of the giants like to snack on humans (and, if carefully cooked, on Marsh-wiggles, too), where a prince is put under an evil spell . . . and where the adventure begins. Eustace and Jill escape from the bullies at school through a strange door in the wall, which, for once, is unlocked. It leads to the open moor . . . or does it? Once again Aslan has a task for the children, and Narnia needs them. Through dangers untold and caverns deep and dark, they pursue the quest that brings them face to face with the evil Witch. She must be defeated if Prince Rilian is to be saved.



Nothing really struck me as I read this book. When I look into it somewhere else, I will probably be chagrined for all that I missed. Prehaps the idea that God has given us our directions (the commandments) and if we could simply follow them, all would be well.

This book is my sixth for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

From the back cover: NARNIA . . . the world of wicked dragons and magic spells, where the very best is brought out of even the worst people, where anything can happen (and most often does) . . . and where the adventure begins. The Dawn Treader is the first ship Narnia has seen in centuries. King Caspian has built it for his voyage to find the seven lords, good men whom his evil uncle Miraz banished when he usurped the throne. The journey takes Edmund, Lucy, and their cousin Eustace to the Eastern Islands, beyond the Silver Sea, toward Aslan's country at the End of the World.

This book features a baptism with Aslan removing Eustace's dragon skin and then dunking him in the water to make him new again. I'm sure the stupid Dufflepuds blindly following the wrong man when the right one is so close at hand is somewhere in scripture but in the modern day I am reminded of televangelists. The journey to the very end of the world must be a glimpse of heaven and, of course, Aslan appearing as a lamb is a familiar image of Christ. I think the overarching story of looking for something and going to all the wrong places before you surrender to Christ's will pretty much sums up a lot of lives between the ages of 16 and oh maybe 30 years of age.


This book is my fifth for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

And, what do you know, it works here too....
This book is my "V" for the A-Z Reading Challenge! Click on the logo to see my progress.

Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis

From the back cover:Narnia . . . the land between the lamp-post and the castle of Cair Paravel, where animals talk, where magical things happen . . . and where the adventure begins. Peter, Susan Edmund and Lucy are returning to boarding school when they are summoned from the dreary train station (by Susan's own magic horn) to return to the land of Narnia -- the land where they had ruled as kings and queens and where their help is desperately needed.

When Prince Caspian went around and met the animals and called them into his service it reminded me of Jesus recruiting the disciples. However, if the imagery is supposed to be consistent from book to book then Aslan would still be Jesus and that wouldn’t make sense! There was the good versus evil as the Narnians battled the Telmarines. The healing of the mouse was reminiscent of all the New Testament stories of Jesus' ability to heal. And Lucy following Jesus despite not knowing the way was "trust in God" come to life.

This book is my fourth for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

The Horse and His Boy by C.S Lewis

From the Back Cover: Narnia … where horses talk and hermits like company, where evil men turn into donkeys, where boys go into battle … where the adventure begins. During the Golden Age of Narnia, when Peter is High King, a boy named Shasta discovers he is not the son of Arsheesh, the Calormene fisherman, and decides to run far away to the North -- to Narnia. When he is mistaken for another runaway, Shasta is led to discover who he really is and even finds his real father.

Another good tale. So Shasta coming to Arsheesh via the water makes me think of Moses and then the next you know he is leading his little party across the desert - yes, definitely Moses-like. The welcome upon Shasta/Cor's return is somewhat like the ending of the prodigal son and Shasta's small versus big confrontation with Aslan reminds me of David and Goliath and then, Rabadash commanding the death of all the males "down to the the child that was born yesterday" is Herod so I'm really not sure what I was supposed to take away from this story!

This book is my third for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

From the back cover: Narnia … the land beyond the wardrobe, the secret country known only to Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy … the place where adventure begins. Lucy is the first to find the secret wardrobe in the professor's mysterious old house. At first, no one believes her when she tells of her adventures in the land of Narnia. But soon Edmund and then Peter and Susan discover the Magic and meet Aslan, the Great Lion, for themselves. In blink of an eye, their lives are changed forever. Enter this enchanted world countless times in The Chronicles of Narnia.

This book was just as enchanting as I remembered from my childhood. The story this time was the passion of Christ. In this book, Aslan is another person of the Trinity, Jesus. He gives his life at the Stone Table for Edmunds and then he is resurrected and comes again to battle evil. I wonder if I saw any of this as a child? I wonder if the Professor is Digory from the first book?

The imagery I saw was the old rhymes prophesying like the Old Testament and the group's journey carrying the packs that Lucy thought were heavy were like Christ carrying the cross. And, of course, Peter, the Rock upon which Christ built His Church.

When Aslan told Peter that he must clean his sword after each use. I thought that kind of stood out and must be important but I haven't figured out any significance yet.

This book is my second for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis

From the Back Cover: NARNIA…where the woods are thick and cool, where Talking Beasts are called to life…a new world where the adventure begins. Digory and Polly meet and become friends one cold, wet summer in London. Their lives burst into adventure when Digory's Uncle Andrew, who thinks he is a magician, sends them hurling to…somewhere else. They find their way to Narnia, newborn from the Lion's song, and encounter the evil sorceress Jadis, before they finally return home.

This book was not the first book published but it is the first book in the series..kind of like how George Lucas worked the whole Star Wars thing. I decided that for the sake of this challenge, I am just going to read the series (as much as I can) and I'm not going to look at all the resources out there yet and seek to interpret it. I'm just going to see what speaks to me about the Christian imagery and then later, I'll go back and mull over the rest.

Well this seems pretty obviously the story of creation. Aslan (God) sings and the world appears out of darkness - the stars and the sun, the land and vegetation, and then the animals. There is a tree and the evil sorceress eats the forbidden fruit. I have to admit, I really enjoyed the brief section where Jadis came to earth - the fish out of water scenario is always ripe with humor and I could just picture that as a funny movie scene!

Even before this world, when they have just gone away from the human world, the cabby feels the peace and says, "I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this." That made me think of heaven and trying to be good in order to get to heaven.

When Uncle Andrew couldn't understand the animals speaking and only heard their sounds as growling, I thought about how we as Christians have to be open to hear God's word. So often, my prayer life is completely one way - please, please, please with the occasional thank you but not often any time spent in listening for a reply or reading His Word.

This was a fun read - I don't think I ever read this one as a child. I'm not sure why I skipped over it because I have clear memories of how much I enjoyed some of the others.

This book is my first for the Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge hosted by Carrie at Reading to Know

And it works for this too....
Click here to see my progress towards completing the challenge!

Chronicles of Narnia Reading Challenge

Do I need more to read? NO! But I remember adoring the Narnia books as a child and having just read Mere Christianity for the first time, I am feeling the CS Lewis love and would like to take part. The challenge starts June 19th and ends July 17th. I may only read one or maybe I'll read the whole series...I'm not going to stress about it..just enjoy what I can!