Book Review: The Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian by C.S. Lewis
I have this thing... a complex, if you will, where if I see the film adaptation of a book, I have to read the book as well. (When it comes to seeing shows based on books, I'm a little less rigorous, but even so, I like to see/read things in as many different media as possible. I have read The 39 Steps, seen the play and watched the Hitchcock classic, for example.) I've wanted to read the Chronicles of Narnia in its entirety since watching The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe during Christmas 2011 (I think?) but only recently have I been able to get hold of the whole collection for what I perceived to be decent value.
I've been reading these in chronological order, over publication order.
In general, I find the books which focus on the Pevensie children, with Lucy being the most interesting of the lot, better than the ones who do not (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, I enjoyed much more than The Horse and His Boy, for example). The obvious borrowings from Christianity sometimes make me raise an eyebrow (more so than borrowings from elsewhere), and it's quite obviously sexist in some of the ways it is presented. However, it's not as bad as it could be - and Lucy and Susan, at least, have been able to achieve fairly impressive things.
But Prince Caspian is the first book I finished in this year, and thus the first one I'll be reviewing.
I think it's fairly obvious that Peter and Susan are growing older, and thus, away from Narnia in these books. Unlike Lucy and Edmund, it takes them longer to warm up to the concept of being back in Narnia and longer to become more like their Narnian selves. But then, that also means growing up is perceived as being a bad thing. The reason I enjoy reading Lucy the most in these books is that her unwavering faith in Aslan is the thing that drives it along. She's the first to realise she can still see him, and once again, is ridiculed for it. Faith is a powerful thing - when used correctly, as I feel like it is by Lucy.
The Telamarines get treated harshly, as the 'wicked' invaders. Slight racism, I assume, which is disappointing. It makes me wonder what the race has achieved to get where it has, and as they say, history is only ever written by the winners, even in fiction. What would Prince Caspian have read like if written from the point of view of Miraz et al? Would we have seen why he killed Caspian's father (other than, presumably, for money)? Would we have seen why they really feared Aslan, the talking beasts, the waters and the forests? There has to be more to it than purely just shunning Aslan (and thus, shunning 'religion'.)
Caspian himself is decent enough, though a little 2-dimensional, as a lot of the Narnia characters are until they've had a fair bit of presence in the books. Early on in the book, he's very akin to Lucy, in the sense that he has a devout loyalty to Old Narnia, based purely on the stories his nurse had been telling him. I don't feel like he ever really earned the right to be crowned King of Narnia - beyond it being a birthright - and certainly not in the same way that the Pevensie children did. However, I've already started Dawn Treader and we shall see if he continues to develop in the 'right' sort of ways and becomes more of a leader.
The secondary characters are disappointingly male driven, which is another irritation. Reepicheep is at least very endearing, as are the Bulgy Bears (who contradictorily, get ridiculed for 'immature' behaviour, when growing up is generally perceived as being a bad thing in the books).
Ultimately, Peter saves the day on his own, which is a shame. I know he's the High King and it's said that he won't be returning to Narnia anymore as he's getting too old (essentially) but I would still have rather seen a proper team effort from the Pevensie children - like in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, where all of them have some hand in bringing down the White Witch. But equally, I'm not surprised that he gets much of the glory, as, he's the oldest boy (and oldest child) out of the four of them.
These are easy reads (as I'd expect from novels aimed at children), but that doesn't stop it from bringing up a surprising number of issues along the way.
I've been reading these in chronological order, over publication order.
In general, I find the books which focus on the Pevensie children, with Lucy being the most interesting of the lot, better than the ones who do not (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, I enjoyed much more than The Horse and His Boy, for example). The obvious borrowings from Christianity sometimes make me raise an eyebrow (more so than borrowings from elsewhere), and it's quite obviously sexist in some of the ways it is presented. However, it's not as bad as it could be - and Lucy and Susan, at least, have been able to achieve fairly impressive things.
But Prince Caspian is the first book I finished in this year, and thus the first one I'll be reviewing.
I think it's fairly obvious that Peter and Susan are growing older, and thus, away from Narnia in these books. Unlike Lucy and Edmund, it takes them longer to warm up to the concept of being back in Narnia and longer to become more like their Narnian selves. But then, that also means growing up is perceived as being a bad thing. The reason I enjoy reading Lucy the most in these books is that her unwavering faith in Aslan is the thing that drives it along. She's the first to realise she can still see him, and once again, is ridiculed for it. Faith is a powerful thing - when used correctly, as I feel like it is by Lucy.
The Telamarines get treated harshly, as the 'wicked' invaders. Slight racism, I assume, which is disappointing. It makes me wonder what the race has achieved to get where it has, and as they say, history is only ever written by the winners, even in fiction. What would Prince Caspian have read like if written from the point of view of Miraz et al? Would we have seen why he killed Caspian's father (other than, presumably, for money)? Would we have seen why they really feared Aslan, the talking beasts, the waters and the forests? There has to be more to it than purely just shunning Aslan (and thus, shunning 'religion'.)
Caspian himself is decent enough, though a little 2-dimensional, as a lot of the Narnia characters are until they've had a fair bit of presence in the books. Early on in the book, he's very akin to Lucy, in the sense that he has a devout loyalty to Old Narnia, based purely on the stories his nurse had been telling him. I don't feel like he ever really earned the right to be crowned King of Narnia - beyond it being a birthright - and certainly not in the same way that the Pevensie children did. However, I've already started Dawn Treader and we shall see if he continues to develop in the 'right' sort of ways and becomes more of a leader.
The secondary characters are disappointingly male driven, which is another irritation. Reepicheep is at least very endearing, as are the Bulgy Bears (who contradictorily, get ridiculed for 'immature' behaviour, when growing up is generally perceived as being a bad thing in the books).
Ultimately, Peter saves the day on his own, which is a shame. I know he's the High King and it's said that he won't be returning to Narnia anymore as he's getting too old (essentially) but I would still have rather seen a proper team effort from the Pevensie children - like in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe, where all of them have some hand in bringing down the White Witch. But equally, I'm not surprised that he gets much of the glory, as, he's the oldest boy (and oldest child) out of the four of them.
These are easy reads (as I'd expect from novels aimed at children), but that doesn't stop it from bringing up a surprising number of issues along the way.