The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Ratings1,488
Average rating4
Really enjoyed reading the book. Loved that I could visualize Narnia, plus I've seen the film so I knew who to imagine as the cast. Still love the name Lucy! Aslan was great and the book had a great pace. Interesting and outdated language, at times. Looking forward to rewatching the movie, reading the next books, watching those movies, and Ben Barnes.
The morale is a bit thick sometimes - even for its time. But I still love the universe.
A classic for a reason although my reading experience might have been clouded by the fact that I've watched the old cartoon version of this a million times back when i was a toddler.
Summary: After almost two weeks of reading, my children watched the 2005 movie last night.
I have looked forward to my children being old enough that I started liking the books I was reading to them. Many of the books I read are still very young (my son just turned five, and my daughter is 16 months older.) In many ways, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is still too old for them. But I do think that this is one of the books that you do not need to understand every little bit to enjoy the book. We discussed it as we went on. I occasionally used different words when I was reading to if I knew they wouldn't understand it. And they were still introduced to a lot of new vocabulary.
I do not know anything to say about the book other than when I read as an adult it is hard to believe that leaving the Beaver's house is not until the 10th of 17 chapters (50% of the way through the book) and the children don't meet Aslan until the 12th chapter (65% of the way through the book).
Movies are a good way to conclude reading a book. It gives a different type of visualization, and I like talking to kids about what is different and how stories work. (No, I don't think they get most of that, but I talk about it anyway.) I think this was only the second or maybe the third time I have watched the 2005 movie. That version of the film is 140 minutes, which is long for a kid's movie. My five year old checked out several times and was not paying full attention. And while the film is reasonably faithful, there is always those decisions that I just do not understand. One minor example is at the end of the movie after Lucy uses her magic elixir to heal Edmond; in the book, Lucy is reluctant to leave Edmond until he is fully well. But Aslan talks to her about duty and the importance of all of the others that are also injured besides her brother. She understands and does her duty (what is portrayed as hours of work). In the movie, Edmond is fully healed, there are hugs and then Aslan looks at her and she goes to do the work which is not shown.
Changing from it being a topic of duty to her idea, changes the scene. The basic story is not changed, but it alters the point by making Lucy the originator of the plan to heal. And at the same time reduces the actual work so it minimizes what the duty would have been as well as the work that the kids can do. I am not looking for a shot by shot recreation of the book. But I do like keeping some of the nuances of how the story is told even if it is missing some of the details. You cannot even in a fairly long movie match the detail of even a short kid's book like this.
We did not listen to the audiobooks, but if you are a fan of audiobooks and you are a member of Audible and purchase books with credits, there is a new ‘box set' of the Chronicles of Narnia that includes all seven books for a single credit. That is very good deal since you can get all for the same price as you can get any single one. The only negative of this is that the audio is not synced to the text this way, so you or your child cannot follow along with the text in the book.
my childhood and wanting to dream and write probably started here. A gorgeous story that I have read many times as a child and now as a father myself, I have read this with my children. Rich story, deep in parts with characters to match, blends itself into a ‘fairy-tale' like story that runs beyond the norm, keeping you warm and cosy. A greet feeling, a fantastic read for all ages.
Classic. A great story for kids and adults. Biblical characters and concepts taught through a great story.
I did not read this book until I was an adult. It was wonderful. A wonderful story with fantastic mythical creatures in a magical world. I wish I knew about this book when I was a child.
I mean..what is there to say?! It's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe! Haha. My first encounter with this book was in fourth grade when my teacher read it to us. I absolutely loved it. And have loved it ever since. Such an amazing story with an even more amazing story at its heart.
I didn't read any of the Narnia series as a kid, but what a ride it's been reading it to my daughter.
The story and world building is brilliant, but not as heavy as deep fantasy. The characters are layered even though you don't get a lot of time with them given how many are introduced.
The Magicians Nephew is a great start, but the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe takes it up a level!
As a child, I watched the movies with my Grandma. They have a special place in my heart and as an adult, I want to get into reading as I child I never did. The Narnia Book Series is one of the first ones I picked up at a charity shop, and am I happy that I did. It's a fantastic adventure through the Wardrobe into the world of Narnia that I believe all should experience. It's quite different from the movies and that's where my experience comes from. I highly suggest anyone who has watched the movies and not read the books to pick up a copy and read it.
El inicio de un universo de fantasía consistente, muy religiosa pero que funciona. Un lenguaje infantil que hace fácil su lectura.
Summary: This novel was the first book published in the Chronicles of Narnia series. It recounts the adventures of four siblings into the magical land of Narnia. When the children arrive in Narnia, it has been taken over by the evil White Witch. The children eventually find themselves caught up in the struggle between good and evil in this strange land.
First of all, this review is my personal opinion, and I agree that everyone does their own.
The starting chapters, up to the children going into the Narnia and introduction to White Witch and Aslan were great. But, after that point, some things became questionable due to their illogical writing.
Few examples include: (Spoilers ahead!)
- Edmund betrays everyone to join the White Witch and end all his brothers, sisters, and all creatures of Narnia just for his food from the Witch. But, after realizing his mistake, this is the line from the book: Edmund shook hands with each of the others and said to each of them in turn, “I'm sorry,” and everyone said “That's all right.”
- And just like that, they forgive him. How can they?
- Also, to make Edmund good in the eyes of the readers, the author included the following line:
“It was all Edmund's doing, Aslan,” Peter was saying. “We'd have been beaten if it hadn't been for him.
- Also, Peter, who had no practical experience on how to fight with a sword, fights the White Witch herself. The following line from the book says it all: ‘It was Peter she was fighting—both of them going at it so hard that Lucy could hardly make out what was happening; she only saw the stone knife and Peter's sword flashing so quickly that they looked like three knives and three swords.'
- How the author expects me to believe that this is all really happening?
Overall, I think that this book best suits for very young children who doesn't have the ability to question the justification of the story, but just to enjoy the characters, as we all did in our childhood.
A precursor of the Harry Potter style of fantasy books - a shorter and simpler story. It also reminded me so much of Enid Blyton, but with much more complex world building. I was surprised by how quick a read this book was; I was expecting a long-winded explanation of the fantasy, and a much more complicated plot. Good book. Definitely recommend. Will keep the next books on the series in mind for future reading.
yo sabía que estaba basado en la biblia pero no esperaba un puto fanfic. me sentí re esquizo leyendo cómo aslan tenía su via crucis dios q es esto
I have enjoyed reading the literature from my youth this month, and Narnia is no exception. I honestly just wanted to watch the movie and thought I might as well read the book before hand. It was a fun short read I love reading books about young people in the past because they're so proper.
This has been a series that I've wanted to read since forever because it's a classic, but I've never read it. It is definitely written for children, and is very fast paced in a childish manner, but I don't mind it. The plot is simple, with no twist that I couldn't see coming, but it was still an enjoyable read. It was nice, especially after reading a really intense fantasy book to read a more toned down one. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this. Everything about this book was basic and simple, but that is what I was expecting, so I was glad to read it.