Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Reliving My Youth




 'Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again.' 

C.S.Lewis

I think I must now be old enough. As I sat waiting for my friend Arty L at Victoria on Saturday, I quietly read my library copy of 'The Magician's Nephew'. I only read 'The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe' as a child, but Lewis suggests that you start with this one even though he wrote it later. I now understand why the children were able to get to Narnia through the back of the wardrobe and I have eaten a box of Turkish Delight [sadly I couldn't find any mint flavoured ones] over the past week to make the experience more authentic. Volume two has now been reserved and the revisiting of this author's work was inspired mainly by my recent trip to the 'Fantasy Realms of Imagination' exhibition which I took in at the British Library with my friend Elena earlier this month. This is his map of Narnia which was on display there.

Arilx 


13 comments:

  1. We bought the hardbond set when we, and the world, were young. It's never too late and you are never too old to go to Narnia.

    Sorry for typos, old computer, and white on white text, I cannt see what I'm typing.

    Wishing you well!

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    1. I've just finished the second book and am really enjoying picking up the hidden meaning which I missed as a child. Arilx

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  2. I think I need a library trip for a a couple classics.

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    1. It's a good way to read a variety of books without having to buy them. Arilx

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  3. My daughter lives near to the C. S. Lewis nature reserve in Oxford. She visited in the snow this Winter and said that she expected Mr Tumnus to appear at any moment as she could definitely see where the inspiration for Narnia came from.

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    1. There's some links between C S Lewis and Great Malvern too. I can imagine that Oxford looked magical in the snow. Arilx

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  4. I agree. I actually get more enjoyment now, I find that as a child I raced through the books and just read the surface layer, but as an adult I slip through the words and actually see the picture, feel the intonation and it is a whole new experience

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    1. I've reread some of the books I loved as a child and it's magical returning to them. Arilx

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  5. Ah - that explains why I find myself happy to read such things again now. I must find those books - my sister read the Narnia Chronicles, but I had only ever seen the TV versions of the tales.

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  6. PS I have just read a summary of the plot of Magician's Nephew and need to take a few minutes to stop my head spinning.

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  7. Ah, I really need to reread Narnia! I LOVED the origin of Narnia in this book! So clever! And how Jardis came to be there!x

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    1. I've been meaning to read them for ages too. Arilx

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