Review: The Chronicles of Narnia

Our theme this week is nostalgia, and immediately what came to mind for me was The Chronicles of Narnia. I’m the oldest cast member of our fun little show, so I’ve been around for all the big series of books that have grabbed the zeitgeist year after year, but the first one that ever got to me in a big way were The Chronicles of Narnia.

We had a few books on my parent’s shelf that saw a lot of use when I was a kid. I had pretty much destroyed our copies of The Hobbit, Calvin and Hobbes, and The Chronicles of Narnia by the time I got to high school. And though I love The Hobbit, it never really captured my imagination the way Narnia did.

The series goes through several transformations as it goes on. The first couple books are myth makers, epic tales of war and kings and queens finding their destiny, all written clearly and succinctly with children in mind. Later, the series moves into a Gulliver’s Travels feel with the many different locations and societies that the characters meet. Though the story centers itself around mostly one family, by the fourth novel none of the original characters remain in the story.

With this meandering style and genre, I feel that the series hasn’t had the impact on the fantasy genre that its contemporaries have. I think that most people my age that fell in love with the series have a scene or character that stuck with them. For me, that character was Puddleglum.

A not-quite-human kind of creature, Puddleglum is a curmudgeon. A real Eyore sort that lives with despair on his sleeve, the person most likely to point out what’s wrong with a plan before what’s right. What can I say? I have a type. I think this was maybe the first character that I read where I really identified with their world view.

I can assume that it wasn’t the author’s intent that I identify with the most depressing character in the series, but it wouldn’t surprise anyone that really knows me. This was the first character I had read that lived with his sadness and wasn’t totally useless. Yes, he was despondent, but even Puddleglum gets to save the day. For a kid who felt sad a lot, this was a great reminder that I didn’t have to be totally defined by my emotional state.

Also, he was played by Tom Baker in the old BBC specials, which is at least a +100 to any character.

I’m not sure how much the series really holds up in the modern day, but in the realm of nostalgia it will always be a five out of five for me.