Devin Brown has become one of my heroes. Lots of books about Narnia started coming out around the film releases, but Devin Brown's "Inside Narnia" books were the only ones that really caught my attention. I also thought he did a great job refuting Michael Ward's "Planet Narnia." Brown and I are just always on the same page when it comes to Narnia.
Anyway, check out this video of Devin Brown and Michael Flaherty. Brown totally nails what VDT and HHB are about. Longing. The feeling that this is not your true home, that there is something more out there. Reepicheep and Shasta have that much in common.
Very appropriately, Brown uses this quote from Lewis: "If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world."
This idea was crucial to Lewis and his conversion to Christianity. It is a crucial theme, not just in VDT and HHB, but throughout the series. Caspian's story is basically Lewis' conversion dramatized. Caspian spent his whole life longing for the old days to return, and was overjoyed to find that Old Narnia still lived. His joy over discovering that the "myth" of Narnia was actually "fact" mirrors Lewis' joy upon discovering that the "myths" of the Bible were also "true."
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Topic starter
Posted : October 8, 2009 4:58 pm
I can't believe I never noticed that before! Longing is definitely a part of VDT, HHB, and PC. I'm trying to come up with how it's related to the others. In LWW, the Narnians long for Aslan to bring the spring and for the Son's of Adam and the Daughter's of Eve to come. In LB, Jewel says he's been longing for Aslan's country all his life although he never realized it before now(not sure if that one quite fits since he didn't realize it). In MN Digory longs for his mother to get well. How does it fit into SC? I suppose there a lot more then the one's mentioned so far.
Narniaweb sister to Pattertwig's Pal
Posted : October 9, 2009 9:39 am
Narnia, the Space Trilogy, and Till We Have Faces all delve into that theme. It's what gives Lewis' writings so much depth and what makes them so loved. Lewis helps us to realize that longing that we all have: a desire for something out of this world.
Posted : October 9, 2009 12:00 pm
It is not just places out of this world. If you are aware that there is a place in this world where you will have a better life and more opportunities, then you sure will long to go to that place.
It is the story of my life after all.
Posted : October 9, 2009 2:13 pm
In SC, Caspian longs for the return of his son. Although it is a "wrong" longing, Jill and Eustace long for Harfang. In a way, they also long to get into Narnia.
The theme of longing in the books also covers longing for the wrong things or longing at the wrong time. Edmund longs for Turkish delight and the "power" the White Witch has promised him but he soon finds out he was wrong. Through Aslan and his own experience, he not only gets to be king like he wanted but also the wisdom to do the job well.
NW sister to Movie Aristotle & daughter of the King
Posted : October 10, 2009 4:57 am
Re. SC--I think the main thing is Jill's longing for a world outside of Experiment House. When she first gets to Narnia she's awed by everything and falls in love with Cair Paravel and the rest at once (unlike Eustace who's much more practical) because it fills her wish for something greater than the materialism and bullying of the school. It isn't quite fulfilled by the earthly Narnia she finds in SC, either--she likes the idea of adventure a whole lot more than she does the cold wet reality of it 
This theme is one of my favourite things about the books (and TWHF), esp. in HHB.
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Posted : October 10, 2009 5:21 pm