1. I like Narnia for Lewis's clever handling of biblical allusions and themes.
2. I love the way he portrays the characters as well. I see myself in Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.
3. I like Lewis's portrayal of the relationship between Aslan and Lucy, ideally what our relationship with Christ should be. It's the closest thing I can find to Song of Solomon, i.e. to pure love for Christ, the kind Paul knew in Philippians 3.
4. I like how Lewis portrays Aslan as good and loving [with Pevensies and others] but also terrible and fierce with His enemies [esp. LWW, PC, LB]. When they meet Him, they fear and quake! Aslan embodies both love and judgment!

@DD: great post.

@Berserker: "Narnia's popularity -- Messiah narrative?" ... So what are your thoughts on this thread here on NarniaWeb?

I found that when I watched Prince Caspian I got more out of it than when I read the books. (which is unusually for me... a serious bookwyrm.) The struggle against one's own self-will, one's own way to do things, and God's way, and our need to depend on him... it all fell together so well in the movie. Even when they changed it (the raid on Miraz's castle), it only accentuated my sense of gosh...they've done absolutely EVERYTHING they could do in their own strength, half-destroyed their own forces... they're at the end of their rope without a shadow of a doubt. And then, when they finally realize it and surrender to what seems reckless and stupid in the eyes of the world ("That's your next big plan? Sending a little girl out in the forest...alone?!"), that is when Aslan comes in. He's been waiting for them, all this time. Just like He's waiting for me.

Exactly! I've been saying this about PC the movie, which I'm a big fan of, forever! It seemed more Christian in some ways than the book [which I finally read for the 2nd time in my life ... last week ]. Or at least the faith theme stood out more.

Click here for my PC movie review. Your thoughts?

"It's not Narnia you know..."
There seems to be this deep inner longing to go and sit in the wardrobe in the spare room, not to find Narnia, but to meet with our Savior in prayer and worship. We watch Aslan correct sternly and then turn right back to that golden mane, beautiful and terrible.
"Its a song that would break your heart."
There is nothing quite like tears when one finds the Joy of the Lord. More often than not i'll quote focus on the family with "Its a song that would break your heart, but not from sadness." There is nothing like Aslan getting his claws in you to tear away the rough dragon skin.
And last but not least, the fairy tale. Yes, its flawed, people make mistakes. The best example there is would be Lucy's jealousy. Lucy, who is always strong, always faithful, falls into the all to common trap of why can't i be like her, yet Aslan is right there, and she is sorry and really didn't ever want to hurt Susan. It's like some of you have said, its love in it's most true form.
With arms extended high I will always remember that when I needed it most Narnia was there. As a child, hiding away in my room as my parents fought, that Narnia was the only books in my room for a purpose. It sparked a curiosity to know the God that did this, to know His name in my own world. It made me who I am, and Whose I am.

Hi Narnia Webbers,
I've been thinking a lot lately about why do i love narnia? being the deep person that i am I think it's more than simply being an enthralling story with amazing characters in a world unlike any other. (so no answering that, because we all know that!) I think it's safe to say a lot of us also like other fantasy, mainly Lord of the Rings. (not trying to stereotype, just saying )Why is it that we love them so much?

I've been thinking about that a lot too and even considered starting a thread like this.
Here is my list
[list=1]

My first memory of why I liked Narnia was because of the connection between Aslan and Jesus, specifically the dying part. I did realize that there were many more connections to the Bible than that until much later. which brings me to [/*1011jatv]

I think part of the draw of fantasy / myths / legends is that characters are often very loyal and it seems that friendships run deeper than they do in present times. (obviously this is mostly on the good side). There is usually a standard code of ethics that many characters adhere to. For example, one could understand if Reepicheep took a view about Eustace's disappearance like Rynelf did. Eustace had been horrible to him, but he is willing to do what is necessary to find him and avenge him if necessary.

Destrierdragon,
Your post made me think a little deeper about why i love Narnia. (and i truly do LOVE Narnia) I like a whole lot of different fantasy stories (Lord of the Rings, Eragon, Redwall, Raising Dragons, Fablehaven) But when i think about all these stories Narnia is the only one I truly love. I love it because its christian. I love it because nature has a deeper meaning. I love it because its written beautifully. I love it because it has a great storyline. I love it because every time I read it my stomache flutters. I love it because of all the fantasy books ive read Narnia is the only one ive wanted to truly live.
-Katana

I like Narnia because it is a place we all have wanted to go to and a experience we all truthfully wish to experience. I use to pray at night that God would send me there when I was a kid. It is amazing because even though it is a magical land, CS Lewis created it in a way that it is so much like what we have here. But better. There is still war, hate and anger, but there is magic, God, mythical creatures that we can only read and dream about. It has the best and worst of this world but then also so much more. I mean seriously, who as a little kid and knew the stories didnt try to get there from every closet they saw? There is a security about it. Yes we have God here, but when life gets rough...we can escape to Narnia. I go there yearly. Been going every year sense 4th grade. All seven books. I am now 30 and on book 4 for this year. Learn something new every time.
That why I love it anyway...

That no matter how many times I read them I am still picking up on new things / getting more out of them. The books seem to grow with me. There are so many different levels that the books can be read on.

I think part of the draw of fantasy / myths / legends is that characters are often very loyal and it seems that friendships run deeper than they do in present times.

This is exactly what i was getting at....Fantasy, Narnia in particular, has a way of getting to something deeper in us at every part of the world, in friendship, in adventure, in love, in creatures. My pastor was talking the other day how we live in a spiritual/supernatural world, and yet the way we live and respond to everything is natural. We look at everything from one level: the natural level, what we can see, what we can touch, etc. I love what PP said, Narnia has deeper levels, and every time you read them, you dig deeper, and find something more in it that touches you. Because in Fantasy worlds like Narnia, the natural world is suspended, and the spiritual world is what we see, what we touch, what we know. Everything is deeper, from adventure to friendship. In a supernatural story, we forget the natural and look deeper without realizing it.

You can read Narnia with your mind and thoroughly enjoy it because it is a fantastic story and you fall in love with the characters...or you can read it with your heart and fall in love with the world itself on a different level, how people love in that world, how people sacrifice in that world, and what people live for in that world.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms..." Ephesians 6
"in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8

And another thing...notice how in stories, no matter how complex the plot, there is always. ONE THING. In Narnia, it's all about Aslan. Everything is confusing until they meet Aslan, and then everything is clear. Everything that matters is Aslan.
In LOTR, it's all about the mission to destroy the ring. Nothing else matters. Yes, there is evil forces (what's a good story without them? ) but there aren't distractions. The characters at first have to go through letting everything else go, but then everything they are centers around that one thing. I'm constantly praying that I could live like that, let everything else go and just know that I am loved by the author of my story, he is my story, he is making me the character he wants me to be, and nothing else in this natural world matters.
It's all about Aslan.

You've hit it, DestrierDragon... the allegory, Aslan, the innocence of Lucy, the valiant, quiet loyalty of Edmund, the fierce passionate loyalty of Eustace, the noble leadership and longing to do right in Peter, the boyish wonder of Caspian (in the book PC), the lostness of Shasta when he first meets aslan: 'who are you?'... the struggles of Digory, the friendship of Polly; Jill's waking discovery of a new and better way; Tirrian's struggle in The Last Battle... who wouldn't want to throw themselves at Aslan's feet? And we should do the same for our Lord and desire the same thing Lucy had with Aslan.

You could almost say of the other Chronicle characters, Lucy loves Aslan better (JUST slightly) than the others... but just slightly. Either that, or it always seemed to me that Lucy and Aslan had a better relationship than the others ever ended up having. Even Ed told Eustace: 'Lucy sees him most often...' almost implying that she is closer to Aslan than the rest of them. She loves Narnia, but she would rather be with Aslan. Her head isn't turned by the adventure of it. She just wants to be with Aslan =)

You're right. She kind of reminds me of Mary of Bethany in the Bible, who just wanted to sit at Jesus' feet--that was enough for her.

Isn't that odd, Lady Haleth, that's exactly what I kept thinking of Lucy 'Mary at Christ's feet' =D

It's always so fun to discuss the Biblical side of Narnia... I love to! =D

I never thoughht of Lucy and Mary as similar, but you are right! Absolutely, i think Lucy does have something a little more special between her and Aslan. Almost as if her childish faith that she had when she first descovered narnia, and refused to let her brothers and sisters make her forget, she held onto. Lucy still has the childish faith from the begining.

Pepper Darcy...I know, it's so much fun to talk about Narnia and Christianity! The great thing is there is Narnia Web to do it on, when people arent staring at you like they'll go insane if you mention narnia one mroe time

Oh how I love fantasy....It just reaches past everything else and grabs your heart right away. Narnia is especilaly good at that

Yes, exactly, DestrierDragon... Narniaweb's great at letting you talk about Christian/faith etc...

And isn't fantasy such a great springboard for allegory and teaching those sorts of lessons?

I think that's at the heart of Narnia.. yeah, i could do without some of the um... 'gods and goddesses' they make me a tad uncomfortable, but then there are so many great lessons it's like, 'forgive those little things because the story and Aslan surpasses what could be a problem.' etc. I think you know what I mean. I love Narnia... it's almost like seeing Christ and Heaven from a child's eyes, you know? And maybe that's what Lewis wanted. The Bible mentions/speaks about the faith of a child.

So for those facts, I deal with the 'wood gods' and the magic that the goodguys do use. It's one thing for a badguy, it's another for a goodguy, and Lewis did such an excellent job with his allegory I can easily forgive those very *brief* moments =)

He, he, it's like oh yeah! I can yak about Narnia all day here and *no one* will care! =D

I love Narnia! And I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't think i'd raise my kids without it. I grew up reading Narnia, my mom and dad read it to me when I was a kid..and I look forward to reading it to my kids when they're old enough.
I'm not really sure there's a specific reason I love Narnia so much, it may partly be that I feel that Lewis "got it right." He took the biblical aspect of a lot of things and made into something that everyone could read and enjoy and understand..which I love.

1. I like Narnia for Lewis's clever handling of biblical allusions and themes.
2. I love the way he portrays the characters as well. I see myself in Susan, Edmund, and Lucy.
3. I like Lewis's portrayal of the relationship between Aslan and Lucy, ideally what our relationship with Christ should be. It's the closest thing I can find to Song of Solomon, i.e. to pure love for Christ, the kind Paul knew in Philippians 3.
4. I like how Lewis portrays Aslan as good and loving [with Pevensies and others] but also terrible and fierce with His enemies [esp. LWW, PC, LB]. When they meet Him, they fear and quake! Aslan embodies both love and judgment!

@DD: great post.

@Berserker: "Narnia's popularity -- Messiah narrative?" ... So what are your thoughts on this thread here on NarniaWeb?

I found that when I watched Prince Caspian I got more out of it than when I read the books. (which is unusually for me... a serious bookwyrm.) The struggle against one's own self-will, one's own way to do things, and God's way, and our need to depend on him... it all fell together so well in the movie. Even when they changed it (the raid on Miraz's castle), it only accentuated my sense of gosh...they've done absolutely EVERYTHING they could do in their own strength, half-destroyed their own forces... they're at the end of their rope without a shadow of a doubt. And then, when they finally realize it and surrender to what seems reckless and stupid in the eyes of the world ("That's your next big plan? Sending a little girl out in the forest...alone?!"), that is when Aslan comes in. He's been waiting for them, all this time. Just like He's waiting for me.

Exactly! I've been saying this about PC the movie, which I'm a big fan of, forever! It seemed more Christian in some ways than the book [which I finally read for the 2nd time in my life ... last week ]. Or at least the faith theme stood out more.

Click here for my PC movie review. Your thoughts? I love it! it has biblical stuff on the books and moves,
1:aslan represent Jesus
2:there is funny parts in the moves
"for Narnia and for aslan!"

I think I like narnia because of the Medival era its [narnia] set in. I've always loved the dresses the girls wear then, so I really like narnia because of that. And I love the storylines, characters, and the fact that LWW portrays Jesus dying for us.

I love Narnia, because it combines the Bible, Christianity, and myth, my favorite things into one amazing series! There are so many levals of these books, every time i read them i get something new. That is the beauty of literature, there is always something new for you to learn from it. The other reason i love the books is that they were an escape for me at one of the harderst times of my life, the book Prince Caspian and the movie changed my life, and i will never forget them for that. I thank God every day for C.S. Lewis and Narnia!