C.S. Lewis failed. He failed to clearly say what he was trying to say. He failed his readers. He failed Susan.
When I read
The Last Battle as a kid, and got to the moment when Susan was “no longer a friend of Narnia” I was shocked. Well, I thought, there are still some pages left to go. I’m sure she’ll be back before the end. But she wasn’t. And all of her siblings and friends, her cousin, even her parents, were romping along through New Narnia without ever mentioning her again.
It felt strange, and dismissive, and horrible. Much of the end of the book is about catching up with old friends, with cameos and reunions with beloved companions from previous books, even those who were dead Reepicheep and Fledge and Puddleglum and Caspian and yet somehow Susan never gets a moment. We don’t even peek in on her back on Earth, and no one thinks to ask, “Is Sue alright?”
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Ever drift off and think about going through your wardrobe to share some Turkish Delight and chill with Mr. Tumnus?
The Chronicles of Narnia series certainly feels even more of a world away than it used to, since Disneyâs movie franchise stopped midway through adapting its seven beloved books. The
Narnia movies follow a troubling trend that the YA genre has battled with over the years â showing their great potential and then studios dropping the ball, leaving fans to say goodbye too soon. Letâs talk about what really happened to the rest C.S. Lewisâ fantasy movies and how it may return over a decade later.
Why the bigotry of CS Lewis’s Narnia books shouldn’t disqualify their magic
Seventy years on, Lewis’s enthralling world has been criticised by Philip Pullman et al. But should children be denied its charms?
A scene from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Credit: Film Stills
It’s impossible to exaggerate the impression the Narnia books made on me when I discovered them as a child. I adored them so much that when my mother suggested reading The Lion, The Witch & the Wardrobe as a bedtime story for me and my little brother, I vetoed it, and made such a fuss that she gave up. I didn’t want my brother to get into Narnia, I wanted it all to myself. Aslan would certainly have growled at such a selfish little beast, but my brother simply went and read the stories on his own.
Better Things Ahead: The Last Battle and the End of Narnia tor.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from tor.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.