by C. S. Lewis
published 1951
completed November 2010
I'm a little behind on my reading schedule for Narnia Week, but I finally finished Prince Caspian tonight. It begins with the Pevensie children waiting at a train station in England on their way back to boarding school. They are suddenly transported to a strange land. They later discover that it is Narnia in ruins, hundreds or maybe thousands of year after they left, while it has only been a year's time in England. Narnia is barely recognizable and they have found that they have returned to help restore Narnia to how it once was, and place Prince Caspian as the rightful king.
I was a tad underwhelmed by this one, I'm sad to say. It read quickly, but while reading the middle section of them travelling through the woods, my eyes started to glaze over. Not much really happens, but the magical world is still wonderful. I love the quirky characters. I think Reepicheep was my favorite of the new characters--the incredibly courageous mouse. I love how Peter evolved in this book. He seemed to mature into a brave leader. I love Lucy and her interactions with Aslan. It took great strength for her to stand up to the others to do what she knew was right.
As a mom, I'm glad that I'm reading The Chronicles of Narnia so that I can share it with my children. I wish I had read it as a child because I think I would have appreciated it more. It is written to a younger audience. It is still a worthwhile read. Now that I've read it I can watch the movie! I imagined Prince Caspian a little younger, but I won't complain about having to look at Ben Barnes for two hours.
I find the worldbuilding fun, but a little weak–comes from years of fantastical experience, I guess. :)
ReplyDeleteClare--I don't read much fantasy so I'm a little out of my element here. I think the drawback for me is that the primary audience is children. It's pretty simple, which isn't bad, but I'm just looking for more. :)
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my three least favorites of the 7 when I was a child. (Although, of course, I still loved it). My favorite part is the incremental discovery of where they are and just what ruins they have stumbled upon. Which, by the way, I was sadly disappointed by in the movie (I don't exaggerate much when I say the scene went something like this: "I wonder who used to live here? I think maybe it was us!") although I'm just like you about Ben Barnes. ;) I also agree about Caspian's age.
ReplyDeleteKathy--The discovery that the ruins were where they once lived was a great part of the book. That's disappointing that they glossed over it in the movie.
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