The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
It's been a long time since I've read the Narnia books, twenty to twenty-five years by my reckoning. I keep meaning to revisit the world whenever I hear there's a new movie coming out (just in time for Christmas!) in the theaters, but I never do.
The thing about Narnia, the one beauty of it, is that it is magic incarnate. I remember reading the books and being blown away by the imagery and the new ideas of what was possible. Fauns, minotaur, white witches, and talking mice, it was all there for me to devour and build my own dream worlds upon the gossamer threads of imagination.
If I were to be honest, I don't remember most of the plots at all. There's a vague outline in my head that things happened and the Children of Man come to save the world then are returned to England where they really belong. The scenes blend together and I can't recall what belongs where.
Except for this book.
My most vivid memory of Narnia is of awful Eustace being transformed into a dragon for stealing the treasure that he stumbled upon. I recall him weeping great big dragon tears because he was sorry and sad and afraid, and I wept for him because I felt so SORRY for him and I couldn't imagine how awful it was for him to become something so fearsome. He was just a little boy, you see. I was inconsolable and I hated Lewis for having done that to him until I finished the book and realized that he had to be changed to actually change inside. That's pretty deep for a ten year old. The illustration of Eustace crying in dragon form is seared into my memory, and I was pleased that the scene in the movie was as I remembered it, as well as in the credits. Yes, I cried, being a mush and all, and I remembered weeping for him as if it were yesterday.
I had forgotten about Edmund and the White Queen. Actually, I don't recall having gotten it at the time. Now? Pretty darned interesting plot twist, the temptation of Edmund. I bet he wakes up with stains on his sheets and doesn't quite know why. That's some good psychology there, his love/hate of the White Queen.
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to skip talking about the Christian overtures regarding Aslan's country and just say that it was prettily done if you like being hit on the head with an anvil.
Overall, it was very good. It meandered more than the previous movies, but so did the novel. I'm glad we watched it.
The thing about Narnia, the one beauty of it, is that it is magic incarnate. I remember reading the books and being blown away by the imagery and the new ideas of what was possible. Fauns, minotaur, white witches, and talking mice, it was all there for me to devour and build my own dream worlds upon the gossamer threads of imagination.
If I were to be honest, I don't remember most of the plots at all. There's a vague outline in my head that things happened and the Children of Man come to save the world then are returned to England where they really belong. The scenes blend together and I can't recall what belongs where.
Except for this book.
My most vivid memory of Narnia is of awful Eustace being transformed into a dragon for stealing the treasure that he stumbled upon. I recall him weeping great big dragon tears because he was sorry and sad and afraid, and I wept for him because I felt so SORRY for him and I couldn't imagine how awful it was for him to become something so fearsome. He was just a little boy, you see. I was inconsolable and I hated Lewis for having done that to him until I finished the book and realized that he had to be changed to actually change inside. That's pretty deep for a ten year old. The illustration of Eustace crying in dragon form is seared into my memory, and I was pleased that the scene in the movie was as I remembered it, as well as in the credits. Yes, I cried, being a mush and all, and I remembered weeping for him as if it were yesterday.
I had forgotten about Edmund and the White Queen. Actually, I don't recall having gotten it at the time. Now? Pretty darned interesting plot twist, the temptation of Edmund. I bet he wakes up with stains on his sheets and doesn't quite know why. That's some good psychology there, his love/hate of the White Queen.
For the sake of brevity, I'm going to skip talking about the Christian overtures regarding Aslan's country and just say that it was prettily done if you like being hit on the head with an anvil.
Overall, it was very good. It meandered more than the previous movies, but so did the novel. I'm glad we watched it.