“The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” by C.S. Lewis

I found this book, which is the sort of “first” within the “Chronicles of Narnia” series to be a fun read. It was light hearted and innocent yet laden with a lot of allegorical subtext that were blatantly presented to the viewer. The premise of the novel is that there is a magical world that has an entryway through the doorway of a wardrobe, which happens to be found by one Lucy Pevensie, one day when her and her brothers and sisters were playing hide and seek. In this mystical world, there has been an eternal winter, a winter that has lasted forever with no signs of Christmas, caused by the White witch of Narnia. According to the Narnia prophecy, peace and harmony would only reign again in Narnia when two daughters of eve and two sons of Adam, rule over the kingdom yet again. So the story already has us delving into it knowing full well whom the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are and that these kids are destined to bring forth a complete change in Narnia, for the better. From the start of the book you can see one main theme that helps tie it into the overall religious allegory and that is Edmund’s temptation by the white queen. Edmund’s temptation and subsequent betrayal all stems from a very miniscule proposition and that is the fact that the white queen has offered him Turkish delight in exchange for his brother’s and sisters’ whereabouts. His green and incessant want of more Turkish delight turns Edmund down the wrong path, even though in his heart he knows he is wrong, and so he lies to his siblings and then ultimately betrays their plans to the white witch.  Edmund then stands as kind of the original temptation of man, in this world or just as the temptation of man in general. It seems as though C.S. Lewis was pointing out how it could be a very miniscule thing that one wouldn’t believe would be enough to betray those closest to you, but sometimes that’s really all it takes. He makes the point with Edmund that temptation is a powerful thing and though you may realize that what you are doing isn’t right we often times block out that voice that tells us reason. He also uses Edmund as an example of how much better off we are when we ask for forgiveness once we have sinned. Aslan, the Jesus figure in this novel, saves Edmund, and upon doing so has a private talk with him, that even we, as the reader, are unaware what it is about and afterwards Aslan responds by telling his siblings not to harp on it because all is forgiven. I guess that kind of has to do with the way C.S. Lewis perceives a relationship with the Christ figure in religion. It’s as though he were saying, yes you have messed up but once you ask forgiveness that is between you and God alone, and once you have asked for forgiveness and changed your ways then all is well and he won’t “harp” on it and doesn’t expect you or anyone else to as well. The bigger picture in this story is basically that everything is a religious metaphor; Edmund is just one character that I find interesting within the whole story because he is one of the most clearly flawed characters. Someone could probably write forever about the resurrection of Aslan and how that relates to the rise of Jesus Christ and the small intricacies of the novel but for me, watching Edmund’s character was the most fascinating bit from that novel. Overall it was a fun read, and the way it’s written reminds me a lot of Enid Blyton.

The Hobbit: J.R.R. Tolkien

After today’s “Hobbit” discussion today and talking about J.R.R. Tolkien, I find that I am even more impressed with this book than I was before. It’s actually my second time perusing through this book and I find it just as fun and filled with adventure as it was before. I think that’s my favourite part of reading this, it’s the fact that it is so sophisticated yet still a campy feel good read and it has it’s serious bits with the “battle of five armies” but it’s still at the core of it, a children’s novel and reminds us of this with it’s numerous songs and comic relief characters. I feel like this book is for that sophisticated child reader where the plot and basis of the novel is so mature and well written but also happy and adventurous and fun and it gives the reader everything they could want and more from a children’s novel.

I think the point that most impressed me about “The Hobbit”, and by extension “The Lord of the Rings” is the fact that J.R.R. Tolkien sat down and created an entire language, elfish, and then spun this intricate web about a world and creatures and people that don’t exist as a result of this. It makes sense for a person to create a world as a basis for a language because language is such a culture heavy part of life. I remember reading a psychological study that explains linguistics through culture as a manifestation of the world around us, for instance a place that has snow all the time might have hundreds of words for snow whereas a country with barely any snow might have just one word to describe it. This is basically, in part, the reasoning behind having to create middle earth, because once he created the language he needed a people whose culture reflected it and was a basis for the language’s formation.

Overall I think the message and feel of the story was very heartwarming and fun. I liked reading as Bilbo started off as the reluctant protagonist and matured into an intrepid burglar. His evolution as a character is, in a sense, inspiring because as he grows into his own and learns to find his confidence in the outside world, you as the reader kind of do the same and so Bilbo’s journey to the outside world kind of becomes your own and gives you the sense of being able to go out and take on the world’s challenges. Another good theme the novel has is overcoming greed and selfishness, which gives the story such a strong moral backbone that I find so important when telling a story.  Basically, for me, this book was an excellent read I was impressed at it’s inception and it’s ability to tie in strong themes and lessons with a tremendous plot line and still manage to be refreshing and lighthearted.

Aunt Maria: Diana Wynne Jones

“Aunt Maria” by Diana Wynne Jones was an interesting read. Told in the first person, through a series of journal entries by Mig, the main character, Jones weaves together a very interesting plot that delves into the supernatural world of ghosts and witches. The characters in this story are very dynamic to say the least; Aunt Maria is perhaps the greatest personality in the entire novel. She’s interesting to me I think, because in my mind we have all met or at least heard of people just like her. That elderly woman who lounges idly and passes judgment on those around her and somehow manipulates you into seeing to her every whim and worry. Aunt Maria is very much that character to the point that it’s almost terrifying and Jones writes in such a way that you find yourself feeling as though you too were securely under Aunt Maria’s thumb, so to speak. Every small victory over her domineering personality was like a triumphant conquest for the reader and the character that managed to attain that victory, that I think the book becomes that much better of a read, because the reader feels as though they are a part of the controversy. I think that’s why I found myself rooting for Chris’ character despite the fact that he was loud, and rude and brash. It’s that behavior I believe that most of us would resort to when pushed completely to the edge of utter annoyance. A noteworthy part of the story I think, is also how closely things would tie themselves to gender roles. The way Jones writes and deals with gender roles in the story seems to be a nod to how silly and ineffective these roles can be. In fact Jones seems to be saying, through this novel, that gender roles more inhibit rather than help alleviate situations and crises. Jones treats the separation of male and female in this novel as though they were separate species that could not and would not communicate with one another with women being the dominant species in the book, causing the male entities to be distrustful of Mig, the protagonist of the story. This novel reminded me of being a kid again because the plot line seemed like something straight out of a nineties movie, it was the right amount of supernatural antics mixed with terrible relatives and quirky, bizarre happenings like people being transformed into animals and a gathering of tea drinking witches and going out on holiday and finding an adventure. I mostly liked reading it because it lent itself to that notion of bizarre hi-jinks that sort themselves out in the end and make you a stronger person because of it.

Kaidan: Japanese horror stories

For this week in Literature of horror, fantasy and sci-fi I read the “Kwaidan”, a series of Japanese horror stories. The stories I read, I found to be very fascinating I didn’t think they were scary per say, in fact I found them to be more supernatural occurrences, so I guess they were “ghost stories” in every sense of the word. I also realized that many of the stories included some romantic aspect to them for instance there was one story about a man who’s fiancé died and her spirit returned to him years later after he made her a promise that if she was to appear to him again in the future he would marry her.  It’s stories like that, that make the collection less horror and more paranormal it’s a really fun interpretation of the atypical romantic or ghost story, by combining them it sheds a little light on both sides of the coin and gives them both an interesting twist. I really found it strange however that the stories weren’t terrifying. I guess expected more of a horrific vibe seeing as most of the horror movies in the States are based on horror movies from Japan which, if you watch the Japanese originals, are some of the most terrifying movies I, or most of the American public, have ever seen.

            I researched Japanese horror a bit after reading the Kaidan tales and I found out some interesting things about Japanese horror fiction and Japanese culture.  For instance the Kaidan actually dates all the way back to the Edo and Meiji periods in Japan as sort of traditional ghost tales. Horror fiction seems to be a very deeply imbedded portion of Japanese culture not only because it dates back to the 1600s (actually horror fiction in Japan is evidenced to have first appeared in the Heian period (794-1184)) but because even today the people of Japan are completely riveted by the idea of the Japanese ghosts or Yurei. The nature of Japanese horror seems to be psychological and suspenseful with many themes found in folk religion such as poltergeists, exorcism and shamanism. I think when you consider the nature of traditional Japanese ghost stories the Kaidan makes more sense, because they all have to do with the idea of rituals and unfinished business which tie the ghost to the physical plane.  All in all the Kaidan was a fun read, not particularly scary I would see but rather more eerie or spooky, things that if it happened to you it would make your hair stand on end but reading it didn’t really have a strong effect on my nerves.

Interview with a Vampire: Anne Rice

Reading this book I was less than enthused, I’m not sure why I wasn’t as gung ho to read this book because honestly at first I was intrigued. I had heard so much about the movie and the novel itself and I know Anne Rice was such a prolific author in the Vampire culture of America, but for some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around the book. I can see where this book contained all the classic elements of vampire lore. We have the overtly seductive Vampire who, in a sense entrances the victim and introduces him to this new fantastical world, where he didn’t need to be afraid of the things surrounding him or of anyone really, and you also have the main character as a sort of all knowing being who, we as mere mortals, couldn’t exactly “pull a fast one over”, even if we tried. The main premise of the story is a vampire who is relating his entire 200-year existence to a reporter that is referred to as “the boy” despite the fact that we are told his name, Daniel Malloy. I found the characters to be very interesting with very human and very typical emotions and internal struggles. I particularly took to Claudia’s story line because it was a thought-provoking notion on wanting to grow up but not being able to. Thanks to Claudia’s being “turned” at a very young age, her mind progressed but her body could not leaving her in this really weird limbo of how do you grow up when others around you won’t acknowledge you as an adult. It’s this problem of never truly being able to realize her potential I feel that causes her to lash out and grow a putrid, festering hatred for Lestat, who she blames for turning her and leaving her in such an awkward position.  Another very fascinating idea presented in the novel is “in the end is immortality worth it?” This is perhaps the main idea behind the primary character arc, that of Louis. He has seen so many things like the death of Claudia, who is like a daughter to him, and the loss of his family in general and having to burn down his family’s plantation and flee from the people of his homeland. In fact his entire reasoning behind the interview was to show that while the glitz and glamour and allure of vampirism is all well and good, it’s only a gilded notion under which lies the rotten truth of the matter which is that immortality isn’t worth the suffering and the loneliness, which is what he had to endure.  Although I didn’t take to this book I do see why many people liked it. I think it did a very good job in bringing out very mortal elements in immortal beings. I think it was an excellent representation of what vampires in the typical sense might have to endure. I really did find the book to be intriguing as an idea, I just wasn’t particularly fond of it as a whole.Reading this book I was less than enthused, I’m not sure why I wasn’t as gung ho to read this book because honestly at first I was intrigued. I had heard so much about the movie and the novel itself and I know Anne Rice was such a prolific author in the Vampire culture of America, but for some reason I couldn’t wrap my head around the book. I can see where this book contained all the classic elements of vampire lore. We have the overtly seductive Vampire who, in a sense entrances the victim and introduces him to this new fantastical world, where he didn’t need to be afraid of the things surrounding him or of anyone really, and you also have the main character as a sort of all knowing being who, we as mere mortals, couldn’t exactly “pull a fast one over”, even if we tried. The main premise of the story is a vampire who is relating his entire 200-year existence to a reporter that is referred to as “the boy” despite the fact that we are told his name, Daniel Malloy. I found the characters to be very interesting with very human and very typical emotions and internal struggles. I particularly took to Claudia’s story line because it was a thought-provoking notion on wanting to grow up but not being able to. Thanks to Claudia’s being “turned” at a very young age, her mind progressed but her body could not leaving her in this really weird limbo of how do you grow up when others around you won’t acknowledge you as an adult. It’s this problem of never truly being able to realize her potential I feel that causes her to lash out and grow a putrid, festering hatred for Lestat, who she blames for turning her and leaving her in such an awkward position.  Another very fascinating idea presented in the novel is “in the end is immortality worth it?” This is perhaps the main idea behind the primary character arc, that of Louis. He has seen so many things like the death of Claudia, who is like a daughter to him, and the loss of his family in general and having to burn down his family’s plantation and flee from the people of his homeland. In fact his entire reasoning behind the interview was to show that while the glitz and glamour and allure of vampirism is all well and good, it’s only a gilded notion under which lies the rotten truth of the matter which is that immortality isn’t worth the suffering and the loneliness, which is what he had to endure.  Although I didn’t take to this book I do see why many people liked it. I think it did a very good job in bringing out very mortal elements in immortal beings. I think it was an excellent representation of what vampires in the typical sense might have to endure. I really did find the book to be intriguing as an idea, I just wasn’t particularly fond of it as a whole.