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Monday, May 16, 2005 Children's Fantasy Early childhood is such a fuzzy thing--sometimes I wish I had been more diligent then in keeping some sort of journal. Without any sort of concrete accounting, how am I to know for sure that something or another had an impact or was a milestone? When was my first encounter with the fantasy genre? I remember being exposed to fairy tales quite a while back, but when was I actually aware? After some thinking, I have somewhat settled on the Chronicles of Narnia. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was probably not the first fantasy book I read, but it's certainly one that has stuck in my mind the longest. Perhaps of how I was exposed to it counted for my remembrance. My fourth grade teacher was in the habit of reading books aloud right after lunch time. He would turn off the lights and we were all supposed to be sitting quietly at our chairs as he read by the sunlight streaming through the window next his desk. A lot of the students used the listening hour as an unofficial naptime. I listened. It was sort of magical in a way. The teacher had a habit of leaning back in his chair so the bit of light from the window would highlight his white hair and ruddy face. His spectacles would glint. And I would watch the dust motes and imagine lions and fauns and Turkish Delight. So it was with a bit of trepidation that I glanced at the trailer for the latest film adaptation of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's very slick and glossy but it also reminds me very much of why I generally don't like film adaptations of novels in the first place. I am sure that the film will be fun to watch, but I don't think it would ever live up to the picture I had built up since my youth. It was only later that I discovered that some people consider the Chronicles of Narnia as religious propaganda, spoiling my reading of the final installment, The Last Battle. (Although I have to say, after finding out Orson Scott Card's Mormon background did not detract one iota of enjoyment of my reading of Ender's Game, so perhaps Lewis was a bit more heavy handed in his seventh book.) The Christian aspects of Narnia did not enter my mind at all when I read the first six books. It was fantasy. Make-believe. I did not suddenly find myself gripped with a reverence for God when I read about Aslan dying and coming back to life. I just thought it was how it was supposed to be in a land of magic. And certainly, I've grown ever more disillusioned by religion as I grew older so I can't agree that these children's books have any sort of brainwashing power. Then, there's the other extreme. Lately I've been reading somewhat obscure fantasy novels written for teenagers and searching for more information about them when I came across a site that proclaims to be a guide for Christians to reading fantasy. By the way it bashes the authors and books for every little thing (and of course, they would proclaim Harry Potter to be the Ultimate Evil), one wonders how they managed to read anything at all (let alone fantasy) without cringing. Perhaps if everything was on the par of "See Spot Run", then the reviewers behind that site would be happy. Anyways, I suppose the Christian aspect of the Chronicles is there, but I am no lit student desperate to bs a term paper for the next day. I choose to enjoy the books solely on their fantasy merit. Oddly enough, I am more partial to The Silver Chair (and after that, The Horse and His Boy and The Magician's Nephew) than The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. [posted by S. Y. Affolee on 8:50 AM : ]
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