I've been re-reading C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia series since I first read them in Jr. High. I would have read them, as most people do, long before that, but I grew up in a conservative Christian home and witches were evil. Since the title of the first book contains "witch" I assumed I wasn't allowed to read them. I've always loved to read; I visited the library constantly as a child. During one of those visits as a teenager, I was having trouble finding a good book; I felt I'd already read all the good ones. I asked my mom for advice, and she pointed out the Narnia series. I didn't question it; the fact that she recommended it was good enough for me. Once I started, I couldn't put the books down. I was, at first, embarrassed to be reading a children's book. It was really the worst period of life to begin them because it's when one is terribly concerned about growing up. As I brought my book with me everywhere I went, I was always careful to lay it face down so no one would notice I was reading a children's fairy tale. I was caught once when a boy noticed it and told me "That's a good book." I blushed and nodded. But as Lewis wrote in his dedication of
LWW, "Some day you'll be old enough to start reading fairy tales again." By the time I was in High School, I minded less and less that people knew I was a Narnia nerd, until it became my go-to "What's something unique about yourself?" answer. Recently, when I told a friend I wanted to start a blog but needed an idea and his advice was "The possibilities are endless, but you have to do it because you love it and because it flows from your essence," this was the idea I came up with. I believe we love the books we love because we relate to them in some way. We are able to see a part of ourselves in them, and at the same time be challenged by them.
The purpose of this blog is to show how the goings-on in the world of Narnia relates to my life, and can relate to yours. So tell me, what was your first experience in Narnia?
