monday memories – the lion, the witch and the wardrobe

Emma of Miss Print and Nicole at The Book Bandit have started a new weekly feature called Monday Memories.  To participate, all you have to do is take a photo of one of your books (or a library book that means a lot to you) and talk a bit about why it made an impression.  Today I'm going to talk about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.

I grew up on the Chronicles of Narnia series.  My mother read the books aloud to those of us who would listen (I was… seven, maybe?), going all the way through the series, even though we didn’t really ‘get’ The Last Battle.  Several years later, she reread them again, so that my brothers (who had been toddlers the first time around) could get the same experience.  I remember that first time through the series with fondness – I fell a little in love with Mr. Tumnus and Puddleglum – but I got to see the books through my brothers’ eyes the second time.  They adored Mr. & Mrs. Beaver, and Reepicheep the mouse, and all of the sword fighting and battles.  There’s something very special about seeing a book you love come to life for a loved one.

When my mother was reading through the books the first time, she borrowed library copies, but the second time around, my grandmother had sent her own copy of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  It stayed with us.  When my parents were paring down their own book collection a few years ago I snagged it for my shelves.  And last night, when I was photographing it for this feature, I realized that it is a first edition. 

WHAT.

Needless to say, I will be careful with it forever after.  I already loved this book, but now it’s precious.  Oh, books!  May my love affair with you never end.

the lion, the witch and the wardrobe

Alyce at At Home with Books is doing a weekly feature where she highlights one of her favorite reads from the past and encourages others to do so as well.

I asked my brother Joey to help me think of a favorite book with Christmas, or at least winter in it. In honor of the holiday, you understand. We came up with C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It hardly needs an introduction, what with the massive popularity of The Chronicles of Narnia book and film series. But in case you think they’re only kids’ stories or have been living under a rock, check out this synopsis.

They open a door and enter a world. Narnia... a land frozen in eternal winter... a country waiting to be set free. Four adventurers step through a wardrobe door and into the land of Narnia - a land enslaved by the power of the White Witch. But when almost all hope is lost, the return of the Great Lion, Aslan, signals a change... and a great sacrifice.

My mom first read this book to me at age eight. Well, she read it to all of us kids, but I was the one begging hardest for just ‘one more chapter!’ And then a couple years later, I read through the whole series by myself, and relived the magic and mystery and wonderful storytelling of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It’s a classic tale of magic just beyond the ordinary, redemption of the world and heroic deeds in the face of danger, all flavored by sibling dynamics and the unbelievable made somehow real and immediate.

In college I purchased the entire paperback set for myself, and then lent it out to friends and roommates when they took the C.S. Lewis literature class. I was rewarded richly my senior year when our school was picked as one of the premiere spots for the film. We all trudged down to the one-screen theater in town to see The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe two days before the rest of the nation. And when we came out of the theater, snow was falling softly, muffling all sounds, and the college’s streetlights looked EXACTLY like the lamppost in Narnia. It was perfect, peaceful, and just the tiniest bit eerie. That counts up there with one of the most magical moments in my adult life.

I really do love this book, and this series. They are rocks of my childhood, and I haven’t tired of them this far in my adulthood. I hope the magic of Narnia and Aslan will stay alive in my heart forever!