The Magic of Words

As the temperatures rise and the summer drags on I find myself looking for solace in words. In this case, words I have read many times before and look forward to reading again. I'm talking about my favorite books. Books that I have read so many times that I almost have them memorized, yet somehow I learn something new every time I read them. It is like going to your favorite restaurant, you already know what is on the menu and what you're going to get, but it is always enjoyable. So what are my favorite books? Who are the old friends that I've decided reacquaint myself with over the summer? The Chronicles of Narnia of course! Books that I have been reading since I was just a wee child. Why these books you ask? There are lots of reasons. First of all, they are easy to read. They were written for children and seeing as how I'm just an overgrown child, they are perfect for me. Secondly, I love magic! That's why I also love Harry Potter, but that is beside the point. Thirdly, the Chronicles of Narnia were my introduction to magic and fantasy and the world of possibilities that only the written word can provide. It is nice to go back to the beginning, to where my lifelong love of fiction first blossomed. So, I thought I would share my adventure with you so that maybe you remember the magic of words.

Book one, The Magicians Nephew

I feel like this book is incredibly underrated in the series, it's the story that begins all other stories. Is it necessary to understand the rest of the books? No, but it gives backbone to all the other books. It also lets you witness the creation of Narnia, I don't mean you get to discover Narnia, I mean that you are there as the first day dawns on a new world. It is like Bob Ross taking a blank canvas and watching him cover it with happy little trees, but 800 times better. It gives you a connection to the place, not just the characters and I love it. 

My favorite quote from the book:

"Now the trouble about trying to make yourself stupider than you really are is that very often succeed."

Wow, C.S. Lewis you crafty devil. The lies we tell ourselves so that we don't have to face the truth. To think that these books are written for children! I guess it just goes to show you that even though the target audience is children, people of any age can still take something away. 

I think one of the things I like most about C.S. Lewis is that he leaves much of the story to the imagination of the reader, at times he speaks directly to the reader to explain why he is leaving out a certain part of the story. Many times this is because what he is trying to describe is so good, that the only way to get his point across is to leave it to you, the reader, to imagine something that you love and then to expand upon that with your own imagination. For me, a man child with a very active imagination, every time I read these kinds of passages, it changes. This might account for why I'm able to reread these books every summer. 

Whew!

This post came out more like a book report than anything, a scatterbrained book report, but that's ok. There will be six more very similar to this over the next little while. For those of you who haven't read the books yet, I highly suggest you do, do it for your inner child.