Monday Memories is a feature jointly hosted by The Book Bandit and Miss Print. It's a way for me to share books that are special to me, and tell you a little bit about why they've earned a place in my heart.
The Chronicles of Narnia get their own special section of my bookshelf. (They're not normally sitting in front of other books like they are in the picture above. That was just for the photo.)
Narnia is what got me into fantasy. Narnia is what (arguably) got me into writing. Narnia is what started my obsession with the Middle Ages. Narnia is what most of my daydreams and imaginations were made up of for a large portion of my childhood. Narnia has been my favorite work of literature for my entire life (with Les Miz coming in for a tie during this past year).
I don't even know where to begin with this book.
When I was about ten-ish, I knew an abundance obscure Narnia facts, since I had read the books so many times over. I found a book at my library called So You Think You Know Narnia? with a bunch of quizzes in it - and I was able to correctly answer a rather unhealthy amount. By the time I was thirteen, I had read each of the books in the series at least seven times over. (I stopped counting at seven, because by then I had gotten the above book as a Christmas gift, and would just open it randomly and read from the middle of a story. So the amount of times I've read certain books turns out to be a fraction.) My sister and friend would find it entertaining to open up the collection above, read a sentence, and have me guess which book the sentence they read was from. Even I was surprised at how well I knew Narnia.
It's been a while since I've had a chance to revisit this book, so if you quiz me now, I'd probably not do so well. But every time I take a hiatus from Narnia, my return is all the sweeter for it.
My one disappointment with this book? It has the stories in chronological order, not in the order Lewis wrote them in. But the beautiful art by Pauline Baynes makes up for it. :-)
When I began writing this post, I thought I would write about the movies as well. But then I realized - this post should be me glorifying the book, not nitpicking the movies. So I decided against it. (Also, that topic deserves a post of its own.)
Do you have a book that defined your childhood?
~Sophia
My favorite story in fourth grade was The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. I did not read the rest of the stories until I was an adult. In fact, I read all of them to my kids this year.
ReplyDeleteBut other childhood favorites of mine were Bunnicula, and for the classics, The Old Man and the Sea and The Scarlet Letter. I loved them all very much.
Scarlet Letter as a child? I read that for my AP Lit Class two years ago, and found it intriguing, definitely, but a challenge. I commend you :-)
DeleteThis post sums up everything that Narnia means to me (I was right there with you with knowing a crazy amount of stuff). I don't think I've read them 7+ times but the number of times it high. :)
ReplyDeleteI call Narnia my first fandom. It got me started with stories, writing, fantasy, everything. No matter how much I might fall in love with other stories, like Lord of the Rings or the like, it will never surpass my endearing love for Narnia. :')
-Jaime
The first fandom - yes. I might just adopt that. It entirely encompasses the impact of Narna on me :-)
DeleteI'm glad to meet someone who has had such a similar Narnia experience to mine!
:D you are more than welcome to adopt that.
Delete:))) I get excited every time I find people who grew up on Narnia. It makes me glad that other people have been filled with joy by the same wonderful magic I did!
Oh, I've got that complete issue of Narnia too :-)
ReplyDeleteHmm, for me it wasn't Narnia. It was rather all of Michael Ende and Astrid Lindgren. I don't think there was a specific book in my childhood.
I ADORE Astrid Lindgren! Emil is my favorite :-) Oh - and the Children of Noisy Village!
DeleteAnd I've read Neverending Story, but nothing else by Ende. Maybe I should look him up again :-)
I would say the book that defined my childhood was Great Expectations, I remember my father reading it aloud every night to my family before we went to bed. Narnia came a little later,when I could read them all by myself. I loved the Little House on the Prairie books also. A lovely post!
ReplyDeleteOh Little House! I loved those too, but I stopped after the second one, for some reason. We do have a bunch on the shelf... maybe I should return to them!
DeleteNarnia was also a big one for me (I remember I stopped reading and cried for hours when Aslan died and then it turned out he came back a few chapters later).
ReplyDeleteWhenever I think of my childhood, Harry Potter is the first book that comes to mind... I just love that whole series so much and I have reread it countless times! So that would probably be the most defining series for me!
Great post :) It brought back a lot of memories!
I'm planning on rereading Harry Potter this summer (also, I haven't read book 7 don'tkillme so this summer I'll finally read it) :-)
DeleteGreat story. And what a lovely book. It's so nice to have a story like that from childhood that you can return to again and again
ReplyDeleteIt's really wonderful!
DeleteI love this series too Sophia! :D I think what makes it such a successful series is that each of the Pevensie children are so realistic in that they not only have positive qualities about them, but they have realistic flaws as well. It makes them so easy to connect to, and it's hard to find that amount of depth in Middle Grade a lot of the time. :) Thanks for sharing, and fabulous post! ♥
ReplyDelete~Zoe @ Stories on Stage
Exactly! The Pevensies learn from their mistakes throughout the series, and I love the part in Horse and His Boy where Edmund says something along the lines of "I once knew a traitor who repented..." and looks very pensive. :-)
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