Snow In A Globe

With all of the snow that has been flying around I feel like I have been stuck in a snow globe.  Here are some of our favorite literary moments that feel the same way.

Time Turner Snow Globe

I guess this is less a snow globe and more a sand clock, but still pretty cool.

Narnia Snow globe

I love how the whole thing is set on a book

Lord of the Rings Snow globe

The giant guardian statues was always one of my favorite parts of the story

Alice in Wonderland Snow Globe Bookends

Snow globe AND bookends, what could be better?

Romeo and Juliet Snow Globe

True love...before all the deadness starts :-)

Well it looks like the sun is starting to peak through, maybe I will get outside for a few minutes and maybe the feeling that I am trapped inside a snow globe will go away :-)  Happy reading

The Last Of Everything

Finished The Last Battle, took me a while, but it is all finished now. I rarely read the this last book in the Chronicles of Narnia because it always makes me sad.  The whole tone of the book is pretty dark and depressing, and even the glorious ending cannot make up for the permanent loss of the character I always identified with the most.  This is not to say this is not a great book, a good ending to the best series ever written (in my most humble opinion), but it still makes me sad.

Spoiler Alert

Spoiler Alert

Spoiler Alert

Here's how the end of Narnia happens.  We start out our final story with an Ape named Shift and a donkey named Puzzle. Shift is a cunning, conniving, manipulative talking ape who has a tyrannical relationship with the slow and sweet Puzzle.  One day they find a lion skin, which Shift convinces Puzzle to wear as a coat.  Shift figures out that they can use this disguise to trick the rest of the Narnians into believing that Aslan is back and use this belief to get the things he wants.  Meanwhile King Tirian, the last of the Narnian King's (although he does not yet know this) is relaxing with his best friend, the unicorn Jewel when he brought news of the wholesale slaughter of the forests Dryads.  Tirian is furious and vows to make things right.  

He and Jewel leave to find out who dares to cut down the sacred tree's of the forest.  What they find is Calormen from the south using Talking Beast as labor to cut down the forest.  Tirian is told that this is all done on the order of Aslan who has returned to Narnia at last.  Tirian has a hard time believing that Aslan would ever order the harm of his own people and he decides to investigate further.  Tirian eventually comes to blows with a Calormen guard and kills him in a fight.  Tirian feeling that if the guard was only acting on Aslan's orders, he did not deserve to be killed, so the young king turns himself in to be judged by Aslan.  Jewel accompanies him and both are held captive.  As the night wears on Tirian hears and sees things that lead him to believe that the Aslan that is supposedly giving these insane orders is really a false Aslan.  King Tirian calls upon the true Aslan to send him aid as he had in dire times past.  Jill and Eustace, two children from our world who helped rescue the enchanted Prince Rilian.  The children free the king and make their escape to a tower that has been stocked and readied for just this purpose.  The children and the king arm themselves and  sneak back to rescue Jewel and attempt to find out about the false Aslan.  Jill manages to free Puzzle, who is still wearing the lion skin and being presented as Aslan against his will.  With this proof of fraud, the king hopes to win his people back to his side and free his country from the Calormens.  The group run into a bunch of dwarfs being held captive 

by a few Calormens and set about freeing them.  Instead of being grateful and joining back with the rightful king, the dwarfs declare themselves free of any king and decide to rule themselves.  The dwarf Poggin is the only one to remain loyal to the king.  The next day as they are headed back to show the Narnians the fake Aslan and hopefully raise an army.  On the way back they are intercepted by Farsight the Eagle who bears dire news.  The castle Cair Paravel has been taken by the Calormens and the Narnians all slaughtered.  Tirian feels a sense of dread and doom, feeling that Narnia is set to perish.  They arrive at the site of the Stable where Shift had been passing Puzzle off as Aslan, and hear them telling the group that the violent and bloody god of the Calormens Tash, and the great Lion Aslan are one and the same and are to be called Tashlan.  A battle ensues and the group is pushed into the stables, were the Calormens intend to burn them alive as an offering to Tash.  After a bloody battle in which many friends loose their lives, Trilian is finally pushed into the stable, but instead of a small dark stable, he finds himself in an open sunlight land in the company of seven other people.  The people turn out to be Digory Kirke, Polly Plumber, Peter, Edumund and Lucy Pevensie, and of course Jill and Eustace.  Susan is not present, because she no longer believes in Narnia, preferring instead to think it was all a game they played in their younger days.  In this land they meet Aslan and watch the destruction of Narnia and it's surrounding lands.  

At first everybody is sad and mourns the loss of their land, but soon realize that the land they are in, is actually a brighter, cleaner, happier version of Narnia.  Aslan leads them further into this new land and they start to meet friends and family who have died, or been dead for a very long time.  They eventually all meet at the garden the Digory plucked the apple from in The Magicians Nephew and Aslan explains that they were all killed in a train accident and they are essentially in Heaven.  Aslan also informs them that they can meet with their family their as this country connects all places in existence.  The book ends saying everybody lived happier then we could ever imagine, and that happiness will last forever.

Like I said earlier the tone of this whole book is pretty dark as far as the rest of the books are concerned.  Compared to a lot of other books it is still pretty tame, but it is not what you would expect after reading the other books.  Of all the books in the series I think this one probably has the most overt religious tone to it, but to me not so much that it detracts from the story.  I like how the author wraps everything up in one neat package, bringing together all the characters, places and stories into one grand finale.  I thought it was pretty brave of him to essentially kill everybody and everything, including his own world.  I know this review sounds a little stilted and choppy, but...well....I kinda hate this book. Not in a don't read it because it's badly written, or is objectionable, or anything like that.  I just hate the idea that it has to end.  I know the ending implies that Narnia lives on in Aslan's country, but it is still sad to think that if
Narnia ever did really exist it is gone now.  I think reading this last book (remember I was only like 6 years old) crushed any hope that my young self had of ever actually getting into Narnia (not that it stopped me from pushing the back of every coat closet I found).  The destruction of the world in the book, meant that no other children from our world would ever be able to go their.  I knew that it wasn't a real place, but especially being that young you always wanted to have the hope that maybe, just maybe places like that did exist. To have this world that I was in love with be destroyed was a bit soul crushing to my young self.  Every time I reread it (which isn't often) I still feel a bit of my 6 year old soul wither just a bit.  My other issue with it is Susan being unable maintain her belief in Narnia.  As the oldest girl in my family, I always identified with Susan and her bossy ways and it came as one more blow to me that she ended up not being able to hang on her belief.  I understand why the author put that scenario in, he was trying to make a point about belief in general, but it still sucks.  Ok enough with the depressive reviewing. As much as I personally hated the book (which isn't really true, I don't hate it, it just makes me sad), the reason is because I love this series so much and any reminder that it ever has to end is just not cool.  I will do a series summation soon 'cause this post has gotten completely out of control.  Happy reading everybody.

Have you ever read a book you hated because it was the end?  Have you ever had your soul crushed by a book?  Do I invest way to much of my emotional self into my reading for being a supposedly sane "adult"?

I Walked Through The Desert With A Horse Who Could Talk

Continuing with the Great Narnia Re-Read I have finished The Horse and His Boy.  I like this one because it is almost entirely about people who were born and raised in this other world (with some cameo's from the Pevensie children all grown up).  It is set during the reign of Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy and takes place almost entirely outside of the actual country of Narnia.

Quick(ish) summary.  Shasta has spent his whole life the son of a poor fisherman in the country of Calormen.  He overhears a visiting soldier offering to buy him, when his father protests about selling of his child, the soldier points out that the fair-skinned, blond haired, blue-eyed Shasta is obviously of no blood relation and is probably not even Claormene.  Admitting that this is true, that he found the boy in a boat that drifted to shore with nothing but the dead body of his guarding in the boat with him, the fisherman starts to haggle for a price for the boy.  Shasta slips away to the stables where the soldiers war-horse is being housed, and much to Shasta's shock the horse begins speaking to him.  The horse is named Bree (short for a very
unpronounceable name) and tells Shasta that he was kidnapped from the fields of Narnia when he was a foal, Bree also points out that Shasta looks like a northerner further confirming the fisherman's story.  The horse and his boy (Ah hey this is where the title comes from) decide to run away to the north together.  Once they have made good their escape, with Shasta starting of as a hopeless rider they are soon chased  by a lion.  Neither Shasta nor Bree has ever seen a lion, but they have heard tales of the demon lion of the north, a popular tale throughout Calormen.  The lion seems to have a partner and drives Shasta and Bree into the path of another horse Hwin and her companion the Tarkheena Aravis (Tarkaans and Tarkheenas being the equivalents to nobles in Calormen).  Aravis is escaping an arranged marriage and Hwin, much like Bree wants to return to Narnia after being stolen away as a foal.  The foursome enter into the great city of Tashbaan and attempt to get through it without notice.  They agree to meet at the Tombs on the otherside if they get separated.  This being a good adventure story soon sees our group split apart.  Shasta is mistaken for a Northern Prince by the visiting King Edmund and his retinue.  Shasta is taken to their lodgings and fed and tucked in to rest.  While resting he overhears the King and his sister Queen Susan discussing her lack of desire to marry Rabadash the eldest son of the Tisroc (that is what they call there King).  They decide to make there escape while they can,
knowing as soon as the Queen refuses the marriage that they will be in great danger.  They leave Shasta alone and a boy who looks just like him climbs in through the window.  The boy, who is the real Prince Corin helps Shasta find a way out to the tombs.  At the tombs there is no sign of his companions and her curls up for the night, with a large cat who keeps him company.  Meanwhile Aravis has met up with her silly friend the Tarkheena Lasaraleen.  After she finally convinces her friend that she must leave Lasaraleen has her groom take the two horses to the tombs while she and Aravis make their way through the castle out to garden exit.  On their way out they overhear the Tisroc and his son Rabadash discussing the escape of the Narnians.  Tisroc gives his son permission to take the country of Archenland, which lays on the borders between Calormen and Narnia to prepare for the capture of Queen Susan and the eventual invasion of Narnia.  Aravis is reunited with the horses and Shasta and informs them of the Princes plans.  They ride long and hard and arrive at the Hermits dwelling, just as they are approaching they spot a cloud in the distance that is the army of Rabadash, a lion suddenly appears, spurring the horses on to even greater speeds.  Once they get into the gates of the Hermit, he sends Shasta on to warn the King Lune of Archenland.  Shasta arrives with the warning in time and is given a non-talking horse to follow the rest of the group to the castle.  Along the way Shasta gets lost and meets again a lion, turns out that their was only one lion the whole time and it was Aslan, the great lion, protector of Narnia.  Shasta continues into Narnia, carrying the news of war to King Edmund, who is joined by Queen Lucy and of course the Prince Corin.  The battle is won, Shasta is revealed to be Cor, the long lost prince of Archenland and Corins older twin who was kidnapped by a corrupt advisor many years ago.  Rabadash, refusing the mercy of the King is turned into a donkey by Aslan and sent back to his home.  He is returned to human form, but may never go more than 10 miles from the temple of Tash or he will revert back to donkey form forever.  Aravis moves into the castle and eventually marries Cor (formerly Shasta) and Bree and Hwin finally return to Narnia and they all lived happily ever after...well for the most part.
This book features children from this other world, unlike all the other books in this series in which the
children all come from our world and must go back home in the end, which gives it a bit more of a long term consequences feel (does that make sense?).  The book essentially tells us the story of Shasta's whole life, from birth to adulthood.  I like that this book uses a hero and heroine from this particular world, it is a good reminder that you can have amazing magical adventures without having to travel to a different world.  By setting the story mostly in Calormen and Archenland we have now seen almost the whole world now.  We have seen Narnia to the West, sailed the Seas to the East, been to the wilds of Etinsmoore to the North and now finally Calormen and Archenland to the South. It gives a sense of completeness to this strange flat world (remeber it is not round and you can sail over the edge).  One could argue that the way the Calormens were portrayed could be in a racist, or at least stereotypical vein, with everybody acting like what one would think Middle Easteners would act if you wrote this in the 1950's.  I give it a bit of a pass because of the time period (but just a bit mind you).  I do like that the author
created a whole culture for the Calormens, complete with their own hierarchy, religion and style of dress, also I really want to go see the city of Tashbaan.  The god Tash will come into play in a later book, and I appreciate the set up of a world where not everybody believes the same thing, nor has the same culture.  I like learning a bit about Archenland (which is mentioned in later/earlier books depending on the order you read them), but I think my favorite little tidbit is that this story was mentioned in The Silver Chair and this (to me) makes the world even richer, to have stories within stories and tales, and mythologies and folk hero's.  A lot of people like to compare these books to The Lord of the Rings trilogy and call them out for being to simple, but I think C.S. Lewis actually does an amazing job with his world building, albeit in a much subtler way then in some of the more epic fantasies.  Ok so this is a true rambling with me just typing random thoughts about this book so I will stop here and tell you that I love this book, just like all the others.  Happy Reading

Do you think things actually written in other time periods is any sort of excuse for stereotypes   Do you prefer simpler short with a straight forward story or do your prefer the more complicated epics with multiple story threads?  Do you like books that reference themselves?  Do I ever make any sense at all?

Puddleglum and Marsh-Wiggle...What Great Words

Woohoo, I actually finished a book this week, given it was a reread, and I know how much I love it, but still a sense of accomplishment non the less.  The Silver Chair is the most quest like of stories in the Chronicles of Narnia and continues the adventures of Eustace Scrubb whom we met in the last book and is joined by Jill Pole in this adventure.

Eustace and Jill (or Scrubb and Pole as they call each other for most of the book) are being tormented by bullies at an experimental school both children are attending.  In desperation they try a gate in a wall that is always locked, of course that would be no fun in an adventure book, so of low and behold the door opens.  The children find themselves in a completely different land, high atop an impossibly tall mountain.  Jill shows of for Eustace by walking the edge of a cliff, but loses her balance.  Eustace grabs her but ends up falling
over the edge himself.  Jill is understandably distraught, between being stuck in this strange land and now her only companion plunging to his doom, and to top it all off a giant lion is between her and the only source of water.  The lion of course turns out to be Aslan, who gives Jill several signs to aid her on her quest to find the missing prince, for that is why Aslan called the children to Narnia.  Aslan sends Jill down the mountain on his breath (he did the same for Eustace, so no smashed children in this story).  They are immediately taken to the castle and told the tragic story of the missing prince.  The King (who is the now elderly Caspian of earlier stories) and his beloved Queen had a son Rilian who was the crown Prince of Narnia.  One day about 10 years prior, the Queen, Prince and a group of people went out for a picnic.  The Queen was tired so they moved away from a little fountain in a glade so she could rest.  The Queen while resting was bitten by a vile green snake and died from the poison.  Rilian vowed revenge and started to seek the snake.  After several weeks of going out on his own the Prince appeared to start acting strangely, claiming to have met a beautiful woman, and then he disappeared and no trace of him appeared in the 10 years hence.  King Caspian and many brave men searched high and low for the missing Prince, but none of them men who sent off to find him ever returned.  With no heir for the kingdom, the elderly King Caspian has set sail for the utter East to ask Aslan who should be King when he is gone.  The children are given to the care of a Marsh-Wiggle named Puddleglum (I just want to say these are

the best type of words ever!)  Puddleglum is a morose frog like man who lives in the cold northern marshes.  While he may be a wet blanket, he proves himself brave, smart and loyal on many occasions.  The group travels north, led by the signs that Aslan has given to Jill.  The farther north they travel, the colder and harder it gets.  They pass by crude giants having rock fights and eventually come to a massive bridge that spans the chasm.  On this bridge they meet a fair lady in a green dress and a knight in who is covered from head to toe in black armour.  The lady tells the group to go to the castle Harfang and present themselves for the Autumn Feast compliments of the Lady of the Green Kirtle.  The children are very excited about the prospect of a warm meal and a bed to sleep in, because no matter how great adventures sound in books, the reality of sleeping on the hard ground in the middle of winter with nothing but the food you hunt to eat is actually kind of miserable.  Puddleglum has his reservations but sticks with the children.  They arrive at the castle and are treated like pets (this is one of my favorite chapters for the descriptions of all the ways they use the giant things for little people).  Eventually they discover that they are actually meant to be made into pie for the feast...to be eaten.  They make their escape and end up very deep underground, captives of the Earthmen, various beings who live deep in the earth.  They are brought to an underground castle and greeted by a human man.  The young man seems odd to the children and he tells them that he is under an enchantment that turns him into a raving madman for one hour every day and that he must be bound to the silver chair to help ease the enchantment.  When the time comes the young man is bound to the chair, but

during his "madness" the group discovers that he is actually the lost Prince Rilian.  They loose the Prince, who promptly destroys the Silver Chair, freeing him from the witches enchantment.  The witch (who turns out to be the fair lady who sent them to the giants to be eaten) returns and is defeated by the group which now includes the Prince. The group quickly makes their way up through the earth, stopping to watch the Earthmen return to their even deeper under ground homes (in which jewels are living and can be squeezed into a juice...awesome!)  The group breaks through to Narnia and Rilian returns just in time to say good-bye to his dying father.  Aslan allows the children to scare the bullies just enough to keep them from hurting anybody else and then returns them to their own home.

Another great entry in the Chronicles of Narnia.  As I said earlier, this is the most traditional "quest" type story, with a very specific set of instructions to follow, and consequences when they are messed up.  I love how CS Lewis shows you the whole world, not just the part that is considered Narnia proper, but the everything surrounding it, this is even more apparent in the next book.  My favorite parts of this book were the idea of being floated down on the breath of Aslan, taking hours to safety reach the ground, it was a trick I used to get myself to sleep when I was younger, imagining I was floating down the mountain.  I love the scenes at the giants castle, mostly 'cause I love stories about giants and how little people adapt to that environment.  I also loved the idea of living jewels and viable metals, great visuals.  I hope you are all enjoying my walk down nostalgia lane, and thank you for bearing with my long-winded ramblings.  Happy Reading!

The Utter East

Continuing with my annual Narnia re-read I have just completed The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (VDT).  While the first book (LWW) will always hold a very very very special place in my heart, VDT is hands down my favorite in the series. I think this book is responsible for my love of the open ocean and exploring places unknown.  A quick synopsis (quick being relative because a lot happens in this book)

We open with Lucy and Edmund the youngest of the four original children to travel to Narnia attempting to stay out of the way of their annoying cousin Eustace Clarence Scrubb.  While up in Lucy's attic room the three come upon a picture of a ship that comes alive and transports them to Narnia.  Lucy and Edmund are overjoyed to find out that the ship is inhabited by an older King Caspian and his crew who have vowed to set sail until they have found the seven missing lords or avenged their deaths.  Eustace is miserable and has a hard time accepting that they are no longer in their own world.  The adventures start in the Lone Islands, a
place that is supposedly ruled by the King of Narnia, but since no one has been out there in many years it is mostly ruled by a regent governor and the slave traders.  Caspian, Lucy, Edmund, Eustace, and Reepicheep the Mouse are all captured by slavers.  Caspian is bought by what turns out to be one of the Lords he is looking for because of his face and is informed of all the going on's in the islands.  Caspian pretends to have a huge fleet instead of the only one ship and takes back the island installing the Lord as Duke of the islands.  This is the farthest that any known maps go so from here on out the voyage is into the complete unknown.  The ship barely survives a storm and lands on an island to be fixed and resupplied if possible.  While trying to avoid work Eustace stumbles upon a dragon hoard and while wearing an enchanted bracelet falls asleep only to awaken as a dragon.  Eustace is miserable, but finds that he can be useful for once.  The biggest concern of course is how
to bring a dragon with them on their voyage, he obviously won't fit on the boat, and feeding him would quickly become a problem. Eventually Eustace has an encounter with Aslan that results in him becoming human once more.  After this Eustace is a generally better chap, much easier to get along with and much more helpful. It is also discovered that the bracelet that Eustace had belonged to one of the lords they were searching for, so they are able to take him off the list.  Off the explorers go, they discover an island that is all burnt up and one with a pool that turns everything it touches to gold, including it seems the third lord they are searching for.  They name the island Deathwater and vow to never tell anyone what is on the island for fear of greed and war.  They also encounter a rather large, but dumb sea serpent who does significant damage to their ship, they limp along until they come across another island.  This island is different as it appears to be civilized with manicured lawns, kept gardens and a beautiful huge manor.  The crew discover that the island is inhabited by invisible beings who along with being absolutely hilarious want Lucy to sneak into the manor which is the home of a magician and undo the invisibility spell they put on themselves.  Lucy agrees and up she goes.  She finds the book and starts
exploring the pages, this is probably my favorite part of this book, because I too would get totally enthralled by a book like the one Lucy reads.  She eventually finds the correct spell and the inhabitants become visible along with the magician.  The magician is actually very kind and helps the crew repair and resupply the boat.  The invisible beings turn out to be dwarf like creatures with just one huge foot they jump around on like a giant spring.  They eventually call themselves Dufflepuds.  The Dawn Treader continues on and encounters a dark island where dreams come true, not nice daydreams but terrifying dreams that you cannot escape.  The crew pick up the fourth lord who had been trapped on the island for a while and are led out by a white bird.  They eventually land on a final island where they discover the last three lords in an enchanted sleep.  The lady of the island says to break the enchantment they must sail to the end of the world and leave one of their members there.  Reepicheep volunteers as this was his goal in the first place.  As they sail the water becomes sweet and still and a dream
like state comes over the crew.  Aslan tells Caspian that he must let Lucy, Edmund, Eustace and Reepicheep leave in the rowboat to complete the journey, while he returns to rule Narnia after gathering the sleeping lords.  The children and Reepicheep take the boat until they reach a perpetual wave marking the end of the world (this world if flat, not round like our own).  Reepicheep takes his little coracle right up to the wave and is taken up, presumably to Aslans country.  The children meet up with Aslan and Lucy and Edmund are told they will not be coming back.  They are then sent back to their own world, this adventure over.
Whew that was a doozy, and I did not even do this amazing story justice!  Like I said earlier I absolutely love this book.  I love the idea of risking everything just to discover something new.  I love the idea that every new place you go could contain anything!  I love the idea that their might still be places and things left to discover.  One of my favorite things about this book is the sheer variety of adventures that they encounter, each island is vastly different and the beings, things, and spells they find keep things interesting.  I just really love this book.  I feel like I could keep talking and talking about this book, but I would pretty much just be repeating myself over and over so I will end this here and let you go read it for yourself.

What book has inspired you to go explore?  Do you like all of the subtle nods to other epic voyages in this book?  Where do you go to the bathroom on an ancient boat?