Once there were 4 children and their names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. When London came under attack through air-raids by German Planes during WWII, they’re sent, for safety, to the house of an old professor, far away in a country land. One day, by chance, Lucy, the youngest one, discovers a strangely looking wardrobe in a secluded room of the house. Out of curiosity she opens the door and gets in and that’s how she enters the world of Narnia. On returning, she tells about her adventure into a new world to her other siblings and as expected, they don’t believe her. But within few days, circumstances leads them all to hide in the Wardrobe and then they all discover it, I mean Narnia, a secret place frozen in eternal Winter.
In Narnia, they learn that a mean W!tch, who claims herself to be the Queen of Narnia, has the whole place under her Evil Spell and it’s been years since anyone has celebrated a Christmas there. They also learn that a Faun has been taken prisoner by the W!tch for helping a Human in escaping from Narnia (that’s when Faun helps Lucy during her first visit). So, why the W!tch is against Human? See, the thing is, there is a prophecy that it will be Four Humans (who will later become the Kings and Queens of Narnia) who will help the Narnians in defeating the evil W!tch, and setting Narnia free from her her evil spell of eternal Winter.
Now, there are two things. First, Edmund - who’d already made a secret visit to Narnia before, when he met the W!tch and was alluded to become the prince of Narnia – is on a mission under W!tch’s directions and is leading his brother and sisters to her, hardly knowing the outcome of it. And others don’t know it, atleast until later, by which time it’s already late. So sad and so bad.
But there is 2nd thing, which is good thing infact, and that’s the fact that Aslan, The Loin, the creator of the Narnia, all powerful and all wise is back. (Read ‘The Magician Nephew’ for details on Creation of Narnia). His mere Roar can send a shiver through any being in Narnia, Evil W!tch included. As Edmund deserts his brother and sisters and goes to the W!tch to inform her, they all go to Aslan for help (not without lots of adventure and action throughout the way).
Things are already changing in Narnia, eternal snow has started to melt; presence of Aslan and 4 humans has given a great Hope to Narnians and they are waiting for the prophecy to come true. Will it? The Mean W!tch has a master plan though, that could turn it all in her favor. What is that plan? Will it all lead to Freedom for Narnians or even harsher time, in days to come? Read ‘TLTWATW’ to find out.
TLTWATW was the first book that C. S. Lewis wrote in the Narnia series. Its huge success led C. S. Lewis to write another 6 books in the series, one of them, ‘The Magician’s Nephew’ was infact prequel to TLTWATW (Its better to start the Adventure into Narnia with that book). TLTWAW is close to 190 pages long and is written in a very simple and flowing language, as much as it could be, considering the target readers, I guess. Written from a 3rd person’s point of view, it always manages to hold the interest of the reader. Illustrations by Pauline Baynes, was a great help in visualizing the adventure and the characters.
Writing is so engaging and effective that with a little bit of imagination on part of the reader, he/she can easily accompany the four children – through the Wardrobe and into the world of Narnia – and then become the active part of their adventures all through. It all depends on your imagination and the attention with which you read the book, there is nothing lacking from writings point of view, it is good enough to take you there, in Narnia.
In 2005, movie was made on TLTWATW and was a huge success (I guess most of us know that) and that’s what lead to a series of movies covering the other books under ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’. I have already seen TLTLWATW quite a number of times - it’s one of my favorite movies as well – and that’s infact was the reason for my exploring the books now. I must say that movie is really very well made and in a way I found it more exciting to w@tch the movie then to read the book. Also, movie has lot of scenes that doesn’t actually exist in the book, and they, at the same time are woven so well in the tale without moving an inch away from the main theme of the tale.
So, w@tching the movie is a better experience, Rajeev_Vermacially if you are short on imagining it all, on your own. Otherwise read the book to have a wonderful experience of a beautiful world called ‘Narnia’ with talking beasts and moving Trees, some good and some bad. It’s the bad ones that really are important, otherwise how and why the adventure would have happened in the first place.
So, read the book for the way C. S. Lewis has narrated it. It’s an amazing experience, which with a little bit of imagination on part of reader can turn into an altogether different visual experience. That’s what one misses in a movie, visualizing the things from one’s own perspective and likings. But one thing is sure, movie or book, this trip to Narnia is worth every minute spent on it.
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PYAR HUMEIN PHIR MILAAEGA......