I loved the Chronicles of Narnia as a child and re read each book into a state of dog earred dinginess. I loved Lewis' talking animals and his magical world that you could get to through wardrobes and paintings. Narnia isn't really magical for me any more and I wouldn't recommend the books to an adult but I think the Chronicles are great books for children and since that was Lewis' target audience I would recommend them as such and have in fact done so.
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Originally posted by Fordim
The claim that Susan was denied Narnia because of cosmetics and sex was endurable when made by the Madonna of Modern Fantasy but I simply cannot let a fellow Downer go unchallenged on this point. Susan is not condemned for anything so trivial: she is condemned instead for "forgetting" Narnia and pretending that it was all a game. She lost her faith and her belief. In The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe Edmund's first (and, to my mind, worst) act of betrayal was his cruel denial that he and Lucy had been to another world, and his lie that he and she had only been pretending. He is redeemed of this lie but only after going through some terrible things. For Susan to turn around in her supposed maturity and thoughtlessly do the same thing is the height of arrogant pride and foolishness. She is not "kicked out" of Narnia any more than Satan was "kicked out" of Heaven--they are both rebels who turn away from their true home. (Very Important Note--I am not saying that Susan is Satan, nor am I suggesting that she is in any way shape or manner Satanic: I am merely making an analogy for the sake of illustrating my argument.)
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I agree. The "lipstick and nylon" criticism of Susan made by either Polly or Jill, IIRC is because the
entire focus of Susan's life at that point was her appearance and invitations to parties. She isn't merely being criticised for having other interests. She no longer has time for anything else including talk of Narnia, dismissing all talk of it as a silly game that she and her siblings had played as children.
Of course the reason all the others are in "Narnia within Narnia" is are because they were all together when a particular event took place. If Susan had been with them where would she have ended up? Would she also have entered Narnia w/in Narnia but be in the position of the denying Dwarves?