Finished my second Narnia book today. Thanks to those of you who commented on my post about The Magician’s Apprentice, I was ready for the blatant symbology of The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe.

But I’m still not feeling the love. It just didn’t strike me as much of a story. It was an interesting world, yes, but really no characters overcame any obstacles while they were ‘on-stage’. Maybe my expectations were too high? Little brother betrays his siblings because of a magic spell cast on him. Other siblings flee towards Aslan with the help of 2 beavers. Santa Claus pops in (WTF?). Witch and little brother give chase, and Witch treats little brother so badly that he realizes he’s been duped. Siblings reach Aslan, elder brother kills a wolf. Aslan’s minions save little brother. Aslan and Witch make a deal, but Aslan essentially tricks the Witch. A battle happens, Witch is killed. End of story.

I guess I just felt like the 4 kids were just being dragged around for most of the story, leaving the main characters to be Aslan and the Witch, but neither was really very compelling since both were so two dimensional.

Like I said, I think I’m just approaching these from the wrong frame of mind. I need to just approach them as nice fairy tales, maybe. That way I won’t expect a complex plot or much nuance.

I feel like a heretic for not loving the books, though.