so i've been reading my brothers narnia every night before they go to bed as a way to get them into books. right now, we're on the one about the Dawn Treader. if you dont know which one that is because you dont read narnia, well then you suck at life, but you'll still be able to follow along this post. i read a chapter or two a night and tonight's chapter was the dark island or something like that. let's take a moment to commemorate the literary genius of Lewis.
in this chapter, the narnians and pevensies and eustace are at sea and come upon what seems at first to be an island. coming closer, they realize it is more like a mist. upon reaching it they realize that it is darkness. absolute darkness. they sail into it and find a stranger who is completely petrified of the island. he tells them that it is the island where dreams come true.
you, like the people on the dawn treader, may think 'wow i'd love to go there.' but then the stranger qualifies his statement, saying it's not the island where daydreams come true, but dreams. it only takes everyone half a second before they are trying to get away from the island as fast as they can.
i love this part. to most people, lands where dreams come true are paradise. 'like a dream come true' is only used to describe something amazing. but the narnians fled. because, think about it, out of the dreams you can remember how many of them are about stuff that you want to come true?? yeah i've had good dreams, but most of mine are weird, pointless, or terrifying. if i got to that island would i rejoice??
would you??
probably not. a good dream may come true, but so would the bad ones. and when you come face to face with the scariest things your mind can muster, are you really going to have time to enjoy the good dreams that came true?? pretty soon, all your dreams would be bad ones. it only took half a minute for this to happen to the narnians. fear is a powerful thing.
the point is that i think this is the only book ive read in which an island where dreams come true is a cause for people who met dragons, slave traders, sea serpents, and invisible enemies without batting an eye to flee. and i applaud him for that.
*Out Through the Curtain - The Hush Sound
omg. sarah. this was a brilliant one. i never thought about the dream island that way. i think its because i was a kid when i read these, and this series is supposed to be read again and again. each time i end up understanding something different from his story. he's a frikkin genius this c.s lewis. i think back all of the time to these images i have in my head, of two children and a marshman running around in this maze that spells 'under me'. this image of an enchanted man strapped to a silver chair. this image of a horse and startling a little boy by talking, of the way prince caspian looked when he was older when eustace saw him, of the painting of the dawn treader on the grubb's guest room wall. of the donkey in a ratty lion's mane. of the ancient monkey, of aravis and her cousin's palace.
ReplyDeletebest stories ever. ever.
plus i applaud you for getting the kids to read. you're a better woman than me. lol