Narnia

On Friday evening I was hanging out in Barnes & Noble in Sioux Falls waiting for Kristin to get off work. While there, I wandered past a table of books devoted to the Chronicles of Narnia. I remember watching and reading these stories in middle school; however, to my amazement I learned something new: "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" is not the first book in the series. It is actually the second. "The Magician's nephew" is the first book. Intrigued (and having nothing better to do) I began to read. It's not a long book, so I got through the first few chapters before Kristin met me there.

The book's title character is a boy named Digory Kirke (special note: this is the first time in my life I can recall seeing Kirke spelled in the same way my middle name is, excluding other relatives on my dad's side). It tells the story of the creation of Narnia, how it was first discovered, how the witch got there, what the lamppost is all about, and how the magical wardrobe was created. Digory grows up to become the professor you meet in the second book, although interestingly enough he never discovers the secret of the wardrobe.

Anyway, I was very much interested in knowing this background information before seeing the movie, so on Saturday while Kristin worked on some homework I finished the book. We went to the Sunday matinee and both enjoyed the movie. Although I haven't read that book in years, the movie appears to be a great adaptation of the book I remember. It doesn't quite have the same "epic" feeling when compared to the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, but I think that is directly related to it's PG rating (which is definitely appropriate given that the story is ideal for children). I still highly recommend it to everyone. It is now likely that I will seek out the rest of the series and read it again.