This one is not my favorite of the set, but was a pleasant re-read/listen. It is much more episodic than the others so it almost reads like a series oThis one is not my favorite of the set, but was a pleasant re-read/listen. It is much more episodic than the others so it almost reads like a series of vignettes. ...more
This is another re-read. A 5 star as a child and maybe a 4 as a grown up. This has been the perfect listening for me as I do some work that takes justThis is another re-read. A 5 star as a child and maybe a 4 as a grown up. This has been the perfect listening for me as I do some work that takes just a little bit of brain power, so my rating might come from the fact that it is a semi-distracted listen.
Still there was lots of adventure in this story, with all the old friends back together. I did think Elonwy got short shrift on the action side of this adventure. She was definitely along for the ride but didn't get to play as big a role as she did in the first story. I missed her.
Prince Ellidyr was a great character - as were the three witches of the marshes. ...more
This didn't have the problematic issues of The Horse and His Boy -- but in some ways wasn't quite as compelling a story. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyaThis didn't have the problematic issues of The Horse and His Boy -- but in some ways wasn't quite as compelling a story. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable re-read (listen)....more
So... you can't get away from the fact this book is infused with racist stereotypes and is a fitting illustration for Edward Said's concept of OrientaSo... you can't get away from the fact this book is infused with racist stereotypes and is a fitting illustration for Edward Said's concept of Orientalism.
Lewis uses skin color and cultural cues such as turbans as visual signifiers of the Calormene society he depicts as cruel, autocratic, double dealing and selfish, all of which is repugnant. The engaging elements of Shasta, Aravis, and the horses' escape story are diminished by that undeniable fact. As a small positive, underlying Lewis' reliance on these offensive tropes, there is also a thread of something better as Aravis is made free of what Lewis has elsewhere portrayed as a seemingly inflexible racial/social construct.
The story, mired as it is in its problematic depictions, is kind of fascinating for its readiness to declare its standpoint and the escape story itself has some weirdly interesting threads to follow. It didn't bore me in the slightest.
This was a book that has stayed with me since childhood. It fit right into my childhood sweet spot of orphaned (or semi-orphaned) kids out on their owThis was a book that has stayed with me since childhood. It fit right into my childhood sweet spot of orphaned (or semi-orphaned) kids out on their own and making a house and a place for themselves -- especially somewhere out in nature.
This one didn't hold up for me to the same degree that some other childhood favorites. It had some colonialist underpinnings that I didn't remember (but wasn't surprised by given it publication date of 1937), but it also was blander in terms of writing and plot points than I experienced it as a child....more
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