I'm not sure I can add my heart here in words, I mean more than what has been said, but reading over your descriptions I feel along with you. The Last Battle cuts deep. It seems like everything is coming to an end when you suddenly find it is the brightest beginning with joy beyond description.
I think it would be great if we read the Last Battle for our challenge next summer
I second that book nomination, Swan!I think it would be great if we read the Last Battle for our challenge next summer
--Spoiler Alert!--
The Last Battle is tied as my favorite Chronicle, along with The Magician's Nephew. I remember hearing it the first time and being heartbroken at points (the "freed" dwarves, or the talking horses' tragic reception when coming to the rescue during the last battle)... Yet there is such courageous beauty too: the small creatures bringing food and drink to the poor king lashed to the tree, the insightful question of the young lamb at the bonfire, the description tying the Stable on the hill to the Stable in our world that once held something bigger than the whole world... Also I love how Puzzle is rescued and ultimately restored after his encounter with Aslan -- This narrative shows the deep power of redemption shining into even the biggest mess-ups in our lives! So there is hope for me too...
Statistics: Posted by Benisse — Mon Jan 02, 2023 10:30 pm
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Shift manipulates Puzzle into pretending to be Aslan, "This is the will of Aslan" or "This is what Aslan wants". As time went on, Shift then gets manipulated by Rishda and Ginger. It's like you want to tell Shift, "Who's the puppet now?"
Eustace and Jill go back to Narnia. Since the events of The Silver Chair, Jill had overcome the bullies, so she is more confident. However, maybe when she gets to Narnia that time, Shift and Rishda are now the bullies or maybe it's just Rishda that's the bully. Anyhow, Eustace and Jill rescue Tirian and help rescue Narnia. Only that time Narnia can't be rescued.
Then there is the concept of the afterlife. Emeth talking of his meeting with Aslan is my favorite scene. Each book has it's own unique introduction to Aslan. Emeth's perspective is no exception.
Statistics: Posted by jasmine_tarkheena — Wed May 11, 2022 2:09 pm
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I am in awe every time I read the end of The Last Battle; running into stories other authors have written about Heaven that sometimes are cheesy, has made me all the more glad I read Lewis' Narnian supposal first.
Statistics: Posted by HermitoftheNorthernMarch — Mon Mar 31, 2014 10:33 pm
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I think it would be great if we read the Last Battle for our challenge next summer
Statistics: Posted by Swanwhite — Fri Sep 20, 2013 3:00 am
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As Sir William says, it was on later readings that everything came together for me and I could understand the true power of the story. Through the years it became one of the books I love best. I remember waking up on nights when things were tough to deal with in my life and reading through parts of it at 3 A.M., and gaining sustenance from it. When you think about it, it's an extraordinary plot for an author to create for a book for young readers. This is not because there is death in it. Many of the children's classics feature deaths of favorite characters--for example, Little Women and Anne of Green Gables. But Lewis ended an entire world and began everything again. And he did it without seeming static and didactic. Even more astonishing, these were his first books for children. There was no learning curve.
Like Ajnos, LB always gives me the good shivers. The great thing about this book is that as one grows older, its impact does not diminish. Indeed, its effect increases. At least, that's what I've found.
Statistics: Posted by miniver — Thu Aug 29, 2013 3:35 am
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I think here Lewis steps over the threshold into allegory but he can get away with it, because it's the end of the series and a pretty powerful ending.
I've always had a similar (perhaps even more powerful) experience reading the end of VDT. The passage where they reach the sea of lilies and the sun keeps getting brighter and finally they arrive in Aslan's Country is a lot like the "further in and further up" of the LB.
Statistics: Posted by Ajnos — Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:26 pm
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- When I finished it, I felt like crying bitterly and singing for joy all at the same time.
I think I felt this way because it is a powerful book. It truly is powerful. It is powerful in the way that is has helped my walk with my Savior. I've had doubts. We all have. But LB has shown me that even when things look bleak, even when it seems there is no hope- God is there. He is working things out and knows that one day the righteous will stand alongside him in his country where we will lack nothing.
Thoughts, anyone?
Statistics: Posted by albero1 — Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:17 pm
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