Summer Reading Challenge 2021 (HHB) Sharing Thread

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

It's time to begin the Summer Challenge 2021! Here's the reading schedule:

Aug 9 - chapters 1-2
Aug 10 - 3-4
Aug 11 - 5-6
Aug 12 - 7-8
Aug 13 - 9-10
Aug 14 - 11-12
Aug 15 - break/catch-up day
Aug 16 - 13-14
Aug 17 - 15


Each day, share your "reflections" here! These can take many forms, including (but not limited to): artwork, graphics, fanfiction, poetry, or discussion of point(s) that stood out. (Please remember to adhere to rules regarding art, graphics, and links.)

For Narnia and the North!

[Swanwhite]

Chapter 1.

My main observation from this first chapter is the use of language and words as a means of power either over other people (The way Arsheesh uses words to keep Shasta in his place or to barter for a better bargain) or to set people free (Bree finally using his voice after all those years to tell Shasta the truth and set him free). Here's a poem version of that line of thought. It's still a bit messy, but the process is helping me think through the idea.

Weapon Words

Words are weapons here.
The fisherman’s tongue is a spear.
He can win or lose by
the strength of a lie,
and his vernacular has a veneer

He’s got to eat
so he barters for wheat
tries to cheat with the wit of his words.
But his most lucrative lie is the one
where he calls a lost stranger his son.

This man of mercurial moods
meets his match
when a Tarkaan advances,
converses, plays catch,
criticizes loquacity.
with a deeply cutting curtesy,

This war of words is over heard
The lie is broken, the soul is cured.

Alone with a horse
and the waves on the sand
“I wish you could talk”
“But I can.”

Words are still the weapons here,
but the truth is a sword that can shatter the spear.

[Ajnos]

That's lovely, Swan. Powerful thoughts and expresses well in the poem.

I can't believe it's been 10 years since I last read HHB!! Since it was the first Summer Challenge we did, it's the longest since I read it last. Kinda crazy when I think about the life changes that can happen in a decade.

Ch 1-2 Just a few random thoughts:
I wonder became of the donkey? I wonder if Anradin confiscated him.

I had forgotten how incredibly kind Bree is towards Shasta at the start. I tend to think of him as more sarcastic and judgemental but he's actually so sweet and caring and aware of his young age and hard life circumstances.

They traveled for "weeks and weeks" before meeting up with the others? That must have been an incredible bonding experience and such a learning opportunity for Shasta about the world after his limited life experience. The reference to him never having lived without the smell of fish was quite striking as an indicator of how small his world had been.

Bree's lack of desire to talk about the wars was kinda interesting. Makes me think of my granddfathers' generation who never spoke about their experiences in WWII and how little we know about what they experienced.

Favourite quote so far:

For in Calormen, story-telling...is a thing you're taught just as English boys and girls are taught essay-writing. The difference is that people want to hear the stories, whereas I never heard of anyone who wanted to read the essays.

[The Happy Islander]

A moment I like from chapter 1 is when Shasta learned the story of how Arsheesh found him. I like it because it represents a major change in Shasta's life, a time when he first starts to see himself as he really is and realizes that his life doesn't need to continue as it has always been for as long as he can remember. That is the moment that he first starts breaking free from his past, and opens the way for Bree's suggestion that they run away together.

Because of the traumatic experiences in my past, it felt so very hopeful to be reminded that everything can change in an instant, and though moving on to a happier future doesn't happen all at once without effort and without learning new ways and finding how to heal, that moment of breaking free is still magical. There can be many of those moments in a journey of healing and of establishing a happy life.

A quote I liked from chapter 2:

Behind them lay a little copse. Before them the turf, dotted with white flowers, sloped down to the brow of a cliff. Far below them, so that the sound of the breaking waves was very faint, lay the sea.

I like how this part shows Shasta's wonder at his first glimpse at the bigger world, his first idea of how many things there are for him to see and explore.

[renegadeoftheshire]

Here is my drawing!
I know it's very different from last time (also I didn't know what else to draw for this ). Hopefully, the next chapters will give me better ideas of what to draw.

Love what I'm seeing so far!

[Ariel.of.Narnia]

Great insights all around!
@Swan: I like your observation on the utilization of words in chapter 1, and I think your poem highlights the contrasts nicely.
@Ajjie: Calormen is huge, haha! I don't think we really appreciate the enormity of it. (And considering "weeks and weeks", Shasta's impressive mounting of a horse in front of the Archenlanders makes more and more sense, come to think of it.) Good point on Bree too: he does tend toward a more sarcastic and haughty manner, but he does have rather kind moments that come out.
Islie: "A major change in a short moment" summarizes Shasta's discovery rather well.
Rennie: Nice silhouettes! (You can make your images larger in the future, if you wish. I see that we don't actually have a max size listed in our guidelines, but I think you can go up to 800 pixels without fouling things up.)


Chapter 1

What seems to be standing out to me on this reading is the amount of contrast. Granted, a lot of it is thanks to knowing the whole story, but here it is.
- The "grassy slope" to the north of his home sounds Narnian in comparison to what we've been introduced to so far. Shasta does a lot of work, he's in a poor home (both financially and relationally), the village is small and dull; in contrast, that grassy slope is fresh and green and tantalizingly free (what with the blue sky and the birds).
- "Natural affection is stronger than soup and offspring more precious than carbuncles." Well, Shasta will find out what it's like to be valued like that by the end!
- Something that's long intrigued me is Arsheesh saying stuff like "it pleased the gods to deprive me of sleep" and "by the admirable designs of the gods". Obviously, he's coming at it from the standpoint of a religious system with a multitude of gods, but had he referred to Another instead, he'd have been right. (Shasta will learn this later!)
- Shasta knows that a boy ought to love his father, but he's never been able to drum that up for Arsheesh. When he eventually meets his real father, he loves him pretty much right away ("I'd be just as pleased -- or very nearly -- at finding he's my father even if he wasn't a king.")
- Shasta fantasizes about being the son of a Tarkaan, or of a Tisroc, or even of a god -- a little foreshadowing on his actual identity as the son of a king.
- There's a (relatively) short distance to a life of slavery (two days' ride (though I wonder how Anradin planned to continue North either with a new slave or with some assurance that his new slave would go to his palace and stay there)) and a huge distance to a life of freedom.

Normally, I associate this Lewis quote with LB (because it's obviously a closer connection), but I think Shasta epitomizes the sentiment as well: “If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world.” Shasta feels nothing for the life he's leaving behind (except some small regret that he couldn't take the donkey along). The one and only thing he's interested in is his destination, a destination that lies in the one direction he's always felt a yearning for.


Chapter 2

Guess we're continuing with the contrasts!
- Again, the landscape is Narnian in description: grass and flowers, and even the familiar sea looks altogether new from this new vantage point.
- Despite his taste of richer foods (even if they were just the travelling sort), Shasta purposely purchases rather low-end sustenance (how does one eat "a few onions" between two days, especially with only a loaf and radishes and no cooking?). I don't doubt that he might have been tempted by nicer things (other fruits and vegetables, if not meat as well), but whether by his own practicality or Bree's, he abstains.
- Considering the book's title, this isn't exactly a surprise, but it's funny how the Horses take charge of the interactions between the two parties. Shasta and Aravis really have no say in what the Horses wish to do.
- Naturally, there are all sorts of contrasts between the humans. Boy and girl, peasant and Tarkheena, Northern and Calormene, sold into slavery and contracted into marriage (though that's where the two of them have the most common ground), one going toward his family (unknowingly) and one leaving her family behind, etc..

[The Happy Islander]

One thing I like from chapter 3 is the good sense of Hwin. Instead of fussing about appearances, she thinks about what is practical and what is necessary. I could imagine the others getting into a lot more serious trouble in trying to get through Tashbaan without her good sense. She is able to be a very important and influential character without putting others down and without feeling like she is more important than others.

In chapter 4, I like the moment when Shasta starts to realize that some of the people in the group of Narnians are not humans. It is similar to meeting his first talking horse, but by this time Shasta is used to Bree and Hwin. After a lot of ordinary experiences during a long journey, Shasta is at another point of change where he is realizing that his experiences aren't going to be what he expected. He had already broken away from his expectation that he would always be a fisherman's son, he had avoided becoming a slave, and now he is seeing a glimpse into what life further north will be like.

[Ajnos]

Thanks for sharing everyone!
Lovely pictures, Ren!
Happy, I agree that this book starts out with so much hope in how all the major characters are changed in a second.
Ariel, I like the contrasts you brought out - especially those looking to how his life will change. I was also wondering about Shasta's food, though was more confused by the raw turnips. I wondered if he had some means of cooking since his slave duties may have involved the basics of building a fire and getting water boiling.

Your reference to him feeling bad for the donkey also reminded me that I liked this quote from Ch1 : "Holding his breath and feeling a little bit sorry, but much less sorry than he was glad..." I liked it because it reminds us that it's okay to have regrets about things, especially life changes, but feel happy and excited at the same time. You're allowed to hold conflicting emotions in times like that.

Chapters 3 and 4:
Building on from what I said yesterday about Bree being kind to Shasta, I was struck today by how Bree and Hwin take on the role as the "adults" in the story. We first see it when Bree realises Shasta is "only a foal" (ch1). I think the importance of adults in children's lives and how there are certain things children shouldn't have to do alone are things Lewis often (if not always) recognises well in his books. Last year I was struck by that in the scene where Lucy and Edmund's "stories" are getting out of hand and Peter and Su take it to the Professor for help.

Bree's role is mostly as the adult who is the best travelled and knows things about where they should and shouldn't travel and thinking of a meeting place. But his pride at being a great horse gets in the way of always being practical. Hwin is the more practical and sensible of the two (she's basically the motherly Susan-figure in this story, even if Susan is in it herself)
I'll be on the lookout for adult-like behaviour in the horses as we go along. The best in these chapters is Hwin stepping in to save Aravis' life, almost playing the role of the mother she lost.
"[Hwin] put her head between me and the dagger and discoursed to me most excellent reasons and rebuked me as a mother rebukes her daughter"

Finally, maybe this is a silly question since I was never any good at Tashbaan geography (I got lost in the city when I first tried to read the books aged 9 and it took about 5 years before I tried again). But I was wondering if they absolutely had to zigzag up through to the centre of the city where the palace was and why they couldn't do a sort of circuitous trip around the lower and poorer areas so as no to draw attention to themselves. I kinda picture the city as terraced with the outer layer being where the poorer people lived but maybe I got my geography of the city all wrong.

[Swanwhite]

Chapter 2: A Wayside Adventure.

I just wanted to touch on chapter two because I didn’t have time for it yesterday. Mostly I think of this as being the chapter where we meet Aravis and Hwin, but it also contains my favourite Shasta and Bree scene where their friendship is more firmly established and we learn more about each of them. There is so much hope, delight and freedom in this scene and it has the beginning of Bree’s anxiety about whether talking horses roll! Also, the fact that Shasta has tried to eat grass is one of my favourite bits of characterization.


Chapters 3: At the Gates of Tashbaan.

I love Calormene storytelling. I love Bree's appreciation for it, Shasta's misunderstanding of it, and Hwin's "Jane Austen" attitude about it. I like how the act of storytelling lets Aravis explore her own story and identity during an enormous change in her life.

I love Tashbaan and I love that there is a renewed and sanctified Tashbaan in Aslan's Country.


Chapter 4: Shasta Falls In With the Narnians.

I want to comment briefly on the racism issues that people have brought up about this book. I’ve been quick to discount those concerns in the past, but I think it’s better to be aware of the potential hurt that can be caused by the stories we love.

Lewis is primarily criticizing the Calormene society for its oppression, cruelty, pride and greed (which we know in real life is found in all cultures and ethnic backgrounds), but there are also lines like this one (describing the human Narnians) “both men and women, had nicer faces and voices than most Calormenes”. Parts like this could understandably be hurtful to real people who physically resemble the Calormenes.

I don’t think this diminishes the powerful blessing that this book is in other respects, but it’s something I wanted to acknowledge.

[renegadeoftheshire]

Finally got a drawing for today! I decided to draw Aravis dancing
Love what I'm seeing here!