Decode Society

The hype has been escalating. The trailer has been on the loop in all movie theatres in Manila. The Lion’s footsteps can almost be heard thoughout the tropical country called the Philippines, even if it came decades ago from the cold side of the world, called Britain.

I first learned of the Chronicles of Narnia when I was in high school. If you’re a die-hard geek, there is this certain arrogance that you feel that tells you that since you ‘almost’ know everything, there is nothing more to it than intimidate people with those geeky jargons. And so when I heard of the Chronicles of Narnia, I was like, “Why would I read a book for kids? It’s too LOWLY for my taste.”

My best friend said that I should watch the stage performance of the Chronicles’ second book, performed by Trumpets, and claimed that it was a total tear-jerker. I suddenly got curious. What was so special about this book? Of course, I’m totally wrong in thinking that it was a single book. When I bought my copy, the Chronicles are made up of seven books!

I gave it a chance as I started to read. I was so shocked in what I found: a world where anything is possible, where fauns, dryads, and satyrs dance around bonfires, where fierce giants lurk in the North, where a benevolent Lion rules over this world . . . a flat world where stars are living heavenly beings, and on the far east where the sun rises. . .a place called Aslan’s Country, where joy has no end.

Perhaps one of the things I liked about the whole Chronicles was how the author, C.S. Lewis, describe things in it. He would not describe an object in detail (like Tolkien did, Lewis and Tolkien were friends by the way) but he will certainly leave out things for you to imagine them in your mind. Even emotions too indescribable to put into words are suddenly miraculously put in paper by this great author:

“Whether it was more like playing with a thunderstorm or playing with a kitten Lucy could never make up her mind.”

Imagine that! Terrifying like a thunderstorm and yet playfully full of love. The contrast is mind-boggling. Narnia has something that I haven’t encountered in all the books that I’ve read prior to it.

“‘Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone said something which you don’t understand, but in the dream it feels as if it has some enormous meaning - either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again.”

In the eyes of the children protagonists, I saw Narnia with fresh eyes. I felt that tingle in my spine and that exhilarating feeling of being taken off into somewhere I wanted to go all my life. The longing was ever present in the Chronicles.

And true enough C.S. Lewis calls it “sehnsucht,” a German word which has no equivalent in the English language. It simply means “a longing,” or “joy” as he calls it.

“The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” -Aslan

I have read and reread Narnia time and again, and I can say everytime I read it, a phrase or a sentence just pops up. There is something new to discover in every page and I never get tired of it.

Perhaps as a geek, what Narnia gave me was not brains, or philosophical ruminations (though there are lots of it in the books). What I received was more than knowledge. Eustace Scrubb had knowledge alone and he turned into a dragon. Intelligence, you see, is overrated. What Narnia gave me was imagination, the child-like wonder that remains amazed in the ordinary, and a longing (inherent in all human beings) awakened into a new morning.

Alas I’m a geek. But in Narnia, I’m glad it doesn’t matter. As long as you have eyes to look for hidden worlds in closets, you’re in.

~resplend3nt

Narnia is back on May 16 with Walden Media and Disney’s THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN! If you haven’t read Narnia… you’re missing HALF OF YOUR LIFE! GO AND READ IT!