Reflections: The Chronicles of Narnia

I love Barnes & Noble's leather-bound classics! I saw this gorgeous looking leather-bound edition for a steal during the holidays, so I had to get it and revisit Narnia! I don't have much to "reflect" on this classic fantasy series. Everything about it makes it a memorable children's classic; excellent writing, fun adventures, memorable characters, wise words, and intriguing fantasy. The tales of Narnia are featured in seven individual books (all of which are part of this bound package, of course):

1. The Magician's Nephew
2. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle

Aslan, the magnificent, magnanimous, wise Lion is the creator of the land (world) of Narnia. Narnia is as Utopian as it can be despite evil witches and some maliciousness.  It is filled with intelligent, talking animals and other interesting creatures who strive to restore harmony to the land with the help of adventurous human children. Everybody learns a lesson or two in morals (except perhaps the witch) and goodness always prevails. 

A lot of Christian beliefs and parables are woven into this series. Aslan creating the world of Narnia, it representing Paradise, things going wrong because of an Ape, Aslan judging all creatures when the world ends etc., are clearly formed on religious faith. But, being dense, I never really read into the religious undercurrents of the series until I re-read it this time. I guess I was one of the last few to realize it this late. Some aspects of it threw a damper on my reading experience. But only a little bit.

Nonetheless, it is a fun and engaging read for children and adults. I wouldn't read too much into the symbolism of the stories and ruin a magical, charming read.

Reflections: Rainbow Valley

Rainbow Valley is the seventh book in the Anne of Green Gables series. Just mentioning this should be suffice to acknowledge that the book is a sweet children’s classic delivered in Montgomery’s exquisite prose. In this book, Anne Shirley is married to Gilbert Blythe and is the mother of six lovely children. Hard to imagine Anne as a mother of six kids, right? But Anne doesn’t feature much in the book. The story revolves around her children, the new neighbor’s neglected children (the Merediths, whose father is a widowed  minister), and an orphaned waif, Mary Vance. Befitting a children’s story, the children get into mischief due to a few comedies of errors, and end up getting chided by the adults. So they decide to teach themselves to be in good conduct. Of course, they need to first figure out what “good conduct” really means. What is good, what is bad, what is heaven, what is hell, what is moral, what is a sin? Ooh, a whole lot of  heavy questions for kids to decipher. Montgomery shows the perplexities faced by a child when the world ceases to be black and white, even if one lives in a seemingly perfect and peaceful community such as Avonlea.

Avonlea, much like most communities in the early 20th century, was a conservative society honoring Victorian virtues. Social etiquette, decorous behavior, religious fervor, and codes of moral propriety were strictly defined. Without the discipline of a mother, and enough concern from the father, the Meredith children lacked fine grooming. They were frowned upon for not knowing the “right” things to say, or how to conduct themselves in social gatherings and in church, much to their father’s humiliation. But, although they were free-spirited kids who didn’t mind waving their arms in glee than sit still in church, they had good, kind hearts. They took pity on Mary Vance, a girl who ran away from a tormenting employer, gave her a place to stay, food to eat, and above all kindness and friendship. When these kids were constantly rebuked for their frivolous behavior, they set out to punish themselves to redeem and reform their ways to be socially and morally acceptable. The innocence and earnestness tugs your heart. I really liked the fact that Montgomery explores a heavy subject from the simple perspective of children. There’s an instance where Mary and Una try to sort out the moral predicament of lying. Would telling lies always get you down to Hell? Mary innocently states that she had to tell multiple lies to save herself from getting beaten by her unfair and mean employer, while Una wonders if God would be so unkind to banish such girls who lied, to Hell. God was surely much more fair and merciful in his judgments, right? It reminded me of the time I had such a mini-revelation and wondered how God would decide whom to punish. And to this day, I continue to ponder, along with several other intelligent adults.

Underneath all the merriment and innocence of childhood, is the question of what constitutes as mere social propriety and what truly is morality. Of course, Montgomery doesn’t delve deep, but gives a nice enough introduction to the beginning of the end of childhood.

With a happy ending, a little contemplation and the naivety of childhood suffusing the book, which child wouldn’t like this book?

Reflections: Under the Lilacs

Bab and Betty are busy setting up a doll-party under the shade of the lilacs. Their mom even prepared a yummy cake for the party. But little did the girls know what a pleasant surprise was awaiting them and a new set of friends they were going to win at the end of the party. They meet an adorable poodle quite dexterous in the multiple impressive feats he could perform, and Ben his master. Ben is a lost young boy, who ran away from the circus to escape his mean old boss, Mr. Smithers. Moved by the boy’s state Mrs. Moss (the girl’s mom) takes him in and helps him find a job. Having lived in the circus, Ben knows his way around animals, and possesses the expert skill of intuitively understanding them. Soon, the lovely Miss. Celia engages him under her employment to take care of her horse and give company to her pompous brother. The young children form a wonderful bond of friendship as they help each other out of scrapes and help Ben make a home in their quaint town.

It goes without saying that a children’s book by Louisa May Alcott has to be endearing. The characters and their little adventures evoke wonderful childhood emotions. Wrapped in the story, children can find many a little lesson on friendship, trust, kindness and humanness. It is a world painted with innocence and purity that one would wistfully wish all grown-ups in the real world would be as sensible and kind as in the story. It’s almost a mini-utopia. Stories set almost a century back show the value of a close-knit community, and the symbiotic relationship that prevailed among the people. Everyone knew each other, and were almost one big dependable family. Of course, the skeptical part of me was on the verge of being tired of the over-the-top sweetness of the story, but in the end, my love for such warm and cozy tales won over.

The writing is beautiful - any adult can read this book just for the good writing, even if they don’t care much for a children’s story. This is yet another book that young children (or young adults) would delight in reading.

Reflections: The Sea Fairies

Just as any little girl would be, Trot is immensely curious of mermaids. Her friend, the old Captain Bill, insists that mermaids are dangerously beautiful creatures who pull land-mortals deep into the ocean, with no hope of escape. No one who sees a mermaid, lives to tell the tale, he says. But the young girl isn’t convinced. She’s quite positive that lovely creatures like mermaids are incapable of any harm. She ardently wishes to see a mermaid and learn more about them. And lo! her wish comes true (much to the old Captain’s chagrin)! A couple of exquisitely beautiful mermaids grace a visit as the Captain and Trot are out boating. They invite the little girl to their magic palace under the deep sea to learn more about them and their ways of life. Using their magic, both Trot and the Captain are given elegant “fish-tails” to swim! Trot plunges into the deep sea to go through a magical adventure, where she learns about the mermaids, the sea creatures, and even braves a nasty encounter with Zog, the evil sea monster.

How I sorely wish I were Trot! Frank Baum is a popular children’s fantasy writer, most famous for his Oz series of books. Who doesn’t love the Oz series?! Combine such a well acclaimed writer, and a story about mermaids and adventure under the sea, and viola comes out a book whipped just for me :).

Baum crafts an endearing fantasy tale. There is magic, fantasy and adventure, with a liberal education on the habitats and behaviors of different creatures under the sea. It’s an adorable book for little girls like me (well I am one in spirit, of course!)

Reflections: The Lost Prince

Stefan Loristan, his young son Marco Loristan, and their faithful assistant Lazarus live in the most poverty-ridden part of London. They have a secret mission of their own - they hail from Samavia (a fictional European country), and are planning to bring about a revolution to overthrow the existing dictatorial regime in their country and bring in the rightful heir to the throne. A few decades back, the noble prince of Samavia had been usurped. There were mixed stories about how the prince survived the cruel mutiny. If that were true, the benevolent prince must surely have tried to get his Kingdom back, or at least would have passed on his burning desire to his sons. Marco is optimistic that the lost Prince’s bloodline can be traced, and he is passionate about restoring Samavia to its rightful heir. Along with his street friend, The Rat, Marco embarks on an adventure across Europe to pass on the sign to all the secret members of the confederation, to set out a revolution.

This book is packed with beautiful themes on patriotism, friendship, resilience and righteousness. Marco’s good upbringing makes him wise, while still retaining his precociousness and innocence. Burnett yet again shows the power of the human mind. In this book, she brings in Buddhist philosophies, such as embracing the universe and all its creatures as one, deep meditation to distill your mind and seek out what you want, the power of prayers, peace, etc. to demonstrate Marco’s strength and maturity. Such elusive philosophies are broken down and shown in simple contexts to inspire young boys.

The little adventure, and the suspense of finding the Lost Prince will keep children engaged. But it unfortunately wasn’t enough to maintain my attention. I found the pace of the book a little slow and repetitive, and I struggled to stay focused. Perhaps this is a good enough hint that I have sadly grown up and should stop my current stint of indulgence. However, this is one of the first children’s book that I’ve read that deals with patriotism, and the attributes of being a noble and courageous leader. These aspects have been beautifully conveyed.

This book as a whole has excellent morals to mold young minds.

Reflections: The Land of the Blue Flower

I think I’m going to start sounding like an old broken record when I write about children’s classics. But I can’t help marveling at these authors and wish so dearly to go back in time and relive my childhood days with books such as these teaching me wonderful little principles of leading my life in such simple and enchanting ways.

King Amor’s father was a selfish and greedy ruler of his beautiful land. His foul temperament reflected on his people too, for a shaky, ruthless governance leads to conflicts within locals. When Amor was born, his father got killed in a battle, and  his mother, the Queen didn’t wish her son to grow up in a place filled with hatred and vengeance. She handed him over to a wise old man who lived in the nearby mountains. She asked him to raise him well and bring him to his rightful throne when he was old enough to be King. The old man took the child to a serene palace up on the mountains, and taught the child how to commune with Nature, and to regard every animal and plant as his own kin. The child was infused only with good and positive thoughts and energy, that he never experienced any negative emotion such as hatred, anger or pain. When Amor grew up, he was as peaceful and wise as the old man himself. The tale is all about how this young prince goes to his kingdom and reforms his land and people - using his refreshingly positive attitude and clean and peaceful spirit.

If you’ve read Burnett’s The Secret Garden, you must be familiar with the themes she teaches kids. This tale has the same themes, but is conveyed through a slightly different story. She warns kids against harboring negative thoughts, gently showing that negativity only depletes our energy and prevents us from doing anything constructive. If we focus on creating something beautiful, and put our heart and energy into it with an open and positive spirit, we can create magic.

Burnett loves gardening and growing flowers (my kindred spirit!). So she uses the same example to show us the world of good that can come out of going out in the Sun and interacting with Nature. If we truly appreciated Nature and lived one with it, Nature and her children will reciprocate our kindness. And the best way to reform people is through kindness and compassion. 
 
Can a children’s book that covers themes on peace, the importance of respecting Nature and our environment, the power of positivity and the human will, and the futility and risk of negative thoughts, get any better? Plus, it’s all spiced up in a cute fantasy story that flows with Burnett’s wonderful prose. Children should not miss this book.

Reflections: The Velveteen Rabbit

I clearly alternate between pacifying the child in me and the nagging “adult” in me. The grown-up me disapproves of my affinity towards fantasy and the innocence of childhood. She tries to slap me hard to wake up and be alert to reality, and stop slipping into an escapist world. But  the voice of “reason” in me (boy, I have so many voices and people in me!) sagely argues that I deserve some reprieve every now and then - for every ten spoons of the reality medicine, I’m allowed one sip of the fantasy elixir. It recharges me completely and sends in a volley of optimism to course through my veins and neurons. So, after such monologues I read this adorable book which I’d been wanting to read for years now, but was censured by you know who.

The velveteen rabbit is a toy stuffed with sawdust, and with black beads to mark its eyes. It wonders whether toys are real, and if they will ever become as real as the Real people outside the nursery. A wise old horse says it rests on how much the child loves a toy. The more the child loves his toy, the more shabby it becomes with playing and cuddling, the more real it becomes. The adorable little book tells the story of the velveteen rabbit’s encounter with the magic of love.

I’ve made a decision after reading this book. This will be the first story that I will tell my child, and the first book that I will gift. To most, this might sound silly after reading the book. There isn’t anything so profound in this that a child absolutely should learn. It’s all fantasy and cute, but really nothing educative. I quip, “So what?”. It teaches a child how to treat his/her toys. It helps them associate some value to them, rather than take them for granted as their replaceable treats. It also teaches them about the magic of love and genuine affection.

When I was growing up as an only (introverted, shy) specimen, toys and dolls were my world of comfort and companionship. I truly believed they were real. I treated them with such care, assumed they were capable of feeling pain and hurt, and winced and threw a fit if someone lifted them upside down or yanked them by dragging their ears. For some reason, I believe all of those silly sentiments did help me foster feelings such as compassion and affection, even if I didn’t interact enough with the outside world.

Theories on Play Therapy demonstrate the significance of play-time. The kinds of interactions a child has with his/her toys speak volumes about their inner growth. Children learn subtle values and lessons, they bond, release their stress and find solace in the nature of their play things. And stories such as this (and movies such as Toy Story), however romantic and fantastical they maybe, still carry endearing messages to children - even if it’s just to smear a bit more innocence on them. And I think kids these days really need to be made to retain their innocence a bit longer!

Reflections: Watership Down

Rabbits are universally regarded as cute, cuddly creatures. Almost every little girl is drawn towards their soft fur, furtive little eyes, and adorable teeth that constantly nibble into something. It’s hard to imagine these creatures as being bothersome to anyone, until you try to put together a vegetable garden. And that’s when you realize the voracity of their appetite and how incredibly damaging it is to your puny little garden. Despite our attempts to thwart these creatures, we lost all our budding cauliflower and tomato plants last year. Now, every time we see a flash of brown and white, our hearts leap to our mouth, shrieking out exasperated warnings to save the plants. More sturdy fences have been erected, bunny-repelling plants have been grown and holes have been stuffed and covered. In essence, vigilance is strict this time. That’s when I was reminded of Watership Down. It’s a book that I have been wanting to read for a long time, because of my love for rabbits, and any book that deals with animals and their survival. And ever since we started our little battle against rabbits in our very own yard, the book has pressed itself on me as a must read.

In a nutshell, Watership Down is a classic portrayal of rabbits in the wild - their hierarchy, social structure, and survival mechanisms. A gang of rabbits vacate from their burrows to escape human encroachment, and are on the run to find a nice little place for themselves to settle down, far away from the nagging cruelty of humans and live in peace. Headed by brave rabbits, and by the timid and intelligent little Fiver, whose intuition and perspicacity helps the rabbits sniff out danger before it strikes them, they shuttle from one adventure to another in their stiff battle towards survival.

Throughout the story, Richard Adams infuses interludes of  interesting rabbit mythological tales and the rabbits’ beliefs of an omnipotent creator and his hand in their lives. While the tales were interesting asides in the beginning, they started to wear me down a little as the story progressed, because it gave the book a meandering feel and took my interest away from the story. And while the story itself was endearing, and the writing was quite beautiful, there wasn’t enough happening in the story to hold my interest through its 500 odd pages. Yet there was always a nervous edge to the story that piqued enough curiosity in me to persevere with the book till the end.

Despite anthropomorphizing the animals, Adams maintains an honest perspective of rabbit psychology and physiology, thus bringing us closer to understanding their ecology. However, Adams also subtly likens the similarity of our race for survival, with the rabbits’. In the end, all of God’s creations act and work on the same core instincts, hanging on to their own illusions and perceptions of the Universe and everything that is beyond their control.

Watership Down is quite worthy of its fame, although it might appeal better to young readers. And finally - Did the book make me cringe with guilt for shooing off the rabbits in our yard? Most definitely yes.

Reflections: Island Of the Blue Dolphins

The island of Blue Dolphins lies in the Pacific, somewhere off the Hawaiian islands. The island is so named because it resembles the shape of a dolphin lying on its side. On this little island, there lived a tribe of Indians, peacefully organizing themselves into a society subsisting on the marine life. But even this little island of harmony was not spared of conquests and invasions. After a battle that wiped off many of the men and leaders of the tribe, the new leader began to explore the seas to search for another land - the land of the “white men”, near the California coast. A ship is sent for his entire tribe to join him near the coast of Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, one girl of twelve, Karana, jumps off the ship to get her younger brother who was left behind. All alone in the entire island, she bravely awaits the ship to return for many years. This is a cast-away story of a girl who cleverly survives on her own - armed with her shrewd weapons, courage, hope and some loyal animals.

Every time I pick up a book honored with the Newberry Medal, I feel how much I wasted my younger years reading happy, fun, fantasy, fairy-filled, la-la stories. Entering adulthood was all the more sudden and harsh for those of us who were not introduced to heavy concepts - such as survival, the hardships surrounding it, the decisions confronting it, and the principles that help with addressing all of it. It makes sense to slowly inject these issues into young minds, to start the process of thinking, questioning, and informed understanding.

When I started reading the book, I was extremely skeptical of this being a children’s classic. I expected happy magical dolphins and sea creatures that help the girl out (how amusing, I know). But through the course of the story, as tragedies and pitfalls were balanced with determination, optimism and compassion, I conceded that this was indeed a fitting story filled with lots of thought-provoking moral principles for children. This is a story without adornments trying to add happy frills to a tough situation - it relates the story as is, but in such a way so as to not overwhelm children with grief or anxiety.

Karana is written as a strong and clever girl who creatively and constructively combats her loneliness and pursues her quest to survive. I particularly liked how the author balances the ruthless spirit of survival with tenderness, kindness, and compassion. Even though one is driven to defend oneself by killing other creatures, the story brings the message that one has to draw a line to make sure that the spirit of humanity is not lost to barbarism. The story shows the rewards of compassion, friendship and loyalty to animals, and their importance in our lives.

The writing flows well and takes the bitter edge off the theme of survival. Perhaps as an adult, I wished for more emotions in the words, but on second thoughts, I think it is best that children not be choked with heavy emotions on a heavy topic. The book is surely worth its adulation as a children’s classic.

Reflections: The Giver

As an incurable idealist, I have often imagined a futuristic Utopia, where civilizations will coexist harmoniously in a society that offers both equality and individuality. As I keep getting older, each little brick defining this imaginary castle is being taken down. I am coming to terms with the inevitable reality of human existence, reconciling with the fact that it is perhaps unrealistic to hope for Utopia, for there are too many unanticipated eventualities in the process. Many essays and books have been written on how the path to Utopia can turn devious and lead us into Dystopia, but this book is one of the first that explores how the extremes of Utopia can erode some of our fundamental elements. It makes us question if it's worth sacrificing the essence of humanity, for a harmonious life which guarantees peace, equality, and resources for all.

Jonas is a young boy awaiting his eleventh birthday with a bitter-sweet anticipation. On his b'day he will know what his future career would be, and how it would change his life. The momentous day arrives. Based on meticulous monitoring and survey of his potentials and skills, he is assigned the society's most honorable, unique, yet incredibly demanding and challenging job.

He is assigned? Does he have any say? How was he monitored? These are the pivotal questions. Every person in the community gets monitored - their every action, every utterance, and sometimes even thoughts. The Chiefs in the community decide the apt role of every individual in the society, and on their eleventh birthday, assign their future roles/jobs and begin training them. It is an optimal strategy which utilizes every individual's fullest potentials, thus guaranteeing growth and profit to both the community as well as the individual. A picture perfect model of resource allocation, isn't it? Individuals are also mostly content with their assignments. But Jonas's assignment is one of a kind. There is only one person in the entire community who takes up the job and he often gets burdened with intolerable pain and grief. His job is to hold centuries worth of human memories all to himself. Jonas realizes the bitter truth of how his community functions, and the more secrets he unravels, the more convinced he is that his community needs to revert to the days where people could feel emotions such as love and empathy, despite the prevalence of poverty, wars and inequality. Humanity was too heavy a price to pay for Utopia.

Jonas' guide calls himself the Giver. The people in the community have no access to books, have no means of knowing the history of humanity, and the causes and consequences of the evolution of their existence. The keeper of memories shields the people of any kinds of pain - physical pain, pain of losing, pain of hunger, pain of death. Everything in the community is regulated and controlled, such that people are never exposed to any kind of discomfort, let alone pain. Regulated and standardized meals were always provided, any physical pain was immediately pacified through sophisticated drugs and any cause of turbulence was instantly identified, crushed and terminated. Families did not form by themselves. "Family units" were formed based on the capabilities and personalities of males and females. Babies were assigned to those family units which demonstrated good parenting skills, and who seemed compatible with the baby's personality and needs. When people aged, they were sent to special retirement homes, where based on the supply and demand of resources, the aged were provided for, or they were "released" painlessly. A delicate balance of resources was diligently calculated and maintained. Equality, or "sameness" was exemplified. With advances in genetic engineering, every person was born with the exact same traits - skin, hair, eyes, and all other features. Discrimination based on any kind - caste, color, creed, was eradicated. The cones in the eyes were manipulated and the meaning of colors was obliterated. Weather and temperature were minutely controlled - no one knew what rain or snow meant. A world in monotones, where everything worked like clockwork, nature controlled, animals eradicated, history eroded, memories locked up, emotions diluted, individuality meaningless, and humanity -- was lost. Here is a flip side of Utopia when we try to perfect, equalize, standardize and normalize everything.

The tone of the book is reminiscent of Orwell's 1984, although here is a Utopian society of perfectness with nothing to depress one. Too much perfectness perhaps. An automatized society that churned out rational decisions according to relentless numbers. An interesting discussion that Lowry brings out is the importance of memories in helping us gain wisdom and learn. I have discussed this before, but devoid of memories, we are emptied of our precious experiences which help build our wisdom. But memories don't just end with our own. Imagine if we didn't have any means to learn about the world around us, no permission to books that stimulate thinking or to learn what happened in the past, and how they are playing into the future, how appalling would our ignorance be? The memories of humanity's past is equally important to our growth. While the community's motto was "ignorance is bliss", the lack of wisdom heads the Utopian society  to an unstable future.  Besides, pain - be it physical or emotional, also helps us grow (however unpleasant it is to grow through them). A pampered society oblivious to pain, learns very little about life. The keeper of memories attempts to provide the society guidance on their decisions but it turns futile.

Lowry's writing is simple but powerful. I appreciated how she strings the details on the community without any explicit narration. There is an element of mystery and the pieces on how the society functions slowly fall together. But I have to mention that this books is lauded with the Newbery medal, meaning it is a literary children's classic. It is my personal opinion that the topic of discussion is a trifle too heavy for children to comprehend or come to terms with. It will probably offer a good introduction to young adults to ponder on idealism in society. Lowry definitely reinforces the importance of our core values and she beautifully brings out the true meaning of humanity, and being a human.

Reflections: A Wrinkle in Time

Having found a very promising and good source of books recently, I'm looking forward to quite a few interesting reads :)

It's been a really long time since I indulged myself in a fantasy tale of happy endings. I constantly had to restrict myself from going near Children's Fantasy novels with the reminder that I was growing up (or grown up) and it's about time I read more "grown up" serious books and amass all the knowledge about the Universe ;). But a Wrinkle in Time fits the bill perfectly. Having been lauded with the Newbery Medal, Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, the book is undoubtedly a wonderful and enjoyable read for children. At the same time ,the science fantasy that strings together the tale gives the book a lot of ground for adults (or young adults) to appreciate.

A brilliant physicist with his charming and intelligent microbiologist wife, heads a family of four unique children - an impulsive and impatient girl with intelligence masked by her stubbornness, very normal twin boys, and a very highly developed and intelligent little boy. The physicist experiments with a fifth dimension of time travel and unfortunately gets lost in space, in a very curious, highly controlling and menacing "Dark Planet". The impatient girl, and the intelligent little boy set off to rescue their father with the help of three curious creatures from another planet, and a red-headed boy from their neighborhood. The book takes us on a journey of their adventure through space, their encounters with curious inhabitants of other planets and their ways of life, and their battle against the "Dark Thing".

A worthy point is that this book was published in 1962, even before scientists and astrophysicists had discovered or "seen" planets much beyond the solar system, or had identified and defined Black Holes. It was a time before computers and technology invaded the planet to this extent. With that perspective, it's quite commendable that the author had an imagination so well tuned with the future that she could translate it in such a beautiful manner through a tale that children can enjoy. Most science fiction novels are shielded from children for their apparent gore and depressive nature, asides being very technically involved. But this book encompasses some of the most heavy concepts that Physicists have been concerned with, and they have been seamlessly transformed into an enchanting fantasy tale that will tease curious and very relevant scientific thoughts from children. This goes on to say that the fantasy does not entirely lack in "logic", so as to be trivialised as a fairy tale.

Also, despite being a children's book, the language and style of writing are a little more elegant and profound so it doesn't run the risk of sounding kiddish and elementary.

Reading the book took me back to my younger days, and such a time travel was as magical as the concept of "wrinkling in time" :)