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Prince Caspian ... the book ... it's just me, isn't it?


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I have tried SO hard to get into this book because I wanted to read it before I see the movie, but I just can't seem to do it. I had really wished I had read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe before I saw the movie, but after watching the movie several times I am finally able to understand and follow it. I don't think it is the level of the book that is the problem since it (from what I have found) is written on about a mid-5th grade level. I am reading Slaves of the Mastery which is on an early 7th grade level and am having no difficulty following it or understanding it. Am I just not interested in this book or what?

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Don't worry, the movie doesn't follow the book as well this time around; the major events are there, but the specifics are all jumbled. I enjoyed watching Prince Caspian today, but it definitely wasn't true to the book like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Like you, I wanted to read the book before the movie this time, but all it did was irritate me because they weren't following the storyline very closely.

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I have picked it up and started it three times in the last week. I am finally at a point where I find it more interesting, but, I keep finding myself thinking during my down times, "I need a book to read, oh, wait, I am reading one." So, it is definitely not you!

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You might try them on audio. I haven't listened to the Focus on the Family ones, but I have this set and really like it.

 

I did enjoy reading the books, though, and have a lovely hardcover set and re-read them from time to time because I love them. :D

 

(Whispering) I didn't like Tolkien either until I found the books in audio format. The narrator, Rob Inglis, is fantastic. It's a lot of fun to listen to, but I have yet to be able to slog my way through those books.

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This was a boring book for me too, I read it aloud to the kids about a year ago. It was torture!

The movie, IMO, was much better!

 

So, now we're going to start the next book...whichever it is. I never read the Narnia series as a child, so they're all new to me. I've enjoyed The Magician's Nephew, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and even liked The Horse and His Boy.

I was thinking about rereading Prince Caspian thinking maybe I just didn't give it a good go, but the kids said NO! lol

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Hmmm... I wonder if it is a better read than a read-aloud. Faster, I mean. It is of the right length and difficulty to read to oneself in just a few hours at most. I read it Thursday/Yesterday before bed and really enjoyed it. Maybe it isn't so slow taken as a whole, as opposed to a read-aloud pace of one chapter a day (at least we usually read a chapter a day when we do read-alouds).

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Have you read the other books? We read through all the Narnia Chronicles in order a couple of years ago--I think it might make more sense that way, plus by then you care about the characters & happenings.

 

Merry :-)

 

I think it helps to read them in order, because the storyline makes more sense. The British order of the books is actually more correct, FWIW. Also, I second the idea of listening to the Focus on the Family production. It's very well done; that might generate some interest.

 

Also, my oldest likes the general storylines of these books, but tends to dislike Narnia because she feels they're too heavily allegorical. I personally still like them, and agree that Lewis was a bit heavy on the allegory, but then, he was writing to children and writing with a particular view in mind.

 

Tolkien, on the other hand, was influenced by a variety of sources and spent much more time writing The Lord of the Rings. He was influenced by his vast knowledge of languages and ancient Norse and Finnish myths and sagas, and of course his love for Old Anglo-Saxon and its culture. His books are "richer," in my opinion.

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