Narnia

(Emailed by a friend who adores Narnia. I feel the same way.) I entered the World of Narnia through the same doorway as the Pevensie children, through the Wardrobe.


Hah. Nothing more satisfying than having a nice, long, drawn-out bath in the middle of the day. A day that is, incidentally, a holiday.

Athough... it’s not totally a holiday. I still have to make sense of an Appeal (to an ejectment case) that’s due by next week. But work’ll only reappear after today’s siesta time. For the moment, I’ll leave myself time to relax.


I just finished reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis).

I got a copy of the book by putting it at the top of my wish list for the Block Christmas party- this party which I wouldn’t have attended were it not for the persistent prodding of some of my friends.

I’m weird in a lot of ways. In one of those ways, I’m weird because I don’t like going to parties. Specifically, I don’t like going to parties because I don’t want to have to be invited to play games. Because I won’t. Or I can’t. I don’t know how to explain it. I’m more wont to embarrass myself publicly than the next guy, and I’ll do it gladly, without even a thought as to how it’ll affect my self esteem. (It won’t.) But I’m loathe to participate in party games. I suppose it’s one of those mysteries that will never ever be solved, such as where did the universe come from (and does it matter if we’ll know or not), or will the Philippines ever prosper (and that’s too scary for me to want to know the answer, because I’m afraid that it’ll be: never).

Anyway, the long and short of it is that I did go to the Block Party, and I did not participate in any of the games.

From the moment I arrived at the party gates, I was already muttering under my breath:

whydidithavetobeacostumeparty?

And:

whodoesacostumepartyinthemiddleofDecember?

And yet, as soon as our Block President saw me, he said, “Oli, hey, nandito ka!” I think it kind of melted my heart a little. Medyo.

Of course, I didn’t wear any kind of costume; and people I passed kept on asking me a variety of whys and whats (I was supposed to be). I laughed everytime I was asked. Hahahaha. (I came as someone who genuinely likes to be here.)

When the games started, I shed off the costume.


I love the Block, although a few of my friends will hear me say otherwise. What I really mean is that there are just times when our differences show. But really, were we all alike, it would have been boring. I am grateful that we all differ. And really, usually, sentimental-melancholy comes easy to me, but this time, it crept up on me late. It was only a few days ago when I realized- whoa, that was the last time that our whole Block will be together in one room. (We’re graduating this sem.)

Suddenly, I missed everyone. For three and a half years, we had the same seats in class. We all knew where everyone was supposed to be. We’d all get anxious a few minutes before the professor would walk in. have you read everything the professor assigned to us?

There would be pockets of seats in the room where the more studious students would already be discussing the day’s lesson, while in some corners notably mine, I would still be reading the assigned cases- for the first time.

There would also be times when, I’d decide to gather my things and tell my seatmates, I’m cutting class today. Because I wasn’t brave enough to cram the lesson while I was in class. (And anyway, I always believed that when we were allowed to absent ourselves from 20% of the class throughout the sem- it was our right to do so.)

We'd all laugh together at our mistakes. We'd all comfort each other when we'll have bad recit days. We'd all make fun of our professors, or fear them- together.

Sigh.

Why must a good part of our lives be devoted to saying goodbye?


Where was I? Ah, Narnia.

For the (Block) exchange gifts, I asked for the following:

1. Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; or,




2. CD’s: Breakaway (Clarkson) or Inuman Sessions (Parokya) or any Classical CD (string)- but not Vivaldi (I need to hear something else); or,




3. Oils- for burning… but something fruity… preferably apple… I’m allergic to fragrances that are not of fruit…. Or,




4. A bookmark…. It doesn’t have to be fancy and expensive. I just need something I can keep track of pages with (I’ll be catching up on my fiction reads during the Holidays). Presently, I’m using either a used movie ticket or a twenty-peso bill.

My “daddy” got me my first wish.


I first became acquainted with Narnia when I saw the trailer for the movie some few months ago. I thought, Hah! Disney’s answer to Potter.

Anyway, the visuals looked promising, and I was really desperate to find another fantasy to whup Harry’s ass, so I resolved to watch Wardrobe when it’ll finally be making its rounds here. {And that’ll be… next year. (Danged Metro Manila filmfest.)}


Narnia is a fantasy world separate from our own, peopled by fauns, satyrs, giants, etc etc. The four Pevensie children are transported onto its snowy slopes when they try to hide in the wardrobe (actually a walk-in closet). It’s eternally snowing in Narnia, because of the powers of the Evil White Witch. The children must combine forces with Aslan the lion in order to free Narnia from the rule of the Witch. To do so, a great sacrifice must have to be made.


Narnia provokes a lot of discussion.

Narnia is actually the second of seven books in the Chronicles of Narnia. It doesn't feel that way when you read it.

When you read the book, it looks like it’s written for children. In fact, while reading it, I’m already imagining how nice it would be if someone read it to me before I slept. Preferably read by someone with a nice warm voice like… Gloria Arroyo … so I can throttle her while she’s completely unawares….

Oi, but seriously, when the book is read by an ordinary, reasonable_ rational adult, s/he starts to ask questions…

1. Why is the Evil Witch white?




2. Why is the overlord of Narnia a lion?




3. Why must there be four children?




4. Why does time pass in Narnia while here, it stands still.




5. Why aren’t there any humans in Narnia?




6. Why must the children grow up to defeat the Witch?




7. Did the children grow up?

And a dozen more questions, which will only reveal more of the book if I ask it here.


Wardrobe is an easy read; something you can finish while waiting for a delayed flight, and cute enough- even if you restrain yourself from asking questions. Somehow, somewhere, we’re still all children deep down.


Next up: We Were the Mulvaneys (Oates); and A Portrait in Sepia (Allende).