Author: C.S. Lewis
Year of Publication: 1951
Official Fan Page
Synopsis: A prince fights for his crown. Narnia... where animals
talk... where trees walk... here a battle is about to begin. A prince denied
his rightful throne gathers an army in a desperate attempt to rid his land of a
false king. But in the end, it is a battle of honor between two men alone that
will decide the fate of an entire world.
STEPH SAID
Rating: 
Review:
The first time I read Prince Caspian I stopped reading it
halfway through, something I don’t usually do. No matter how boring a book is,
I keep reading because maybe, just maybe, the ending will be worthwhile.
However, Prince Caspian exasperated me. I kept reading and reading and Prince
Caspian was nowhere to be seen.
Furthermore, the dwarf, Trumpkin, kept talking about how
Caspian was in a war and needed the Pevensies’ help. And instead of hurrying to
his aid, (and listen to the story along the way) the Pevensie children decided
to listen to the whole story first. Then, they decided to show Trumpkin they
were really the old kings and Queens of Narnia, loosing so much time. Then was
the expedition to where Caspian was; and during all that time the Pevensies wasted,
Caspian army was being murdered.
After many troubles, and more waste of time, they reached
Aslan’s How. Peter, Edmund and Trumpkin stayed outside the room where Caspian
was. Inside the room, people where talking about how Peter was not going to help
them, about how the Pevensies where, probably, not on Narnia and about how much
they needed some extra help. Some even suggested bringing the White Witch back.
These three topics were repeated over and over again. Meanwhile, Peter was
outside, listening to every word and doing nothing. He didn’t react to the
mention of his name, he didn’t go in to calm everyone’s fears and, most
certainly, he didn’t do anything at the mention of the White Witch. If it
weren’t because a fight broke out inside the room, Peter probably wouldn’t have
done anything. It was exasperating.
At last Peter entered the room and everybody knew the
Pevensies where there to help. Afterwards Peter commanded many things, which
basically changed nothing and culminated exactly where they started: a war
between Caspian’s side and Miraz’s side. Meaning: Peter didn’t actually do
much, except, perhaps, helped in bringing Miraz’s death. Just help, because he
didn’t actually kill him.
Bottom line, the Pevensies were totally useless in this
story. Susan and Edmund (as much as I love him) did nothing important. Lucy
managed to fail the one thing Aslan asked her to do (and he made sure she knew
how disappointed he was). And Peter fought Miraz one-on-one trying to solve the
war that way, but it amount to nothing, since the war resumed. At the end it
was Aslan who saved everybody and set things right. Which begs the question: if
Aslan was going to do everything, and save everybody, why wait until the last
minute to do it?
On the good side, Caspian's story was really good and interesting. Caspian, Trumpkin and Reepicheep are
amazing characters, and a great addition to the series. Reep is my favorite
overall. My heart just melted when Reep’s underlings said they would cut their
own tails if Reep had to live without his.
"May it please your High Majesty," said the second Mouse, whose name was Peepiceek, "we are all waiting to cut off our own tails if our Chief must go without his. We will not bear the shame of wearing an honour which is denied to the High Mouse."
These lines, along with Aslan’s response gave me goose bumps and brought tears to my eyes.
0 comments:
Share your thoughts...