Hello NarniaFans! Welcome to the second and final part of “Inside Narnia with Devin Brown” a NarniaFans exclusive interview series with the author of the Narnia commentary “Inside Narnia” and soon to be published “Inside Prince Caspian.”
I especially want to thank Devin Brown for his time and willingness to do this interview.
This week we talk with Devin Brown about his books.
CR: What is your purpose in writing these books?
DB: Everyone enjoys sharing their favorite author with other people. I hope my observations will give a greater understanding and a greater delight to these books which have had such a big role in my formation. I also have another goal. You might call my second goal a greater appreciation for the life of the mind—the ongoing pursuit of ideas and thinking.
CR: For what audience is Inside Prince Caspian intended?
DB: Both Inside Narnia and Inside Prince Caspian are for a general audience of somewhat older readers who would like to learn more about Narnia. Book discussion leaders, youth ministers, Sunday School teachers, anyone who is writing a paper, and others who will be talking about Narnia might also find my books useful.
CR: If your readers could take one thing away from reading Inside Prince Caspian, what would you want it to be?
DB: In Prince Caspian, Lewis presents two truths we need to be reminded of again and again. The first truth is that the life lived only for self is an empty life—think of the White Witch in the first book and Miraz in the second. This life leads only to unhappiness, isolation, and ultimately destruction. This message is the opposite of the one that often gets passed on to young people today. The second truth we see in Prince Caspian is that the virtuous life—despite what today’s media sometime suggest—is really quite an exciting life, really quite an adventure. The word virtuous has fallen out of fashion, and we need Lewis to remind us of the real worth of a life of virtue.
CR: When is your book to be published?
DB: Inside Prince Caspian comes out in January 2008. This way it will be in stores a few months before the film comes out so readers can learn more about the story before they see the film. My third Narnia book, Inside The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is scheduled for release in January 2010 in advance of the third Narnia movie.
CR: Do you plan to continue to write books on every Chronicles of Narnia book?
DB: I plan to keep writing as long as I feel I have something to say. I have started working on Inside The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and so far it’s going well.
I wouldn’t mind if after Dawn Treader, the movie folks took three or four years off before making The Silver Chair. I have a novel for young people titled Not Exactly Normal, and I would love a short break from Narnia to write the sequel.
CR: In your book you often talk about the subtle symbolisms Lewis uses. Because of this, how important do you think it is for the filmmakers to stay close to the book?
DB: While Peter Jackson had to shrink Tolkien’s huge trilogy down to movie length, director Andrew Adamson had a modest-sized book that allowed him to expand and extend some elements, and in this way, add to the story. For example, while Lewis has his narrator simply tell us that this story is about something that happened when four children “were sent away from London during the war because of the air-raids,” the movie actually shows us the bombing and the sense of powerlessness it created.
Other additions, when they stray not only from the original plot but also from Lewis’s original intentions, detract from the story. For example, in the first film, the Witch’s dwarf should not have eaten the last piece of Turkish Delight, for he knew it was only illusion and more importantly that it would lead only to further craving. The forces of evil—the White Witch and her minions in the first adventure and King Miraz and his courtiers in the second—know that the view of reality that they are imposing on everyone is really a lie.
CR: Do you have anything else you would like to say?
The Narnia films, as terrific as they are, should be just the beginning. I hope everyone who sees the movies will be inspired to read or reread the books. To those who finish all seven Chronicles, I would recommend moving on Lewis’s other works, perhaps Out of the Silent Planet, The Screwtape Letters, or Mere Christianity.
Finally, I would encourage Narnia fans to look into taking a class on Lewis, attending a Lewis conference, or even joining me or Chris Mitchell for a seminar at the Kilns this summer. Making new friends you can share these stories with makes the stories all the better.
