Poor Susan. I always felt bad for her, being punished for reaching puberty and developing an interest in lipstick and boys.

Well, not to re-open another patented Buffista neverending argument, but...ah, what the hell. I always felt like she was punished less for the lipstick and boys than for the lipstick and boys to the exclusion of anything else, including her past as a Queen of Narnia, and actively denying their past -- airily dismissing everyone's memories as "those games we used to play when we were kids."

IIRC, the reality of childhood experiences was a *huge* thing for Lewis; his mother's death when he was six was a trauma that hung over him well into adulthood, and he had a wretched school experience with an abusive and clinically insane teacher that he never told his father about because he felt absolutely certain he wouldn't be believed. He saw dismissing the raw truth of children's experiences as exaggerations or outright fantasies as a massive betrayal. I know it's dangerous to read too much meta into anything, but I do think that fed a great deal into what he saw as Susan's sin.

t points at JZ's post and nods

I have absolutely no horse in this race, but this:

Well, not to re-open another patented Buffista neverending argument, but...ah, what the hell.

May just be the ultimate Buffista sentence.

I thought Susan was punished because she liked cilantro.

And yes, this comes from a girl who was OMGWTFBBQ obsessed with fantasy forever.

And I'm on the other side - I love Tolkien to pieces but find most other fantasy writers dull as dishwater (yes, sorry, including CS Lewis). I've tried rereading other fantasy novels I enjoyed as a child and teenager, and Tolkien's the only one I can still enjoy.

Hooray for being unlaid off! And for good phone interviews!

Lavender jelly

I know I read the Narnia books, but I don't remember them at all. Weird.

It's funny you bring up Mere Christianity, megan. Fred Clark, over on his slacktivist blog frequently harps on Lewis for Mere Christianity because of his failure to understand why it might not be as "obvious" to other people as it is to Lewis. Clark much prefers Lewis' A Grief Observed, written after the death of his wife, when Lewis realized "Oh! Holy crap! Grief, suffering, and other kinds of pain and misfortune are real, and can cause doubt, and questioning one's faith, and other things like that!"

KT, I've been having itchy issues too. After countless nights, I realized it was mostly concentrated in high clothes-skin contact zone (waist, sock zone, and shoulders blades). Since doing laundry at laundromat #1 (closer to work), the itching has gone down a LOT. And I wonder, does laundromat #2 (near home) not rinse enough?

Maybe your using too much soap??? Or maybe try an extra rinse cycle? What I'm saying is, the lil bumps might not be bug bites, but skin irritations. Just a theory. YRMV

my god we are posting fast today. We'll hit 10k in no time.

And I'm on the other side - I love Tolkien to pieces but find most other fantasy writers dull as dishwater (yes, sorry, including CS Lewis). I've tried rereading other fantasy novels I enjoyed as a child and teenager, and Tolkien's the only one I can still enjoy.

Thats cuz they are all copying Tolkien... including Star Wars!

:: ducks and covers like they taught me in elementary school ::

(I bring up the slacktivist blog because it's a blog from a Christian perspective, and Susan turned me on to it)

Jess, you should strongly consider giving George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series a try (A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows, plus a couple more books yet to come). A number of people I know, who pretty much detest all fantasy novels love these books. They may turn out to not be to your liking, but I think you might like them, and they are worth a shot, I think.