The problem of Susan

[Steve Hayes]

I went to hear the second half of David Levey's paper on readin
irreligiously. He compared Milton, Narnia and Pullman's "His Dark
Materials"

I've blogged about it here:

https://t.co/Wq25ks2V8W

mainly concerning "the problem of Susan", who, according to many, was
somehow "condemned" to be "excluded from heaven" because she was
interested in boys. This is interpreted by some to mean that Lewis was
opposed to growing up, and somehow wanted people to live in perpetual
childhood.

I think this view comes from reading stuff into the text that is
simply not there, and assuming that Lewis is some kind of American
Fendamentalist Baptist. What Lewis (or his characters, one older and
one younger than Susan) actually say is that Susan's idea of being
"grown up" pretty superficial, being concerned with image rather than
substance. Neither of them mention "boys" at all. The younger, Jill
Pole, mentions nylons (fashion), lipstick (appearance) and invitations
(popularity) -- all of which suggest the prodigal son in the far
country, whose notion of grown-up sexuality appeared to be as grown-up
as an "adult" shop.

[Steve Hayes]

On Mon, 15 Feb 2016 11:02:35 +0200, Steve Hayes

Post by Steve Hayes
I went to hear the second half of David Levey's paper on readin
irreligiously. He compared Milton, Narnia and Pullman's "His Dark
Materials"

Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

[Lucas S. A. Castro]

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

Use a cancel command. Does not work universally, but solves the problem
in some servers.

[Steve Hayes]

On Sun, 5 Jun 2016 01:47:06 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

Use a cancel command. Does not work universally, but solves the problem
in some servers.

Four months later, I don't think anyone cares.

In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts
may brighten someone'es day.

[Lucas S. A. Castro]

Post by Steve Hayes
On Sun, 5 Jun 2016 01:47:06 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
Use a cancel command. Does not work universally, but solves the problem
in some servers.

Four months later, I don't think anyone cares.

Better late then never.

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

It shall not die. I have some excelent discussions from web-fora which I
shall bring here; Tolkien is meant to be remembered forever.

[Paul S. Person]

On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 08:28:21 +0200, Steve Hayes

Post by Steve Hayes
On Sun, 5 Jun 2016 01:47:06 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

Use a cancel command. Does not work universally, but solves the problem
in some servers.

Four months later, I don't think anyone cares.
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts
may brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.

It produces way more heat than light.

[Lucas S. A. Castro]

On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

[Paul S. Person]

On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.

And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.

And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.

After all, what new thing is there to talk about?

And who is there to talk about it with?

[Michael Cole]

Post by Paul S. Person
On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.
And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.
And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.
After all, what new thing is there to talk about?
And who is there to talk about it with?

There are still some who come here to see if anything is happening.
But yes, not much is being posted.

[Steve Hayes]

Post by Michael Cole

Post by Paul S. Person
On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.
And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.
And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.
After all, what new thing is there to talk about?
And who is there to talk about it with?

There are still some who come here to see if anything is happening.
But yes, not much is being posted.

It was fine until about 3-4 months ago, then suddenly everyone went
away.

But as Paul said, what new thing is there to talk about?

Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss, and
everything that can be said about his works has probably been said.

Do Balrogs have wings?

[bill van]

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Michael Cole

Post by Paul S. Person
On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.
And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.
And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.
After all, what new thing is there to talk about?
And who is there to talk about it with?

There are still some who come here to see if anything is happening.
But yes, not much is being posted.

It was fine until about 3-4 months ago, then suddenly everyone went
away.
But as Paul said, what new thing is there to talk about?
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss, and
everything that can be said about his works has probably been said.
Do Balrogs have wings?

That's not completely clear:

"Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it
was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of
man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it
and go before it... Its streaming mane kindled and blazed behind it. In
its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left
it held a whip of many thongs.... His enemy halted again, facing him,
and the shadows about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the
whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils."

I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

[Paul S. Person]

Post by bill van

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Michael Cole

Post by Paul S. Person
On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.
And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.
And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.
After all, what new thing is there to talk about?
And who is there to talk about it with?

There are still some who come here to see if anything is happening.
But yes, not much is being posted.

It was fine until about 3-4 months ago, then suddenly everyone went
away.
But as Paul said, what new thing is there to talk about?
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss, and
everything that can be said about his works has probably been said.
Do Balrogs have wings?

"Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it
was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of
man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it
and go before it... Its streaming mane kindled and blazed behind it. In
its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left
it held a whip of many thongs.... His enemy halted again, facing him,
and the shadows about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the
whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils."
I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

I take a look at rec.arts.animation, too, but it has very little
activity.

And yet new animated movies appear every week.

[Matthias Koch]

Post by Paul S. Person
I take a look at rec.arts.animation, too, but it has very little
activity.
And yet new animated movies appear every week.

It's a general newsgroup problem I'd say. A lot of people even don't
know about ng's, and even if they did they'd still prefer forums and
Facebook where you can have avatars, fancy fonts and cool nicks.

<oldfartmode on>
Newsgroups are about knowledge, facts, discussion - and who wants that
these days...
<oldfartmode off>

Matthias

[Wayne Brown]

Post by bill van

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Michael Cole

Post by Paul S. Person
On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.
And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.
And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.
After all, what new thing is there to talk about?
And who is there to talk about it with?

There are still some who come here to see if anything is happening.
But yes, not much is being posted.

It was fine until about 3-4 months ago, then suddenly everyone went
away.
But as Paul said, what new thing is there to talk about?
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss, and
everything that can be said about his works has probably been said.
Do Balrogs have wings?

"Something was coming up behind them. What it was could not be seen: it
was like a great shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form, of
man-shape maybe, yet greater; and a power and terror seemed to be in it
and go before it... Its streaming mane kindled and blazed behind it. In
its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left
it held a whip of many thongs.... His enemy halted again, facing him,
and the shadows about it reached out like two vast wings. It raised the
whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils."
I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

I drop in a few times each week, just in case.

[Steve Morrison]

Post by bill van
I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

I still check rabt daily, even though there is less and less
point in doing so.

[john]

Post by bill van
I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

I still check rabt daily, even though there is less and less point in
doing so.

every day!! :)

[Stine Gotved]

Post by john

Post by bill van
I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

I still check rabt daily, even though there is less and less point in
doing so.

every day!! :)

We *could* join forces with the folks at the OneRing messageboard - as far as I can see, lots of relevant discussion is going on over there.
http://newboards.theonering.net/forum/gforum/perl/gforum.cgi

[Paul S. Person]

On Fri, 5 Aug 2016 04:58:43 -0700 (PDT), Stine Gotved

Post by Stine Gotved

Post by john

Post by bill van
I think quite a few people look into this group from time to time in
case something starts happening. Depending on your news reader, keeping
an eye out for activity can be effortless.

I still check rabt daily, even though there is less and less point in
doing so.

every day!! :)

We *could* join forces with the folks at the OneRing messageboard - as far as I can see, lots of relevant discussion is going on over there.
http://newboards.theonering.net/forum/gforum/perl/gforum.cgi

Yes, we could.

I have participated in "boards" in the past, but the best experiences
were tech support boards, not more general boards.

Even then, I found it very hard to locate a specific topic to see if
it was already being discussed. It just isn't the same as Usenet.

But, for those who are willing to make the effort, I am sure it would
be very satisfying.

[Rast]

Post by Steve Hayes
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss,

Eventually there will be a movie of the Children of Hurin.

I'd like to hope that it's done right, but unfortunately it will probably
be just like the movies we've had so far.

[Bill O'Meally]

Post by Rast

Post by Steve Hayes
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss,

Eventually there will be a movie of the Children of Hurin.

Is this a given? What do you know about it?

Post by Rast
I'd like to hope that it's done right, but unfortunately it will probably
be just like the movies we've had so far.

If Jackson is involved, no doubt.

[Paul S. Person]

On Fri, 11 Nov 2016 11:15:40 -0500, Bill O'Meally

Post by Bill O'Meally

Post by Rast

Post by Steve Hayes
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss,

Eventually there will be a movie of the Children of Hurin.

Is this a given? What do you know about it?

Post by Rast
I'd like to hope that it's done right, but unfortunately it will probably
be just like the movies we've had so far.

If Jackson is involved, no doubt.

I recently reread the Arabian Nights, and a very long story toward the
end of the first volume would be /perfect/ for a PJ 3x3: it has three
generations, separated siblings, rulers and successions, many battles,
etc, etc.

[Rast]

Post by Bill O'Meally

Post by Rast

Post by Steve Hayes
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss,

Eventually there will be a movie of the Children of Hurin.

Is this a given? What do you know about it?

I know that eventually the rights will pass to an owner who wants to cash
in.

[Timothy Bruening]

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Michael Cole

Post by Paul S. Person
On Wed, 6 Jul 2016 14:49:05 -0000 (UTC), "Lucas S. A. Castro"

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro
On Sun, 05 Jun 2016 09:39:51 -0700, Paul S. Person

Post by Paul S. Person

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying, so even slightly off-topic posts may
brighten someone'es day.

That's been tried.
It produces way more heat than light.

Heat is vital sign, nonetheless.

But it burns rather than informs.
And, yes, except for the auto-posts, and the spam, and the Tolkien
Transactions (if I recall the name correctly) -- they are dead.
And likely to stay that way for the forseeable future.
After all, what new thing is there to talk about?
And who is there to talk about it with?

There are still some who come here to see if anything is happening.
But yes, not much is being posted.

It was fine until about 3-4 months ago, then suddenly everyone went
away.
But as Paul said, what new thing is there to talk about?
Tolkien is dead, and so there will be no new works to discuss, and
everything that can be said about his works has probably been said.
Do Balrogs have wings?

But we can discuss the movies!

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying

Sigh. And it used to be so lively (back in the 90's).

Sean Quinlan (who still holds a Lesser Ring of Power, a mere essay
in the craft of Ring-making but still dangerous to mortals,
in Gandalf's opinion. It's made of stainless steel and was acquired in
a secret Masonic-like ceremony at Engineering school graduation.
Strangely enough it no longer fits me, having shrunk in some mysterious way).

[John W Kennedy]

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying

Sigh. And it used to be so lively (back in the 90's).

All newsgroups are dying. My ISP (a big one in the NYC area) just
dropped their newsserver without even announcing it. One day it was
there, the next day it wasn’t, and all the support pages on the website
had been scrubbed clean of any mention. News never recovered from the
rumors passed on to politicians that USENET was mainly used to
distribute kiddie porn, and from a massive denial-of-service attack a
few years ago that spammed many newsgroups with megabytes of word salad
every day for weeks. Add to that that we are now in the second
generation of false understanding of the Internet—in the first, people
started to believe that Internet==WWW, and now they believe that
Internet==Facebook.

Post by s***@gmail.com
Sean Quinlan (who still holds a Lesser Ring of Power, a mere essay
in the craft of Ring-making but still dangerous to mortals,
in Gandalf's opinion. It's made of stainless steel and was acquired in
a secret Masonic-like ceremony at Engineering school graduation.
Strangely enough it no longer fits me, having shrunk in some mysterious way).

[Steve Hayes]

On Thu, 3 Nov 2016 11:48:18 -0400, John W Kennedy

Post by John W Kennedy

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by Steve Hayes
In fact this ng seems to be dying

Sigh. And it used to be so lively (back in the 90's).

All newsgroups are dying. My ISP (a big one in the NYC area) just
dropped their newsserver without even announcing it. One day it was
there, the next day it wasn’t, and all the support pages on the website
had been scrubbed clean of any mention. News never recovered from the
rumors passed on to politicians that USENET was mainly used to
distribute kiddie porn, and from a massive denial-of-service attack a
few years ago that spammed many newsgroups with megabytes of word salad
every day for weeks. Add to that that we are now in the second
generation of false understanding of the Internet—in the first, people
started to believe that Internet==WWW, and now they believe that
Internet==Facebook.

Sadly that is true. Even when ISPs reduce the service available, the
do not reduce the fees. My ISP didn't drop it, but the news server
just got more and more erratic, and eventually I switched to the
Eternal September server, which has been more reliable.

Post by John W Kennedy

Post by s***@gmail.com
Sean Quinlan (who still holds a Lesser Ring of Power, a mere essay
in the craft of Ring-making but still dangerous to mortals,
in Gandalf's opinion. It's made of stainless steel and was acquired in
a secret Masonic-like ceremony at Engineering school graduation.
Strangely enough it no longer fits me, having shrunk in some mysterious way).

[Timothy Bruening]

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

Use a cancel command. Does not work universally, but solves the problem
in some servers.

Or just delete the errant post!

[John W Kennedy]

Post by Timothy Bruening

Post by Lucas S. A. Castro

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

Use a cancel command. Does not work universally, but solves the problem
in some servers.

Or just delete the errant post!

“Delete the post” and “use a cancel command” are the same thing.

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

On the contrary, I found it too interesting to ignore.

I seem to recall that all the Pevensie children except Susan
perished in a train wreck. She, presumably, having outgrown Narnia
went on to live a "normal" family life (except that her children
always wondered why she'd hand around the lions' cage for so long
on visits to the zoo).

SQ

[John W Kennedy]

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

On the contrary, I found it too interesting to ignore.
I seem to recall that all the Pevensie children except Susan
perished in a train wreck.

All the Friends of Narnia, in fact, except for Susan.

Post by s***@gmail.com
She, presumably, having outgrown Narnia

Some people would not regard an addiction to “Hello” or “People” or
“Cosmopolitan” (which is more or less what Lewis describes) as
“outgrowing” anything.

Post by s***@gmail.com
went on to live a "normal" family life (except that her children
always wondered why she'd hand around the lions' cage for so long
on visits to the zoo).

A nice image, but not the only one possible, whether for good or ill.

[Steve Hayes]

On Thu, 3 Nov 2016 11:53:56 -0400, John W Kennedy

Post by John W Kennedy

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

On the contrary, I found it too interesting to ignore.
I seem to recall that all the Pevensie children except Susan
perished in a train wreck.

All the Friends of Narnia, in fact, except for Susan.

Post by s***@gmail.com
She, presumably, having outgrown Narnia

Some people would not regard an addiction to “Hello” or “People” or
“Cosmopolitan” (which is more or less what Lewis describes) as
“outgrowing” anything.

I was rather surprised to learn that J.K. Rowling apparently did
regard it as such.

[John W Kennedy]

Post by Steve Hayes
On Thu, 3 Nov 2016 11:53:56 -0400, John W Kennedy

Post by John W Kennedy

Post by s***@gmail.com

Post by Steve Hayes
Sorry, wrong newsgroup. Please ignore.

On the contrary, I found it too interesting to ignore.
I seem to recall that all the Pevensie children except Susan
perished in a train wreck.

All the Friends of Narnia, in fact, except for Susan.

Post by s***@gmail.com
She, presumably, having outgrown Narnia

Some people would not regard an addiction to “Hello” or “People” or
“Cosmopolitan” (which is more or less what Lewis describes) as
“outgrowing” anything.

I was rather surprised to learn that J.K. Rowling apparently did
regard it as such.

Agreed. I keep hoping that the subject will come up in a venue I follow
and reply on. (If I were to just tap her on the shoulder and say “In an
interview with ITV five years ago, you misinterpreted ‘Narnia’,” she
would quite reasonably regard me as impertinent.)

But the mistake is a widespread one, and fashionable in some circles.

[Matěj Cepl]

Post by John W Kennedy
Agreed. I keep hoping that the subject will come up in a venue
I follow and reply on. (If I were to just tap her on the
shoulder and say “In an interview with ITV five years ago, you
misinterpreted ‘Narnia’,” she would quite reasonably regard me
as impertinent.)

Could you point to some record of that interview? You mean,
what’s quoted here
https://www.quora.com/What-did-JK-Rowling-think-of-the-Chronicles-of-Narnia-movies
?

“There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is
lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick.
She’s become irreligious basically because she found sex.
I have a big problem with that.”

I agree, if you mean that, that’s gross misunderstanding of
Susan. If that was the case, I would have a big problem with
such Susan as well. Except, it isn’t. A way better description
of the Susan’s problem is IMHO in what Polly said:

“She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is
now, and she’ll waste all the rest of her life trying to
stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest
time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there
as long as she can.”

Who of us doesn’t know such person who when grown adult throw
away all her “childish” ideals and tried to live only in “the
reality”? I am sure, C. S. Lewis, as a Christian (as I am
myself), had the problem with “the real world” of Vernon
Dursley.

And I believe that Ms. Rowling would completely agree herself,
if she didn’t misinterpret what Lewis wanted to write. After
all, isn’t this exactly what Dursleys are all about?

Best,

Matěj

[Matěj Cepl]

Post by Matěj Cepl
And I believe that Ms. Rowling would completely agree herself,
if she didn’t misinterpret what Lewis wanted to write. After
all, isn’t this exactly what Dursleys are all about?

Actually, the great summary of what I believe is correct is
https://lanternhollowpress.com/2011/10/06/bringing-susan-into-narnia/

Matěj

[Paul S. Person]

Post by Matěj Cepl

Post by Matěj Cepl
And I believe that Ms. Rowling would completely agree herself,
if she didn’t misinterpret what Lewis wanted to write. After
all, isn’t this exactly what Dursleys are all about?

Actually, the great summary of what I believe is correct is
https://lanternhollowpress.com/2011/10/06/bringing-susan-into-narnia/

I /may/ be saying much the same thing, but I /think/ this is a bit
different:

it isn't about sex or social life; it's about worldliness or, perhaps
better, consumerism

Susan's problem is that she, like many young adults, has wandered away
from the religion of her youth. Her focus has shifted, and "lipstick
and invitations" are only the tip of the iceberg. Note that this is
only a "problem" from a specific (if rather commonly adopted)
perspective.

Of course, I may be biased by the fact that, when I was growing up in
the 50s and early to mid 60s, warnings against consumerism were quite
frequent. I suspect that the "in the world but not of it" groups
warned their younglings about worldliness just as often.

So, from my perspective, Lewis is merely making concrete concerns that
were quite ordinary when he was writing the books.

[John W Kennedy]

Post by Matěj Cepl

Post by John W Kennedy
Agreed. I keep hoping that the subject will come up in a venue
I follow and reply on. (If I were to just tap her on the
shoulder and say “In an interview with ITV five years ago, you
misinterpreted ‘Narnia’,” she would quite reasonably regard me
as impertinent.)

Could you point to some record of that interview? You mean,
what’s quoted here
https://www.quora.com/What-did-JK-Rowling-think-of-the-Chronicles-of-Narnia-movies
?
“There comes a point where Susan, who was the older girl, is
lost to Narnia because she becomes interested in lipstick.
She’s become irreligious basically because she found sex.
I have a big problem with that.”

I encountered it at the time, so I do not remember it in detail, but
that’s the essence of it.

Post by Matěj Cepl
I agree, if you mean that, that’s gross misunderstanding of
Susan. If that was the case, I would have a big problem with
such Susan as well. Except, it isn’t. A way better description
“She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is
now, and she’ll waste all the rest of her life trying to
stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest
time of one's life as quick as she can and then stop there
as long as she can.”
Who of us doesn’t know such person who when grown adult throw
away all her “childish” ideals and tried to live only in “the
reality”? I am sure, C. S. Lewis, as a Christian (as I am
myself), had the problem with “the real world” of Vernon
Dursley.
And I believe that Ms. Rowling would completely agree herself,
if she didn’t misinterpret what Lewis wanted to write. After
all, isn’t this exactly what Dursleys are all about?