[Kalimac]

Muse, I'm like you [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] - I read Narnia very young and completely missed the allegorical aspect of it, but just enjoyed it as a very good story. And while I rather dislike conscious allegories, I can't knock one which is also able to stand up as a story by itself, which Narnia was able to do.

Tolkien and Lewis's friendship did wane in the fifties, unfortunately. I'm not sure why (is anybody?) but don't believe it was just about the writings; they'd been able to see past their differences on that subject before. From an admittedly quick reading of Tolkien's letters it seems that while that may have been a factor, the two drifted apart in other parts of their outlooks as well; plus Lewis's marriage could well have been a factor. Lewis married very late, to an American divorcee, and Tolkien (not to mention Mrs. Tolkien) may have found that distasteful, especially since the stigma on divorce was greater then, and let's face it, not every Englishman (especially an old-line type like Tolkien) is terribly enthusiastic about Americans. Just my guess.