Alduous Huxley also died on that same day, an author and thinker as well.
Which order do you think the books should be read in?
- Thread starter mspin
- Start date
Ok boys and girls. I read all 19 pages of posts and I, being the weird pseudoshrink that I think I am, came to this conclusion: there are two kinds of people here.
Those who like to read the books in the numbered order (chronological) are people who do not want to be hit with a nasty surprise. They like to know all the facts from the beginning and do not want to be in the middle of some page and be hit with a bomb they would not know that to do with. They are people who want to be told everything and make up their minds as to whether something is right as the read along. It’s like: tell me everything from the beginning, now. Why all the mystery? What are you hiding? Please do not do that. If you don’t tell me everything from the beginning, it doesn’t make sense. They are very practical.
If this is you, read the books in this order, the chronological (numbered) order:
The Magician’s Nephew
LWW
A Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The other kind of people are those who like the feeling of “discovery”, the sense of adventure, of mystery. They do not mind not knowing all the facts because they like to be kept on the edge of their seats and they find it enjoyable to know the “why” of something at the least expected moment. They like to be surprised, prefer to be mystified, and enjoy the feeling of the “magic” moments. They are a bunch of daydreamers if you ask me
If you are this kind of person, you may consider reading the books in this (publication) order:
LWW
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
A Horse and His Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle
But wait! Before you make a decision consider this: Would Narnia be what it is today if CS Lewis had written and published TMN first? Would people had fallen in love with Narnia the same way with TMN as they did with LWW? Would YOU have fallen in love with Narnia? (I know some of you did, but admit that you already knew, if vaguely, something about Narnia from LWW; and some of you did not have a choice in what order it was first read to you).
And the last question: If Andrew Adamson had decided to introduce Narnia to the present generation by filming The Magician’s Nephew would the movie had been the huge hit that LWW was?
Please answer those questions for yourself. When you have decided what type of person you are, and answered the questions, then chose the reading order.
Now, I did not make this up. Some of you said it. Those who advocate for chronology said it makes sense, while those who advocate publication mentioned the "magic" and the "discovery" a lot. Didn't you?
As for me, I daydream even in my daydreams! And I hope and pray that someday I get to meet the real, the beautiful, the loving, dear Aslan and His Father, the Great Emperor-over-the-Sea.
Those who like to read the books in the numbered order (chronological) are people who do not want to be hit with a nasty surprise. They like to know all the facts from the beginning and do not want to be in the middle of some page and be hit with a bomb they would not know that to do with. They are people who want to be told everything and make up their minds as to whether something is right as the read along. It’s like: tell me everything from the beginning, now. Why all the mystery? What are you hiding? Please do not do that. If you don’t tell me everything from the beginning, it doesn’t make sense. They are very practical.
If this is you, read the books in this order, the chronological (numbered) order:
The Magician’s Nephew
LWW
A Horse and His Boy
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle
The other kind of people are those who like the feeling of “discovery”, the sense of adventure, of mystery. They do not mind not knowing all the facts because they like to be kept on the edge of their seats and they find it enjoyable to know the “why” of something at the least expected moment. They like to be surprised, prefer to be mystified, and enjoy the feeling of the “magic” moments. They are a bunch of daydreamers if you ask me
If you are this kind of person, you may consider reading the books in this (publication) order:
LWW
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
A Horse and His Boy
The Magicians Nephew
The Last Battle
But wait! Before you make a decision consider this: Would Narnia be what it is today if CS Lewis had written and published TMN first? Would people had fallen in love with Narnia the same way with TMN as they did with LWW? Would YOU have fallen in love with Narnia? (I know some of you did, but admit that you already knew, if vaguely, something about Narnia from LWW; and some of you did not have a choice in what order it was first read to you).
And the last question: If Andrew Adamson had decided to introduce Narnia to the present generation by filming The Magician’s Nephew would the movie had been the huge hit that LWW was?
Please answer those questions for yourself. When you have decided what type of person you are, and answered the questions, then chose the reading order.
Now, I did not make this up. Some of you said it. Those who advocate for chronology said it makes sense, while those who advocate publication mentioned the "magic" and the "discovery" a lot. Didn't you?
As for me, I daydream even in my daydreams! And I hope and pray that someday I get to meet the real, the beautiful, the loving, dear Aslan and His Father, the Great Emperor-over-the-Sea.
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Sir Godfrey
Pelegrin Crucis
I think the first time or if you can you should read thme chronologically. They just are more fluid and more vivid read in chronological order. Hower I am not agaisnt reading them in Written order or any other order for that matter. If you enjoy reading them in a certian order than by all means read them in that order.
Aye! What does it mean if you do publishing the first time through and then chronological thereafter...
I spose that just makes me crazy.
I spose that just makes me crazy.
glum_of_the_marsh
New member
I agree with all those who say that the publication order is the most logical.
LWW seems to be the best introduction -- it's the most famous and you are following the author's own thought-process in starting here.
If you follow the others in order, when you get to MN you are reading the back-story: and very good it is too!
My main problem is The Horse and His Boy -- I really don't know where this would fit.
GM
LWW seems to be the best introduction -- it's the most famous and you are following the author's own thought-process in starting here.
If you follow the others in order, when you get to MN you are reading the back-story: and very good it is too!
My main problem is The Horse and His Boy -- I really don't know where this would fit.
GM
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OK, glum, if you had chosen the other side (chronological! **grimaces**) I would have had to rescind my welcome from the other thread, but since you are on the correct (publication! ) side, then, welcome again. Glad to have you here.
I actually like Barbarian's analysis above. It is the wonder, the magic, of learning about Aslan in LWW at the same time as the Pevensies learn about him -- that's what makes it so cool.
And yes, WHB, you are just crazy ...
) side, then, welcome again. Glad to have you here.I actually like Barbarian's analysis above. It is the wonder, the magic, of learning about Aslan in LWW at the same time as the Pevensies learn about him -- that's what makes it so cool.
And yes, WHB, you are just crazy ...
jonnylaw37
New member
I personally read the books in chronologicol order first, because I didn't know better. I bought an all-in-one edition so I just read them in that order. Fortunately, I had heard LWW on the radio, so I knew the basic story. In my opinion, if you have not seen the movie or heard the story of LWW, you should read LWW first. If you have heard the story of LWW, it would be ok to read MN first. Either way you read them, you get a different experience. When you read MN first, then when you get to LWW you think, "I know how that got there!". When you read LWW first, then when you get to MN you say, "OH! So that's how that got there!". Either way is ok, but I think that the publication order is best. Thats what I voted for too 
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I've probably already chimed in on this thread, but I couldn't agree more that publication order is by far the best, for the reasons others have already given.
Does anyone know why the other order is used? Was it because Walter Hooper found some note of Lewis' that supposedly claimed chronological order is preferable?
Does anyone know why the other order is used? Was it because Walter Hooper found some note of Lewis' that supposedly claimed chronological order is preferable?
Ooo - that burns.
I think, as I don't really have a preference I'm going to stick up for chronological order so it has some support!!! And also because Inky was horrible to me
hehe
But in that quote you gave, Lewis is ambivalent himself. He says "perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them" which to me signifies that he does not claim to have a strong opinion. So many of us feel very strongly that the publication order is by far the best, since in the later books (like HHB and MN) he alludes to previously written books, which makes these allusions far more special and magical if you read them in publication order. If you hadn't read the series in publication order, these allusions would fall on deaf ears.
With respect to the quote given, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Lewis probably didn't realize how powerful of an effect these allusions have on the reader and/or wasn't fully considering this aspect of his series when he casually wrote this letter; since after all that's where this quote appears: in a casually written letter!
With respect to the quote given, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Lewis probably didn't realize how powerful of an effect these allusions have on the reader and/or wasn't fully considering this aspect of his series when he casually wrote this letter; since after all that's where this quote appears: in a casually written letter!
I think I'll come down on both sides, just to be contrary . I started out reading the books in publication order, and the advantage tot that is, as Inkspot says, the "surprise" of recognition in The Magician's Nephew. On the other hand, chronological order has its own charm, namely, following Narnian history, so to speak, from beginning to end, as events would have played out.
As long as someone doesn't start with The Last Battle *shudders*
. I started out reading the books in publication order, and the advantage tot that is, as Inkspot says, the "surprise" of recognition in The Magician's Nephew. On the other hand, chronological order has its own charm, namely, following Narnian history, so to speak, from beginning to end, as events would have played out.As long as someone doesn't start with The Last Battle *shudders*
And, regarding the Lewis quote, he can't go back now and say what order he intended for them to be read in -- anymore than JKR can go back now and offer revelations about characters in the HP books which are not made in the stories themselves. All that exists of the books once published are the books, and the author cannot then claim that there is more, unless she brings out another book which establishes her claims ...
I don't think Lewis knew the implications of what he said. Remember that he didn't even know when he wrote the books in relationship with when they were published which means he probably didn't remember that the Penvensies are not supposed to know "who Aslan was any more than you do".
If he had remembered that part, he wouldn't have said what he said.
If he had remembered that part, he wouldn't have said what he said.
I would say that he is not saying there is any one 'correct' way to read them – just that he prefers the chronological. As for the allusions to other books, I have enjoyed them while reading chronologically, as a vestige of the original order. But certainly there is no one right way to read them... I used to eat my toast buttered side down.
You can disregard even published information from the authors, if you think the book is worth it – simply by blacking out offensive parts. Fiction is great that way. There just isn't a plain true and false to go by. There's 'what the author said', 'what the author said in the original', 'what the author said in the first draft' (lots of that, in Tolkin's writing), and back when books were copied by hand, you could have changed something yourself, and that would just be another version. Not the original, but just as valid. And if Tolkien had somewhere written that Eowyn loved to wear pink...I think I'd disregard that.
Oh, well, everyone knows Eowyn did love to wear pink.
OOOH! I would love to see HER in pink... is it me or it's getting warm in here? Anyway, back to the topic people!!!
Stop taking Lewis' quote as a law that you have to read the books in chronological order. We all know that he really didn't prefer one way or another.
I think to start out with people should read them in published order. Then if they want to read them in chronological it's fine, but so many of the fun suprises are spoiled if it's done in chronological order to start with in my opinion. I love the published order personally, but that's me.