Let's go to Narnia

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adamhovey1988 said:
Publication first, then chronological. (Seriously, no one seems to think you should read them in chronological order first, I researched this when I started reading them)
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I also recommend publication order. My reason is that when I read a work of fiction, in addition to getting into the story, I also try to get into the mind of the author and imagine the process he uses in story construction. This was a problem for Tolkien when he had to revise “Riddles in the Dark” as described in “The Hobbit” so that the story could develop the way he wanted in “Fellowship.” He “explained” his revision in the story itself by saying that Bilbo initially fibbed about how he got the ring so as to put all question of his ownership to rest, but now in Fellowship he decided to come clean. So in Narnia, Lewis had to design Magician’s Nephew to connect with the already published L,W,&W, giving “backstories” to the White Witch, the lamp post, the wardrobe, etc. which were probably not fully formed at the time L,W,&W was written.
 
Started at 21, myself, with DAWN TREADER. It was off to the races after that. Still going, after 53 years.
 
Lewis, LETTERS TO CHILDREN, p. 68, expressed a mild preference for a chronological reading, but also said perhaps it didn’t matter much. and that he wasn’t sure that the publication order actually corresponded to the order in which he wrote all of them.
 
midori said:
The Magician’s Nephew was pretty heavily allegorical, and also had good worldbuilding.

And The Last Battle had very obvious allegory as well. It was a good read, but I usually would re-read parts of it, rather than the whole thing.
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Lewis made a case that Narnia was not, by his take, allegorical, per this article:

www.thegospelcoalition.org

Why Narnia Isn't Allegorical

Tim Challies’s excellent post this week on why Narnia’s Aslan is not the same as the divine characterizations in William Paul Young’s The Shack offered a literary side-note that addresses...
www.thegospelcoalition.org www.thegospelcoalition.org

The letter to Mrs. Hook mentioned may be found on pp. 1004-1005, Vol III of Lewis’ COLLECTED LETTERS.

THE ALLEGORY OF LOVE reference starts at p. 44 of the 1969 OUP trade pb of that title.

The “On Criticism” essay quote is at p. 57 of the essay in OF OTHER WORLDS, 1st American ed.
 
Around age 10, as I started my SF career, Heinlein juveniles and Winston SF series, the local librarian, an old family friend, put OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET in my stack. Confused the heck out of me. But things got better. SCREWTAPE around age 15, and nothing more until college, when Narnia came to my attention because Tolkien had first burst upon the college scene then. This was the start of my Tolkien/Lewis/Chesterton /Belloc/etc and etc, obsessions that continue to this day.

My reading age was out of sight. OTOH, I need help following the page numbers,
 
Hey y’all, it’s not much longer until I am finished with Prince Caspian. The only reason it’s taking me this long is because I don’t read it everyday. It’s quite good. I intend on reading the whole series, eventually.
 
Hey y’all, I did it! I finished Prince Caspian. I will say that it was a good read, but I liked The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Better. I feel like the White Witch was a better antagonist. I am NOT complaining, just stating my feelings on it.The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is next! Although my understanding is there are some important differences between the American and British versions. (Well, according to Wikipedia at least). I read an American version of the Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe, and a British version of Prince Caspian, my guess is that the main differences with those are spelling.
 
I’m guessing you are correct. Though there might a change if there is some reference to something like an amount of money, (British or American currency) and I don’t recall any.

My shelf copies of Narnia are hardbacks, two of which are British editions. My wife keeps a set of American paperbacks around for occasional reading. Since you are going to do VOYAGE next I got her American and my British down and started to look for spelling differences. Skimming over the pages, I got to page 15 in the American printing and page 19 in the British, where the word “Vitaminized” (American) and “Vitaminised” (British) appeared.
So there you are.

Going off to read something else now.
 
Boy, this is a hard choice. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is my favorite, but just because winter is my favorite season. I honestly get sad every time I come to the point where the snow melts.

I love the portrayal of the creation of Narnia in Magician’s Nephew.

The Last Battle is just epic on so many levels.

And I love Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

If others haven’t already said it, don’t waste your time with the modern movie renditions. Lion, Witch, and the Wadrobe was mediocre at best. I came very close to walking out of the theater during Prince Caspian. And I didn’t bother seeing Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the theater. I do, however, own it on DVD and only watch it occasionally because my kids like it.
 
Enjoy your read! (I’ve always had a preference for British spelling, anyway)
 
I think the books are almost always going to be better than the movies. I think I know why that is: When you read the books, you can use your own imagination, when you watch a movie, it requires the use of someone else’s. Now, that said, there are some good movies based on books, but, I think, as a necessity of the medium, a lot from the books get omitted.
 
The problem with the Narnia movies, particularly Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is that they messed with Lewis’s basic story outline so much that they were all but unrecognizable from the books. Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe wasn’t quite that bad.

I’ve seen some very good film adaptations of books. The A&E version of Pride and Prejudice is both well done and almost word-for-word with the book. But it’s 6 hours long.

The movie rendering of The Lord of the Rings (I was a fan of the books long before the movie was
even in concept) was tolerable, and I can watch it without wanting to throw my socks at the TV screen. But the rendering of The Hobbit was so bad that I don’t think I can stomach watching it ever again.
 
I have not read any of the Lord of Rings books, or seen the films, but you have my curiosity up.
 
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Phillip_Rolfes said:
The problem with the Narnia movies, particularly Prince Caspian and Voyage of the Dawn Treader , is that they messed with Lewis’s basic story outline so much that they were all but unrecognizable from the books. Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe wasn’t quite that bad.
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Not the first time I’ve heard that about Voyage of the Dawn treader, oddly. Although this reviewer seems to like the movie better than Prince Caspian.SDG Reviews ‘The Voyage of the Dawn Treader’
 
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I actually just finished reading the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe to my children, which they loved. I’m currently reading them The Magician’s Nephew (yes I know, I’m ignoring both chronological and publication order). I actually like it a little better, but my kids aren’t as excited about it. After this we’ll take a break and I’ll be reading children’s versions of the Aeneid and Beowulf (we’ve already done the Iliad and Odyssey this month), then I’ll pick back up C.S. Lewis in publication order.

FWIW, my kids enjoyed the book more than the movie for LWW, but the movie was still not bad.
 
I read Beowulf in high school. I’m just surprised there is someone that still reads to their kids (good parenting, by the way)
 
You are a deeply impressive parent, Fuerza. Your children are blessed!
 
That’s interesting, because I have heard the other way around so much more
 
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