What a delightful discussion. You've made me seriously consider rereading all seven books (beginning with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) for the second time in one year.
We started with TLTWTW last year because we’re not savages. The kids loved it, now we’re starting MN, I thought maybe they’d be too young but they love it and are making me read it all day! It’s so much fun to relive it through their eyes. Thank you for the wonderful post!
I still have the set you picture in the correct order--mine is about as battered and love-worn as yours! When I saw a more recently published set with The Magician's Nephew first, I was appalled! That's just wrong! And to think the publisher reordered them on the basis of ONE CHILD's opinion! What about all the millions of others who know they should be read in the order written? Anyway. Thanks for affirming this.
I have been Christian my whole life, but even still, even knowing the background, my conversion came from experiences with Christ and the spirit of God. Not by understanding the logic of the gospel, but by His changing me.
But even beyond that, I’d never recommend someone read a book series in chronological order in the story if it was published in a different order. I can think of 4 off the top of my head, and you’d be crazy to read them chronological the first time. That’s a second time through thing to do. Not without merit, but never for a first trip.
I grew up reading them in publication order just like I do with the Redwall series. I always read a series in publication order first because it feels like that's the proper way. However, with a series that jumps around in time, I do like to read them in chronological order at least once just for the heck of it but only AFTER I read them in their intended order first.
I'm currently doing the chronological order for Narnia and I must say, it's going better for me than publication order from childhood. Publication order has the most boring books in the middle and towards the end but chronological order puts most of those in the front. I'm getting my least favorite volumes out of the way first.
But no matter which order you read them in, they both end with The Last Battle which is the best one in the series, so no matter how you slice it you're going to end on a high note as Lewis intended.
When I was a kid I hated Magician's Nephew, Silver Chair, and The Horse and His Boy. Rereading them as an adult, I really enjoyed Magician's Nephew, haven't gotten to Silver Chair yet, and I still hate The Horse and His Boy. It's still slower than a snail going uphill in molasses in the middle of January. But I'm still reading it to completion!
Love this approach and insight into meeting Aslan first. But there’s also just the “yowzah” factor of the wardrobe’s origin if you enjoy them in publication order.
I just started re-reading the Chronicles a few weeks ago(after a period of diving into Lewis' more grown up work) and it felt like a grand welcome back into the world I grew up in. I do think, however, after re-reading, that perhaps we overanalyze these books at times, drawing allegorical comparisons where, of course they are there, but quite possibly we should read them as fully involved in the story. It is, and was, a children's book. I think maybe we must, as Lewis' wrote in his dedication, become children again as we read it. We mustn't be scholars for the sake of being intellectual about this work, maybe just. Well, I guess stepping into the wardrobe is an apt metaphor for the way we should approach this. Not by sitting under a lamp with notebooks to compare it to the story behind the story(I am not saying never to do this, just that we do it too often it seems), but by letting the water of the oceans catapult us into the depths of the waters that the Dawn Treader tretches.
Reading through them now with the kiddos. We've gone through them several times, with 3 of my 6 being teenagers, and one those soon to graduate, this is likely our last time going through them all together. Sweet times!
I once embarked on a journey to read every one of Lewis’s works in chronological (print) order in a year. Needless to say, I bit off more than I could chew. I got happily mired in All My Road Before Me, which truly felt like I was getting to know a dear friend. By the time I got through Studies in Words, I knew I was never going to make it. I hit Narnia pretty late and gave up on my timeline, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading my favorite books from my childhood again. I’ll admit, I’ve now passed them on to my kids and allowed them to choose whether they start with The Magician’s Nephew or not. So far, that is their choice but they’ve also said they know they want to reread them in the future. I really appreciate this article though. Perhaps I’ll have them read it…
I have his diary but haven't read it yet. I have read the first volume and some of the second volume of his Collected Letters. It is so enjoyable to read those. It definitely beats reading a biography. It makes you feel like you really knew the man. I would highly recommend getting that collection. I look forward to writing study guides for the works of C. S. Lewis.
Yes! He really felt like a friend. He was so witty and kind of cantankerous at times, but I loved it. He had nicknames for many people, especially those he didn’t like, and his commentary is raw and often funny. Did you know he actually met TE Lawrence? He didn’t really care for him, which I found fascinating. I wish we had more details on that encounter!
Many thanks! I'm a latecomer to Lewis' work, so I haven't read Narnia yet. Hopefully I'll get to them after I finish the Ransom trilogy. And I'll read them in publication order.
I'm about to start That Hideous Strength. They've been challenging reads, in the sense that they've gotten me to consider things I haven't before. They've also been entertaining.
Nice! Hope you enjoy That Hideous Strength. One of my favorites. I’ve got some resources on my substack for out of the silent planet and perelandra (short podcast-type analysis + written summaries & analysis). The Pints with Jack podcast also has episodes for OSP and they are currently going through perelandra. Enjoy.
That's a fascinating allegory to take away from the series.
I also prefer reading Narnia in publication order, but my reason is more to do with Lewis' style. It seems to develop into a more mature portrayal as he goes on. So if you start with TMN I find it's quite a steep slope down to TLTWTW.
Great article. I have sometimes wondered how much Lewis' work on Narnia influenced The Screwtape Letters. Maybe the White Witch wasn't allegorically complex enough to fully represent the devil's schemes?
What a delightful discussion. You've made me seriously consider rereading all seven books (beginning with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) for the second time in one year.
It’s never not time to reread Narnia (even if you just did so).
We started with TLTWTW last year because we’re not savages. The kids loved it, now we’re starting MN, I thought maybe they’d be too young but they love it and are making me read it all day! It’s so much fun to relive it through their eyes. Thank you for the wonderful post!
I still have the set you picture in the correct order--mine is about as battered and love-worn as yours! When I saw a more recently published set with The Magician's Nephew first, I was appalled! That's just wrong! And to think the publisher reordered them on the basis of ONE CHILD's opinion! What about all the millions of others who know they should be read in the order written? Anyway. Thanks for affirming this.
I have been Christian my whole life, but even still, even knowing the background, my conversion came from experiences with Christ and the spirit of God. Not by understanding the logic of the gospel, but by His changing me.
But even beyond that, I’d never recommend someone read a book series in chronological order in the story if it was published in a different order. I can think of 4 off the top of my head, and you’d be crazy to read them chronological the first time. That’s a second time through thing to do. Not without merit, but never for a first trip.
I grew up reading them in publication order just like I do with the Redwall series. I always read a series in publication order first because it feels like that's the proper way. However, with a series that jumps around in time, I do like to read them in chronological order at least once just for the heck of it but only AFTER I read them in their intended order first.
I'm currently doing the chronological order for Narnia and I must say, it's going better for me than publication order from childhood. Publication order has the most boring books in the middle and towards the end but chronological order puts most of those in the front. I'm getting my least favorite volumes out of the way first.
But no matter which order you read them in, they both end with The Last Battle which is the best one in the series, so no matter how you slice it you're going to end on a high note as Lewis intended.
Uh boring ones? C’mon. Also Silver Chair is the best one. 🧐😂
When I was a kid I hated Magician's Nephew, Silver Chair, and The Horse and His Boy. Rereading them as an adult, I really enjoyed Magician's Nephew, haven't gotten to Silver Chair yet, and I still hate The Horse and His Boy. It's still slower than a snail going uphill in molasses in the middle of January. But I'm still reading it to completion!
Man, I love them all. A Horse and His Boy has interesting connections to Moses’ story.
Love this approach and insight into meeting Aslan first. But there’s also just the “yowzah” factor of the wardrobe’s origin if you enjoy them in publication order.
That's a great argument, Jacob. Of course that's how one should meet Aslan for the first time.
Jacob you have thrown down the gauntlet here! I will draw my sword for the publication order side of the debate and gladly die on that hill :)
great post and writing as always, sir!
Thanks!
I just started re-reading the Chronicles a few weeks ago(after a period of diving into Lewis' more grown up work) and it felt like a grand welcome back into the world I grew up in. I do think, however, after re-reading, that perhaps we overanalyze these books at times, drawing allegorical comparisons where, of course they are there, but quite possibly we should read them as fully involved in the story. It is, and was, a children's book. I think maybe we must, as Lewis' wrote in his dedication, become children again as we read it. We mustn't be scholars for the sake of being intellectual about this work, maybe just. Well, I guess stepping into the wardrobe is an apt metaphor for the way we should approach this. Not by sitting under a lamp with notebooks to compare it to the story behind the story(I am not saying never to do this, just that we do it too often it seems), but by letting the water of the oceans catapult us into the depths of the waters that the Dawn Treader tretches.
Loved the analogy. Presbyterian then, or just reformed? Haha
Very Presby. 😂
🙌
Reading through them now with the kiddos. We've gone through them several times, with 3 of my 6 being teenagers, and one those soon to graduate, this is likely our last time going through them all together. Sweet times!
Ah...but one day there will be grandchildren! ;-)
Correct. You are correct. That is all.
I once embarked on a journey to read every one of Lewis’s works in chronological (print) order in a year. Needless to say, I bit off more than I could chew. I got happily mired in All My Road Before Me, which truly felt like I was getting to know a dear friend. By the time I got through Studies in Words, I knew I was never going to make it. I hit Narnia pretty late and gave up on my timeline, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading my favorite books from my childhood again. I’ll admit, I’ve now passed them on to my kids and allowed them to choose whether they start with The Magician’s Nephew or not. So far, that is their choice but they’ve also said they know they want to reread them in the future. I really appreciate this article though. Perhaps I’ll have them read it…
I have his diary but haven't read it yet. I have read the first volume and some of the second volume of his Collected Letters. It is so enjoyable to read those. It definitely beats reading a biography. It makes you feel like you really knew the man. I would highly recommend getting that collection. I look forward to writing study guides for the works of C. S. Lewis.
Yes! He really felt like a friend. He was so witty and kind of cantankerous at times, but I loved it. He had nicknames for many people, especially those he didn’t like, and his commentary is raw and often funny. Did you know he actually met TE Lawrence? He didn’t really care for him, which I found fascinating. I wish we had more details on that encounter!
Many thanks! I'm a latecomer to Lewis' work, so I haven't read Narnia yet. Hopefully I'll get to them after I finish the Ransom trilogy. And I'll read them in publication order.
Huzzah! My life’s work has been validated! 😂
How are you enjoying the ransom trilogy? What book are you on? I’m a huge fan of the ransom trilogy!
I'm about to start That Hideous Strength. They've been challenging reads, in the sense that they've gotten me to consider things I haven't before. They've also been entertaining.
Buckle up. The last book is wild! So good.
Nice! Hope you enjoy That Hideous Strength. One of my favorites. I’ve got some resources on my substack for out of the silent planet and perelandra (short podcast-type analysis + written summaries & analysis). The Pints with Jack podcast also has episodes for OSP and they are currently going through perelandra. Enjoy.
Thank you.
That's a fascinating allegory to take away from the series.
I also prefer reading Narnia in publication order, but my reason is more to do with Lewis' style. It seems to develop into a more mature portrayal as he goes on. So if you start with TMN I find it's quite a steep slope down to TLTWTW.
Great article. I have sometimes wondered how much Lewis' work on Narnia influenced The Screwtape Letters. Maybe the White Witch wasn't allegorically complex enough to fully represent the devil's schemes?
Actually The Screwtape Letters were published prior to Lewis writing Narnia.