Aslan's How: The Chronicles of Narnia Discussion Thread

Welcome to Aslan's How, the thread for all things Narnian. If you love to talk about C. S. Lewis' amazing series The Chronicles of Narnia, this is the place to be. So, here's a place to discuss everything from why your favorite characters are your favorites to the religious symbolism of the stories.

By the way, here are the abbreviations commonly used for the titles:

MN: The Magician's Nephew
LWW: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
HHB: The Horse and His Boy
PC: Prince Caspian
VDT: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
SC: The Silver Chair
LB: The Last Battle
CtN: Companion to Narnia, Paul Ford's commentary on the series

I'll start the discussion with a question: Should the series be read in chronological order (the order above), the publication order (LWW, PC, VDT, SC, HHB, MN, LB), or another order entirely? Defend your answer.

I'll post my own opinion a little later.

Mel

 

*sigh!*

Gosh I loved these books as a kid. I wish I remembered enough of them to be able to intellegently comment in this thread.

But regardless of my own inadequecies, I think this is a great idea for a thread Melyanna! Cheers!

 

I have to agree with jedi-mind-trick. These stories were great, but I haven't read them for probably 8 years. I believe that I read them in chronological order.

 

Personally, I still re-read these books. My favorites are TLWW, TSC and TLB. I read them all out of order, instead I read them in the way they were written. But the series is a great one. There were even movie adaptations of a few of them (The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe and The Silver Chair are the only two I've seen). I loved the way they were written.. they enticed the reader to want more. Infact, I'm still longing for a sequel set...

But in comparison to other series, I'd say that The Magician's Nephew is "The Hobbit" of the series.

 

I feel strongly that they should be read in the order they were written, but other disagree, saying that they should be read in chronological order. But I think they hold more weight read in the order he wrote them, you can follow the progression of ideas and of characters.

My favortie is The Horse and His Boy. Shasta is such a darling.


btw, am I the only one who didn't notice the Christian symbols until they were pointed out? //ridicules self

 

My favorite character in the books is Professor Kirke. :-D

 

But I think they hold more weight read in the order he wrote them, you can follow the progression of ideas and of characters.
-- After reading them in chronological order, I'll agree. I found it easier to grasp the storyline when reading them in this order, but characters seemed much more "realistic" and "personal" when read in the order they were written.

And what Christian symbols are you talking about..?

 

What an awesome series. I, too (like so many others, I'm sure), read these when I was much younger. I do not remember the specifics. I would love to re-read these books.

Btw, when was it (not too long ago, I belive), that they decided to start numbering the books in chronological order? I read them in the order they were written, and I would find it odd to read it the other way.

Riding, Lewis is a Christian author. I read much of his other work in my Christian philosophy class.

The Chronicles of Narnia have very serious Christian undertones.

 

C.S. Lewis himself said he would prefer for them to be read in chronological order (i.e. starting with Magicians Nephew), so eventhough I personally disagree because I think part of the charm in Lion, Witch, Wardrobe is that there's an air of mystery, but who am I to argue with C.S. Lewis?

 

And what Christian symbols are you talking about..?

I acutally had them pointed out to me on the JC. Aslan is the son of the Emperor Over Seas, meaning Jesus. Aslan dies in TLTWTW and is reborn. heh, the only thing I noticed first time I read was that there was a guy named FAther Christmas giving out gifts.

 

I think I read them in the order they were written, which I think is probably preferable.

When reading MN, for example, after reading LWW, you are given answers the Kirke's past that you developed in LWW, making the experience all the more moving. Plus, you can't very well stop reading LWW just pages before the ending to read HHB.

My favorite is HHB, btw; I'm a sucker for fairtale-ish stories

 

My favorite of the books was The Last Battle

 

Well, I read them in some order that was so weird that I can't even remember it. Anyway, I prefer the order in which they were written over the chronological order, since reading MN before LWW gives away the mystery of the wardrobe and how Narnia came into being in the first place.

And as for the Christian symbolism, I highly recommend Paul Ford's Companion to Narnia. It's great reading and definitely a valuable reference work for anyone who wants to know more about the series.

Mel

 

I read these as a kid, and never caught onto the Christian allegories either until it was pointed out to me.

 

I read them as well when I was nought but a wee whippersnapper, I havent't read them for a long time but I think they where very accomplished. I never picked up on the christianity in them but perhaps I was too young.
Did anyone else see them when they where televised? I remember them actually being done quite well.

 

I read these books also when I was a kid and I loved them back then. Unfortunately I can't remember every detail. I read them in publication order and it worked out fine. My favourite book was HHB. It was just so classic fairy-tale.

 

Yay, another HHB fan ... it's the best, isn't it?

I hate to bring this up, but I want to compare notes. Was anyone less than satisfied with SC? I just didn't really find the story enjoyable as the others and, without the presence of any of the LWW characters, found it hard to muster up any sympathy for their replacements.

 

I can't remember much about SC but I think it was worst of the series.

I should perhaps read all the books again so I could post more detailed comments.

 

Wow, you guys didn't enjoy SC? It was probably one of my favorites. It had a different feel than the previous books which, in my opinion, lent a freshness to the series. Plus, Jill's one of my favorite characters, though I preferred her in LB.

Mel

 

Actually, Lewis said that the imagary wasn't Christian, it just was. I don't feel that the Christianity is any more obvious in CoN than in SW or any other allegorical tale. It's an allegory. It's supposed to be symbolic, not hitting you over the head with the meaning.

And I'm a Christian too . . .

Actually, my least favorite has always been Horse and His Boy. Favorite: Magician's Nephew. Love the horse and the London cabby. Such wonderful stories.

 

Melyanna, I never said that I didn't enjoy SC. I said I think it was worst of the series. I also said that it's been long time since I read any of these books so my memories are little fuzzy.

 

My favorite is the Horse and His Boy.

I have noticed the Christian allegories forever. It's deep in it.

It's a wonderful series.

I would reccomend reading them in the order of which they were published and which I first read them.

The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician's Nephew
The Last Battle

I'd say that my least favorite is The Silver Chair.

C.S. Lewis was a good friend of J.R.R. Tolkien.

Look at their names...

If anyone wants the full name of C.S. Lewis, it's Clives Staples Lewis.

No wonder he went by Jack.

 

Oh, yeah, forgot about the reading order. I say go in published order first time through and then in chronological order to get a better feel for things.

 

Wow, I'm amazed at how many people listed HHB as their favorite! It's always been mine too..

My mom says I read my dad's set of The Chronicles of Narnia when I was about 6 years old, but I still doubt it sometimes. Maybe, but how could I understand them? Although, people say you get something new out of them each time you read them.. but I mean, there had to be a ton of words in there I didn't understand.

Sadly, I don't remember the books very well anymore. I remember bits of HHB, and pretty much all of LWW, but other than that..

 

I'm glad to see a discussion thread for these wonderful books! They've been some of my favorites ever since I first read them years ago.
I don't recall what order I read them in, although I probably read LWW first. As far as what I would recommend, I think LWW should be first, but I feel that they're pretty much readable in any order.
HHB is my favorite, with VDT and MN tied for second. In fact, MN is where I got part of my user name.

*Jadis*