The 2456317 Club

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

MN is a much better written book than LWW (and just more interesting in general) but LWW is clearly meant to be the first book to be read.

[carol]

Hello 2456317 Clubbers,
This is Devin Brown (author of Inside Narnia and Inside Prince Caspian) checking in to say keep up the good work!

I am trying to do my part by always referring to TLWW as the first book, PC as the second book, and so on. (I also mention you on p. 15 of Inside Prince Caspian.)

Hi Devin,
Keep up the good work.

Could I alert you to one niggly thing? (ooh, it niggles at me when other people do it, so please bear with me?)

The standard abbreviations for the seven books are:

LWW, PC, VDT, SC, HHB, MN, LB

(it's conventional that this sort of abbreviation uses the capital letters from the significant words, not 'of' 'the' 'and').

Further in and further up!!!

- Carol

[JDMalament]

I have incredibly fond memories of my Father reading The Chronicles of Narnia to me as a young child. Of course, the seven book set that he read from was in the original published order, so I definitely support this club! In particular, I just don't think that the end of The Magician's Nephew would have the same significance, if it were read before The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. It would be sort of like watching all six of the Star Wars films in chronological order, which would result in Darth Vader's line: "I am your father!" being just another line, and not the shocker that it should be.

Long Live 2456317!

- Jared

[LucyP]

What is the a club for??

[john]

What is the a club for??

Long story short, it's about the original published order of the Chronicles of Narnia vs the Narnian chronological order. The books are currently numbered and ordered in the sequence of events in Narnian history, starting with The Magician's Nephew, but The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first book written.

Those of us in the 2456317 Club believe that the original published order is a superior order for the first-time reader.

[archenland_knight]

I would join that club, but my devotion would be less than pure. I see "The Horse And His Boy" as a sort of "floater", which could be read any time between LWW and MN.

[Matthew Whaley]

I have to agree; the original published order is the best way to begin reading the series. Count me in!

[glumPuddle]

I would join that club, but my devotion would be less than pure. I see "The Horse And His Boy" as a sort of "floater", which could be read any time between LWW and MN.

Towards the end of Chapter 3 of SC, Lewis writes:

And when all the serious eating and drinking was over, a blind poet came forward and struck up the grand old tale of Prince Cor and Aravis and the horse Bree, which is called The Horse and his Boy and tells of an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King in Cair Paravel. (I haven't time to tell it now, though it is well worth hearing.)

That part is confusing is you have already read HHB. This is one of the examples that makes me feel like the people responsible for changing the order either didn't really think it through, or had only read the books once.

Can you join now? :)

[archenland_knight]

Actually, when reading that in SC for the first time, my thought was, "Lewis, you old scoundrel! What a shameless plug for your next book!"

I had already read HHB by the time I read SC, even though I knew about the original published order. I didn't really find it confusing at all. HHB clearly happened long before SC, so it would make sense that the poets in the reigns of Caspian and Rillian would know of it.

[glumPuddle]

I don't think it seems like anymore of a plug than this line from VDT: "(By the way, I have never yet heard how these remote islands became attached to the crown of Narnia; if I ever do, and if the story is at all interesting, I may put it in some other book.)" Lewis, of course, never did put it in some other book. But the mention of it makes the world seem more real. It gives you the sense that Narnia is a real three-dimensional world, but we are only seeing the pieces of it that are relevant to this story.

In SC, Lewis quotes the first line of HHB: "an adventure that happened in Narnia and Calormen and the lands between, in the Golden Age when Peter was High King..." That is the opening line of HHB word-for-word. If you have already read HHB, I think that repetition is annoying. But if you read HHB after reading SC, you read that line and go "Oh, this is THAT story he mentioned!"

[Carrie]

On the radio today I heard "867-5309 (Jenny)," which of course reminded me of the theme song for the group I wrote more than 5 years ago now. (It also made me kind of sad, because it reminded me that these forums are closing tomorrow.) So, even though it is posted earlier in this thread, here it is once again for posterity's sake:

Published (2456317)

Published order, it’s you we can turn to
You give us something we can hold on to
Other people think that we’re stuck in the past
But it’s far more complicated than that


We all know the best order
We need to make the world see
You shouldn’t change the order

Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven

Published, published, you’re the way for me
We’re not sure why but you make us so happy
We wish they were ordered the way they should be
We rearrange every book from the entire set

We all know the best order
We need to make the world see
You shouldn’t change the order

Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven

We’ve done it (We’ve done it) We’ve done it
We’ve moved all the books around
We’ve done it (We’ve done it) We’ve done it
Now they’re placed the way that they should be

We all know the best order
We need to make the world see
How we love the best order

Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven

Published order it’s you we can turn to
(Two four five six three one seven)
But we have to search on Ebay just to find you
(Two four five six three one seven)

Two four five six three one seven
Two four five six three one seven
Six three one seven

[Reep]

Four years ago - see 22 October 2006 - I discovered and shared a simple solution. And tonight I was surprised to rediscover it and I wish in a hurry to share it again:



As I already posted nearby about an hour ago - The Going Away Party is in full swing. Jesus is also among the invited guests: ready - if necessary - to turn our water into wine. May we remain with him always. SHALOM Dear Friends!