Into the Wardrobe

I'm reading the Magician's Nephew again. I want to read the whole Narnia series before Dawn Treader pops out. When PC popped out in theaters, I went to see it for my birthday. Coincidentally, it came out 3 days after my birthday!

Magician's Nephew is great, but my preference would be to start with the first book in the series.

- Dan -

Oh Emily, Emily. My heart hurts that you have been misled by the literary revisionists who, with malicious intent, changed the original published order of the Chronicles of Narnia. The purists among us strongly believe in the original published order, not the chronological order of recent publication. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was, is, and ever shalt be the first book in the Chronicles of Narnia.

My prayer is that the order of the films and the reprints of the first editions will restore the order predestined from before the Dawn of Time:
1. Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Horse and His Boy
6. The Magician's Nephew
7. The Last Battle

Seriously, I don't think the order of the last six matter as much as having TLWW first.

- Dan -

I do appreciate how Lewis managed to 'explain' why it was the wardrobe was magical by affiliating it with Narnian wood after the fact. After all, if one didn't know better they would think TMN was first just as the Similarion seems to be first in the tales pertaining to Middle Earth.

Let's not let this thread wander off into the thickets of Book Order.

There's already about 10 threads about this in the Narnia forum. Let's leave this thread for discussion of latest book read.

New editions of the Narnia books have even misled people to believe that the preferred way one should read them is the chronological order. The only fault I found with my hardcover Harper-Collins edition is that the books are numbered in the chronological order, suggesting that no other option should be used. At least the illustrations by Pauline Baynes are complete and otherwise they are of good quality. I wouldn't recommend the little Macmillan paperbacks from the 1970's (even though they numbered in order of publication) because the illustrations are cropped, and the paper the books were printed on was rather cheap. I would suggest reading the Narnia books in correct published order for the best understanding of Lewis, but don't replace your books unless you have the MacMillans and don't want them anymore. The edition I have now I am quite pleased with, though it would have been nice to have color Baynes pictures (but that's very expensive in hardcover).

Larry W.

BTW, thanks Sven for your help.

- Dan -

/me pokes his head in again.. still in "heretic" mode

Although I have postedf this before.. and unfortunately this is a bit rushed.. I think its worthy of being reposted..

The true order.. is the published one

Those who reckon that the chronological order should consider this...

The story of the "Magicians Nephew" is actually told to the Peter, edmund, Lucy, Eustace and Jill by Digory and Polly, at a meeeting in "The Last Battle"...

Sooo... TMN should be read when you reach this point in TLB before continuiong with TLB

Somewhere in the forums should be a couple of "heretical" variations on the reading order.. if one has the nerve to delve into them