The right order to learn the Narnia books, in keeping with CS Lewis | Books | Entertainment | EUROtoday

Starting the Chronicles of Narnia could be considerably complicated, with followers of the collection arguing in regards to the right order to learn them. This is as a result of the revealed order of the books and the chronological order of occasions are usually not fairly the identical. While the primary revealed Narnia ebook was the ever-popular The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, if following Narnian chronology, it’s best to truly begin with The Magician’s Nephew, which was revealed 5 years later.

Recent editions of the books have been revealed in chronological order, with HarperCollins’s numbered editions putting The Magician’s Nephew as primary and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as quantity two within the collection. However, there are nonetheless those that choose to learn within the revealed order.

However, in 1957, a fan wrote to C.S. Lewis after an argument together with his mom in regards to the right studying order. He needed to re-read the books chronologically, whereas his mum argued that they need to persist with the publication order.

In reply to this, Lewis wrote: “I think I agree with your order for reading the books more than with your mother’s. The series was not planned beforehand as she thinks. When I wrote The Lion I did not know I was going to write any more.

“Then I wrote P. Caspian as a sequel and nonetheless didn’t assume there could be any extra, and once I had achieved The Voyage I felt fairly positive it will be the final. But I discovered as I used to be unsuitable. So maybe it doesn’t matter very a lot wherein order anybody learn them.”

Similarly, Lewis’s stepson Douglas Gresham, who referred to his step-father as ‘Jack’, has told fans: “HarperCollins requested, ‘What order do you think we ought to do them in?’

“And I said, ‘Well … I actually asked Jack himself what order he preferred and thought they should be read in.  And he said he thought they should be read in the order of Narnian chronology.’  So I said, ‘Why don’t you go with what Jack himself wanted?’  So, it’s my fault basically—the order of Narnian chronology.  And I’m not the least bit ashamed of it.”

Despite each Lewis’s and Gresham’s interventions, NarniaInternet notes that this hasn’t stopped the disagreements between followers of the books. And on the C. S. Lewis web site, Dr. Charlie W. Starr wrote: “Lewis scholars almost universally agree that we should disagree with what Lewis said about the order of publication.”

Dr Starr additional added: “The Magician’s Nephew doesn’t captivate new readers as well as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe does. I’ve heard stories of people reading Nephew and quitting the rest of the series! Wardrobe grabs readers more powerfully on a first reading.”

Publication order:

1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

Chronological order:

1. The Magician’s Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle