The Town of Odyssey

As a side thread to the already existing Narnia thread, I was wondering....

How many people were introduced to Narnia via the written order:
1. Lion Witch Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. Voyage
4. Silver Chair
5. Horse and Boy
6. Magician's Nephew
7. Last Battle

or were you introduced to Narnia via the cronological order:
1. Magician's Nephew
2. Lion Witch Wardrobe
3. Horse and Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. Voyage
6. Silver Chair
7. Last Battle

I've often wondered who experiences the more pleasure out of the series. Do you think it makes a difference? Which one would you want to introduce someone to? Like, your kids maybe?

I read them in a random order, but I like the written order the best.

It's one thing to read them in a different order if you want to, but it annoys me that now the publishers number them differently then originally intended...

cant remember but i know the lw and the w was first

Gah!!!! It annoys me to no end when people put them in chronological order! When I received my Radio Theatre CD's they were like that and the first thing I did was put them in the correct order!

Why can't people leave them like the author intended?

Written order.

I'm actually surprised that a lot of people did the written order first (I did). I was almost positive that most were used to the cronological

Laura Ingalls wrote:Gah!!!! It annoys me to no end when people put them in chronological order! When I received my Radio Theatre CD's they were like that and the first thing I did was put them in the correct order!

Why can't people leave them like the author intended?

My reaction exactly (except for the Gah!!! part). I am always annoyed with people who release these things in cornological order. I assumed it was because more people followed it this way and weren't as confused...

I first read them in written order, and then went back and re-read them in chronological.

I'm with the majority on this one. I read them (three times) in written order. I will never read them in chronological order and I will never introduce them in chronological order. Furthermore, as long as the real order is an option, I will never buy them in chronological order. The first time I saw the different numbering in the store, I got so mad, I walked out.

Mandy

Momma read them to us in written order, but I went back and read them in chronological order, too.

I was "introduced" in Cronological Order, but read them in written order.

I've always thought in chronological order. That's probably because of the order in which we discussed them in TPS Narnia class, though...

i read them in written order i think

Through the BBC videos.
When reading them though it was through the chronological order (though I think I read Wardrobe first)

i think it would have been more sutible in a cubourd

My mom read them to me when I was like 10 or so. She read them in the written order.

Ferder wrote:Through the BBC videos.
When reading them though it was through the chronological order (though I think I read Wardrobe first)

If I was going to read them in chronological order, I would have to start with LWW first. There's no way someone can read Magician's Nephew first and appreciate it as much.

That's why when Radio Theatre released Narnia, I wasn't as upset that they did them in chronological because they introduced the series with LWW.

I wonder what order Disney will demand if they decide to do a sequel...

My parents read us TLTWTW at least once when me and my siblings were little, and I'm sure I saw at least one film. When I actually read the series several years ago I read them in chronological order. I saw no problem with that, as it helped me understand what Narnia was to a greater extent.

-Jonathan

J-man wrote:Written order.

Same here

I read Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe first (in grade 4) and read the rest in chronological order.

Though I'm not sure everyone is on the same page here... some people say that we should read them the way the author intended (written order) but CS Lewis himself believed the books should be read in chronological order (this fact is mentioned in the Radio Theatre series and encouraged by Douglas Gresham as the way to read the books). This is what CS Lewis said in a book "Letters to Children."

CS Lewis wrote:I think I agree with your order {i.e. chronological} 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 still didn't think there would be any more, and when I had done The Voyage I felt quite sure it would be the last. But I found as I was wrong. So perhaps it does not matter very much in which order anyone read them. I'm not even sure that all the others were written in the same order in which they were published.

The books were re-numbered the way they are today as a result of Douglas Gresham's wishes (acting on behalf of his step-father).

The bottom line is I don't think the order matters . And while CS Lewis certainly wrote the books in a particular order, the way he intended them to be read leans more towards the chronological order.

Yeah, I remember that C.S. Lewis wanted them to be read in chronological order but I humbly disagree with him