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Ditto! I read the series in the original order, and I really think that it's a good sequence. I don't think that it's always most useful to tell a story chronologically.
Agreed. I first read them in the old order, and it never bothered me that way. It was nice to read it and go "aha! THAT'S where the wardrobe came from!" And if anything, it makes the LAST book make more sense in some ways, more than the first.
I was sad when my old copies fell apart and I had to buy the new in the new order.
Well technically you don't have to READ them in the new order again, right? ;)
Right, but it's annoying when they're on the shelf in the original order and the numbers are off.
Yeah, kinda makes the OCD person inside me grind her teeth!
I grew up with the previous numbering when it was #6. I had a hard time adjusting as well, but from what I've read, it was Lewis's wish that the numbering go in this new order, as opposed to the original order; the order in which he wrote the books.
Do you have a source for that statement?
Nothing specific that I can remember. It has been a long time since I read about the ordering of the Narnia books. I believe I read it on the dust jacket flap, or in the preface to one of the re-ordered editions, but I couldn't tell you for sure. If I am wrong, I would love to know the real story. What do you know about it? Was the re-ordering a publisher's decision, or was Lewis's wish? Now you've got me wondering.
I heard that it was his daughter's decision made after she took over his company, but im not sure on that either lol
The Magician's Nephew was originally published as the sixth book in the Narnia Chronicles. Most reprintings of the novels until the 1980s also reflected the order of original publication. In 1980 HarperCollins published the series in order of chronological of the events in the novels, which meant The Magician's Nephew was numbered as first in the series. HarperCollins, which had previously published editions of the novels outside the United States, also acquired the rights to publish the novels in that country in 1994 and used this sequence in the uniform worldwide edition published in that year.[12]
Lewis appeared to have given his blessing to this sequence of reading the novels. In a letter dated 23 April 1957, a young fan, Laurence Krieg wrote to Lewis following the publication of The Magician's Nephew. He asked for Lewis to adjudicate between his views of the correct sequence of reading the novels — according to the sequence of events, with The Magician's Nephew being placed first, and that of his mother, who thought the order of publication was more appropriate. Lewis wrote back, appearing to support the younger Krieg's views, although he did point out that the views of the author may not be the best guidance, and that perhaps it would not matter what order they were read in.[13]
However this approach may have some effect upon Lewis' strategies for drawing readers into the world of Narnia. An example is Lucy Pevensie's discovery of the wardrobe, Narnia and a mysterious lamp post in the woods in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which creates a sense of suspense about an unknown land she is discovering for the first time. This would be affected if the reader has already been introduced to Narnia in The Magician's Nephew and discovered the origins of Narnia, the wardrobe and the lamp post. Indeed, the narrative of the The Magician's Nephew appears to assume a reader has already read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and is now being shown its beginnings
Lewis sort of pulled a Lucas before Lucas did.
Here ya go:
"When first published, the books were not numbered. The first American publisher, Macmillan, enumerated them according to their original publication order, while some early British edition specified the internal chronological order. When Harper Collins took over the series rights in 1994, they adopted chronological order. To make the case for chronological order, Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham, quoted Lewis' 1957 reply to a letter from an American fan who was having an argument with his mother about the order:
'I think I agree with your [chronological] 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 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 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.'"
(via Wikipedia. Lewis quote cited from Dorsett, Lyle; Marjorie Lamp Mead (ed.) (1995). C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children. Touchstone. ISBN 978-0-684-82372-0.)
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Jan 08, 2012 07:13PM
Ditto! I read the series in the original order, and I really think that it's a good sequence. I don't think that it's always most useful to tell a story chronologically.
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Agreed. I first read them in the old order, and it never bothered me that way. It was nice to read it and go "aha! THAT'S where the wardrobe came from!" And if anything, it makes the LAST book make more sense in some ways, more than the first. I was sad when my old copies fell apart and I had to buy the new in the new order.
Well technically you don't have to READ them in the new order again, right? ;)
Right, but it's annoying when they're on the shelf in the original order and the numbers are off.
Yeah, kinda makes the OCD person inside me grind her teeth!
I grew up with the previous numbering when it was #6. I had a hard time adjusting as well, but from what I've read, it was Lewis's wish that the numbering go in this new order, as opposed to the original order; the order in which he wrote the books.
Do you have a source for that statement?
Nothing specific that I can remember. It has been a long time since I read about the ordering of the Narnia books. I believe I read it on the dust jacket flap, or in the preface to one of the re-ordered editions, but I couldn't tell you for sure. If I am wrong, I would love to know the real story. What do you know about it? Was the re-ordering a publisher's decision, or was Lewis's wish? Now you've got me wondering.
I heard that it was his daughter's decision made after she took over his company, but im not sure on that either lol
The Magician's Nephew was originally published as the sixth book in the Narnia Chronicles. Most reprintings of the novels until the 1980s also reflected the order of original publication. In 1980 HarperCollins published the series in order of chronological of the events in the novels, which meant The Magician's Nephew was numbered as first in the series. HarperCollins, which had previously published editions of the novels outside the United States, also acquired the rights to publish the novels in that country in 1994 and used this sequence in the uniform worldwide edition published in that year.[12]Lewis appeared to have given his blessing to this sequence of reading the novels. In a letter dated 23 April 1957, a young fan, Laurence Krieg wrote to Lewis following the publication of The Magician's Nephew. He asked for Lewis to adjudicate between his views of the correct sequence of reading the novels — according to the sequence of events, with The Magician's Nephew being placed first, and that of his mother, who thought the order of publication was more appropriate. Lewis wrote back, appearing to support the younger Krieg's views, although he did point out that the views of the author may not be the best guidance, and that perhaps it would not matter what order they were read in.[13]
However this approach may have some effect upon Lewis' strategies for drawing readers into the world of Narnia. An example is Lucy Pevensie's discovery of the wardrobe, Narnia and a mysterious lamp post in the woods in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which creates a sense of suspense about an unknown land she is discovering for the first time. This would be affected if the reader has already been introduced to Narnia in The Magician's Nephew and discovered the origins of Narnia, the wardrobe and the lamp post. Indeed, the narrative of the The Magician's Nephew appears to assume a reader has already read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and is now being shown its beginnings
Lewis sort of pulled a Lucas before Lucas did.
Here ya go: "When first published, the books were not numbered. The first American publisher, Macmillan, enumerated them according to their original publication order, while some early British edition specified the internal chronological order. When Harper Collins took over the series rights in 1994, they adopted chronological order. To make the case for chronological order, Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham, quoted Lewis' 1957 reply to a letter from an American fan who was having an argument with his mother about the order:
'I think I agree with your [chronological] 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 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 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.'"
(via Wikipedia. Lewis quote cited from Dorsett, Lyle; Marjorie Lamp Mead (ed.) (1995). C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children. Touchstone. ISBN 978-0-684-82372-0.)
