The Magician’s Nephew
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Series Order
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willaful
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Apr 07, 2011 07:39PM
I confess, I mainly dislike the chronological order because it's so imperfect (since the event of THaHB happen during the events of TLtWatW. Yes, I am very anal. ;-) I think TMN is a very good book, but I also think that TLtWatW has that wonderful "beginning of something awesome" feel to it, which is a shame to lose. And that TMN probably has more impact when read in publication order.
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I always try to read series in chronological order, as it's fairly safe to assume that's the order the author intended. (If I learn later that his publisher or someone interfered, then I'll try to read them in the order it's revealed that the author did actually intend.) I agree that TMN works just fine as a flashback. I was a bit confused about the happenings in Horse & Boy as I read it, though, so it would've helped to have the 'new' chronological order list as reference. But since that story (which iirc is my favorite) takes place mostly outside the main story arc, it's fine.
Judy, sometimes it's difficult to convince people to read books twice - but since these are rich stories I believe that re-reading is important so I like your suggestion.
Has anyone ever considered suggesting a new reader start with neither TMN or LWaW? I mean, the 'prologue' book is not, in many ways, the most captivating place to start, and the classic first is kind of old-fashioned and may turn off children who feel that old = stale or corny.
I started with The Silver Chair because the edition on display in my elementary school library was a very simple chair, hardcover no jacket, and it was intriguing - I wanted to find out what made a chair worth writing a whole book about. Now I find I can't recall the story at all. Ironic, because obviously I did go on to read the rest of the series from there.
Oh, now I see why The Silver Chair was entrancing - it was the one with Puddleglum and the quest and the giant stairs.... I really ought to re-read the series yet again....
origanal all the way
I don't think it matters which order you read the books in (as long as you read LWW before PC, etc, though). I think we should try reading them both ways...any excuse to reread, right? :P
I read it first, its my favourite out of all of them but I saw the bbc version of the lion the witch the wardrobe before I read it.
Why would people be put off by Magician? That was my favorite of the 7!!
i think that the chronicales of narnia iz very hard to get through,andthey r slowwwwwwwwwwwww.it took me a while 2 get through them.i lost interest in them.i stop rite after prince caspian,the 4th book.y not giv them all a shot??
because i waz veryyyyyy dissapointed in all of them,i stoped.
the magicians nephew waz my fav,but i would only rate it a 3(mayb a 2)
Lewis wrote TLWW first. He wasn't even intending a series at that time. But later on he did say it didn't matter what order you read them in. I've always started them in published order. It's a forlorn hope, but I hope they are able to finish the movie series. I thought they did a great job with the first three.
omg pple y r u all up to the series order I mean come on stop y'all u can't just read the book just randomly u have to start from the begining tht how u can know whts happening in the story and thts how it gets interesting by reading the series order.
BunWat wrote: "Moving this from a conversation that got started on Golden Compass. The publication order of these books is:
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treade..." i have NO idea why anyone would be put off by the magician's nephew, it was a great book!
When I was younger I was put off by TMN. And I didn't try to read any of the other books. However, as the movies came out I became interested in the series, watched some of the films (2 of them).
And now I'm reading them, on the last book, and honestly TMN has been my favorite! I'm reading them in chronological order and it makes the most sense to me. However if a reader wants to read it in a different order, which makes more sense to them, who am I to judge?
BunWat wrote: "Moving this from a conversation that got started on Golden Compass. The publication order of these books is:
The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
The Voyage of the Dawn Treade..."
How did this get started on the Golden Compass?
my kids and i love the chronological order. and the magicians nephew is my favorite of the series. when i first read it in the 70's its placement didn't make sense. i was thrilled when i bought my kids hard back set that the magicians nephew was the first one they read.
I read first TMN because a friend told me to do so, and I think it was a mistake. I felt like something was missing in the story. Now I'll read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe and I will continue in the publication order
i don't know. i just started reading the narnia series. just finished TMN. it did not disappoint at all. made me want to read all the books. (even tho ive already seen the 3 books as films.) it has many funny scenes that really made me laugh and didnt lack the magic i expected. dont know about the succeeding books. but seeing most of the comments that TMN is the least likeable makes me set my expectations higher.
I'm firmly in the Publication order camp. That is how I first read the Chronicles of Narnia and while I have also read them in Chronological order I think it comes off better in Publication order. The point has been made that you miss out on the character buildup of Aslan in LWW if you read it second. For example Lewis says that even though the children did not know who Aslan was, ANYMORE THEN YOU DO . . . If you have read MN then you know who Aslan is and you miss out on learning about him along with the children. MN works as a prequil as it was intended to be. Those little details that we all love about MN only make sense if you have read LWW.
To answer what you are wondering I think that the reordering series is in a way better. That said, I think though that people don't have to read The Magician's Nephew first. Since The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the most popular people will like to read that one first. And then I guess they could if they wanted then read Magician's Nephew after they understand who Jadis is and the rest of the series. I don't know that would probably work well I guess.
To try to rephrase, I think people should go their own order when reading the book series but I do think they should start with The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe then maybe The Magician's Nephew and the rest in the "reorder" where they sync up to the timeline.
Read the books the way Lewis intended for you to read them. In the order they were published. This is important because if you read LWW first, you are in awe along with the children as you learn more about Narnia and Aslan with them. Lewis waited to publish TMN until the end because reading TMN first spoils the "awe factor" of the LWW. You already know who the White Witch is, you know why the lamppost is sitting in the middle of snowy wood, and you already understand the character of Aslan. Reading TMN first spoils the rest of the series.
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