C. S. Lewis - Narnia, etc.

[GloomyGraham]

My favourites are the first three - The Magician's Nephew, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Horse and His Boy.

Though they are not truly' the first three as Nephew & Boy were published after Lion, Caspian, Voyage & Chair. I now in some modern box-sets though they are numbered 1/2/3, but always thought it would be strange to read the series for the first time in this order.

It was strange to me, aged maybe 6 or 7 when a primary school teacher read our class 'Prince Caspian' and I hadn't read 'Lion Witch & Wardrobe' yet - but I soon went and borrowed both from the local library.

[Stephen]

I got the outstanding titles - second hand naturally! - today, so now I have the complete set on my to-read pile. However, I didn't realise until now that there is some debate as to what order they're supposed to be read in. As a child, I assumed that The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was first, so I was surprised to see later on that The Magician's Nephew appeared first in lists. I had been wondering why the apparent 'standard' book of the series that spawned all these films, cartoons, etc (and the only one I'd read from cover to cover) should be the SECOND of the franchise. It's like saying I know pretty much everything there is to know about the Famous Five because I happen to be familiar with Five Go Adventuring Again!

Anyway, I'll probably just try to acclimatize to the 1950s and read them in the order they were published!

[Rob Houghton]

My favourites are the first three - The Magician's Nephew, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Horse and His Boy.

Though they are not truly' the first three as Nephew & Boy were published after Lion, Caspian, Voyage & Chair. I now in some modern box-sets though they are numbered 1/2/3, but always thought it would be strange to read the series for the first time in this order.

Obviously, I never read the books in this order, as I started with The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, as many people do. I think I then probably read 'The Horse and His Boy' before going onto The Magician's Nephew, then maybe The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I think I read Prince Caspian, but I didn't enjoy it much, and only read half of it. I only read a few pages of The Silver Chair, and most of The Last Battle.

As I said, the 'first three' are the titles that impressed me most -- although I have never taken much notice of the chronological order with any series!

[Daisy]

I first read "The Lion...etc," and then, I think, "Prince Caspian", and later read the others as I came across them. I now read them in chronological order when I do a re-read of the series. By that I mean "The Magician's Nephew" first.

[Courtenay]

There's a lot of debate among Narnia fans as to the "correct" order for reading them — I think it's been discussed earlier in this thread too. Apparently the publishers decided to number them in chronological order because Lewis once, in a letter to a young reader who'd suggested that order, said he agreed. Of course, if you're familiar with all the books, it really doesn't matter which order you read them in! But if someone was coming to the series for the first time, I would strongly recommend reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe first, which I did as a child (and then the others a couple of years later in the chronological order, rather than the order in which they were published) — simply because The Lion... was written first and it turns on the assumption that the readers, just like the children in the story, have no prior knowledge of Narnia or of Aslan. That said, plenty of newcomers to the actual books will have seen the films or else picked up plot spoilers, so the story of The Lion... may not be as mysterious and exciting an unfoldment for them as it was for me as a 5-year-old!

Incidentally, if you do read The Magician's Nephew and The Lion... consecutively — in either order — there are some discrepancies about the nature and role of the White Witch/Jadis that really stand out. Probably because there were quite a few years (and most of the other books) between them when they were written and Lewis presumably didn't remember everything he'd said about the White Witch's "back story" in the original book by then. But it doesn't bother me too much. I just enjoy the stories as they are and don't worry about the occasional inconsistencies.

[Rob Houghton]

I tend to think that reading The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe first really strengthens the impact of 'The Magician's Nephew' - because we are 'in on the joke' so to speak - and we have already experienced Narinia, the wardrobe, etc, so the occurrences in The Magician's Nephew have more meaning and more impact. I don't think I would like to read The Magician's Nephew first!

I'm impressed you first encountered The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe aged 5, Courtenay! I think I was much nearer to 10 when I first read it.

[Courtenay]

I'm impressed you first encountered The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe aged 5, Courtenay! I think I was much nearer to 10 when I first read it.

We were staying at my maternal grandparents' house in Melbourne for a few days and Mum read it to me — she'd picked it up second hand somewhere and knew I would like it. I was absolutely gripped from the start! It was a couple of years later that I discovered there was a whole series of books, so we (Mum and I) read all of those together, this time in the chronological order that they're now labelled with, but skipping The Lion because we'd read it already. So I read The Magician's Nephew second, but after a gap of a couple of years. It does give one a great sense of being "in on the joke" as you say — Oh, so that's how the lamp-post came to be in the middle of the wood! Oh, so that's where the wardrobe came from! Oh, so that's why the Professor in The Lion had no trouble believing in Narnia! — and so on.

[Rob Houghton]

It does give one a great sense of being "in on the joke" as you say — Oh, so that's how the lamp-post came to be in the middle of the wood! Oh, so that's where the wardrobe came from! Oh, so that's why the Professor in The Lion had no trouble believing in Narnia! — and so on.

Yes - I agree! I think the impact of how the wardrobe came to be built - (SPOILER!) - with the wood grown from the pips of the 'magic apple' - if I remember correctly - has more impact if we've already encountered the wardrobe!

[Courtenay]

As a point of interest, I've just bought a complete set (on CDs) of the seven Chronicles of Narnia dramatised as radio plays, after reading some really good reviews of the same and hearing some audio samples online! This version was produced in America but using a British cast, including — and this is going to be interesting — David "Poirot" Suchet as Aslan. Each production, too, opens with an introduction by Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis's stepson, who was a huge fan of the books as a boy even before his mother married the author! I started listening to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe last night and the first surprise was discovering that Douglas has an English accent — you'd never pick that he was actually born in America (though it turns out he was 8 years old, younger than I'd assumed he was, when his family moved to the UK).

I was really eager to get into the story, but then, only a minute or two into the production, my CD player — a cheap bedside one from Tesco that has been giving some trouble lately — conked out and would play no more. I don't have a CD drive on my computer (it's an ultra-thin laptop) or anything else I could play it on at home, so it'll have to wait till I'm in the car. I was hoping the CD set would arrive before my recent holiday (I ordered it from Amazon and it came from the US), so I could be immersed aurally in Narnia while driving through North Wales, but that wasn't to be... Anyway, if others are interested too, I'll be happy to post my thoughts once I've heard more of it!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Did you ever listen to the radio play adaptations of the Narnia books, Courtenay? Ages ago I picked up a few audio versions that were given away free with a newspaper, but I only ever listened to one of the books and I can't recall much about it now.

Some years ago I mentioned reading a book called Beyond the Wardrobe - The Official Guide to Narnia which I found in a charity shop. I've just been dipping into it and was impressed by the following piece of information, which demonstrates that Lewis must have been an avid reader and re-reader who knew his books intimately and pondered deeply on what he read:

Kenneth Tynan, the British drama critic, theatre historian and playwright, used to play a rather odd game with his old Oxford tutor, C. S. Lewis. Lewis asked Tynan to pick a number from one to forty to identify a bookshelf in Lewis's sitting room at Magdalen College. Another number from one to twenty would select a book on that shelf. In similar fashion, Tynan was required to pick a random page and then a line on the page, which he read aloud. Lewis then immediately named the book and discussed the material on that particular page.

[Courtenay]

Hi Anita! Yes, I did start listening to the Narnia audio adaptations a few weeks ago. They're very well done and most of the voice actors sound perfect for their roles. David Suchet as Aslan is interesting — occasionally he hams it up a bit too much and doesn't sound very leonine, but most of the time (especially in the parts where he has to sound more deep and mysterious) I think he really nails it. Very enjoyable to listen to. I'm doing them in original publication order (of the books, that is), so I've listened to The Lion..., Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader so far and am partway through The Silver Chair now. Must get back to them soon, as I've been busy and haven't fitted in any listening time for some days. (I ended up getting a new CD player, which I needed anyway, as there's too much background noise when listening in the car.)

I've also just found out recently that there's going to be a stage production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in London starting next month, so I will have to try to get to that! I have a feeling it's the same one that was there a few years ago, which I think you said you went to, Anita. I'll look it up when I've got time (I haven't much just at this moment) and post a link if I can find it again.

[Courtenay]

Some years ago I mentioned reading a book called Beyond the Wardrobe - The Official Guide to Narnia which I found in a charity shop. I've just been dipping into it and was impressed by the following piece of information, which demonstrates that Lewis must have been an avid reader and re-reader who knew his books intimately and pondered deeply on what he read:

Kenneth Tynan, the British drama critic, theatre historian and playwright, used to play a rather odd game with his old Oxford tutor, C. S. Lewis. Lewis asked Tynan to pick a number from one to forty to identify a bookshelf in Lewis's sitting room at Magdalen College. Another number from one to twenty would select a book on that shelf. In similar fashion, Tynan was required to pick a random page and then a line on the page, which he read aloud. Lewis then immediately named the book and discussed the material on that particular page.

I love it! Gosh, that does go to show how thoroughly Lewis knew his book collection and what a phenomenal memory he must have had for them all — and it sounds like he had a real sense of fun about it, too.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I'm glad you're enjoying the audio adaptations, Courtenay.

I've also just found out recently that there's going to be a stage production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in London starting next month, so I will have to try to get to that! I have a feeling it's the same one that was there a few years ago, which I think you said you went to, Anita.

If it's the one at the Bridge Theatre, I think it's different from the one that was at the Threesixty in Kensington Gardens. There's a short video advertising the Bridge Theatre production here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... vTpU1hAUps" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just discovered that there's still a clip of the Threesixty production onYouTube too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGcgkMZYdwE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Courtenay]

If it's the one at the Bridge Theatre, I think it's different from the one that was at the Threesixty in Kensington Gardens. There's a short video advertising the Bridge Theatre production here:

Ah yes, that's the one, at the Bridge Theatre. Thanks for the video, Anita. Mind you, even just watching those excerpts, I must say it doesn't look inviting at all — their Aslan looks all scary and skeletal and the whole production just seems a bit creepy (and what on earth is that bit where the four children seem to be wearing flowers on their heads... or have they turned into Troll Dolls?! ).

Just discovered that there's still a clip of the Threesixty production onYouTube too:

That's the one that was on when I first moved to England, but I didn't manage to get to see it. I notice they've shown Aslan's rib bones in that one as well, though he looks at least slightly less terrifying than he does in the current production (and the Witch looks more like I would imagine her too). Must say the wardrobe in that early scene bears some resemblance to the Tardis!!

On a lighter note, I've recently discovered a discussion forum for Narnia fans and just joined it this evening — I've had a friendly reply to my "introduce yourself" post so far and have just posted my cross stitch of Lucy and Mr Tumnus in a thread for sewing enthusiasts! (Maybe someone else there will have some more Narnia cross stitch patterns...)

[Courtenay]

I've just decided to book a ticket for the Bridge Theatre production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe after all — having read several reviews of it, I see it's consistently getting four or five stars and the photos of it make it look very interesting and intriguing, much more so than the very short video trailer did. I'm still not quite sure why the kids were wearing flowers on their heads or why their Aslan has wings, but most of the reviews agree that Aslan and the White Witch and many of the other characters are brilliantly done and the whole production is very imaginative and exciting and quite wacky. (Actually, one reviewer said the Witch was "sadly far from fearsome" and another reviewer said she was "genuinely terrifying", so I guess it depends on one's own definition of scary!! )

I'm not sure if it'll exactly fit my own conception of what Narnia "should" be like, but I'm intrigued enough to want to find out — and as I chose a not-ultra-cheap but not-too-expensive seat (on the edge of the central stalls area, about 7 rows back, so there should be a good view without straining my neck), I won't feel I've been TOO badly cheated out of my money if I don't like it. And if I absolutely love it, I might splurge on one of the really expensive seats and see it again in January!! (I'll be at the matinee performance on Monday 23rd December. It's my early Christmas treat to myself.)