In What Order Should You Read “The Chronicles of Narnia”?
Narnia Read-Along: Introduction 2
If you’re married, you probably remember the first time you saw your spouse. If you’re a parent, you can recall the first moment you held your child. Readers may remember the first time they were transported to Middle-earth, Hogwarts, or Narnia. For most of us, firsts have an air of magic. It’s because of the specialness associated with our initial meetings, that I feel so passionate about the reading order of “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
If you, like me, have read the books dozens of times, feel free to read the series in any order or just pick up one randomly and enjoy it as a standalone story. The reading order only matters for those reading the books for the first time. But that initial reading and the introduction to Narnia matter a great deal, which is why I disagree with the current ordering of the series.
Originally, “The Chronicles of Narnia” were published one book each year from 1950 to 1956, in the following order:
1. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
That was the accepted and understood organization of the books from that time until 1994. It was then the publisher of the series, HarperCollins, decided to change the order to one of internal chronology, which would be as follows:
1. The Magician’s Nephew
2. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
3. The Horse and His Boy
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
6. The Silver Chair
7. The Last Battle
Their rationale? C.S. Lewis wanted it that way.
HarperCollins’ collected edition in 2005 included the statement: “Although The Magician’s Nephew was written several years after C.S. Lewis first began ‘The Chronicles of Narnia,’ he wanted it to be read as the first book in the series. HarperCollins is happy to present these books in the order in which Professor Lewis preferred.”
When did Lewis state he would rather readers begin their Narnia adventure with The Magician’s Nephew and not The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? The only place that has ever been indicated was in a letter to an American child named Laurence Krieg.
Lewis wrote several letters to Laurence and his mother. (You can see one of the actual handwritten letters here.) In one famous letter, he tells the mother to allay Laurence’s fear that he may love Aslan more than Jesus.
But in the letter relevant to our discussion, Lewis sided with Laurence in a discussion he was having with his mother over the correct order of the books:
I think I agree with your [chronological] order for reading the books more than with your mother’s [publication]. 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.
That tepid endorsement of sorts for 11-year-old Laurence’s preferred chronological order is the justification for changing the established order of “The Chronicles of Narnia” almost 40 years after their publication.
For most of us, firsts have an air of magic, which is why it’s the first Narnia book we read is so important.
Lewis, as has been widely discussed, responded to all of his mail and wrote back to children fans with astounding grace, humility, and appreciation. He wanted to encourage them in their faith and their love of literature.
Is it not just as probable, if not more so, that Lewis was simply encouraging his young fan rather than prescribing the order the series should be read from that day forward?
Count me among those like Paul Martin of NarniaFans.com, Russell Moore, Trevin Wax, Alister McGrath, author of C. S. Lewis – A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet, and numerous other Lewis scholars and readers who prefer the publication order.
Reading the books as they were first published tells the best story of Narnia, particularly beginning with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Wardrobe gives such a magical introduction to Narnia, the world and her people, not to mention a mysterious and alluring introduction to Aslan. The narrator of the story assumes the reader knows nothing about the titular Lion. After Mr. Beaver mentions Aslan, the Pevensie children all have a vivid emotional reaction to merely hearing his name and the narrator says, “None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do ….” But if you’ve read Magician’s Nephew, you know who Aslan is. He created Narnia.
The story of both Aslan and Narnia in Magician’s Nephew is not one of introduction but one of revelation. You aren’t thinking, “Who and what is that? I want to know about more about them.” Instead, you’re thinking, “Oh, so that’s how all that came about.” Magician’s Nephew is written wonderfully as a prequel that gives us the background of a place we’ve already come to know and love. It’s not, however, well-suited to serve as our first moments in Narnia and with Aslan.
The story of both Aslan and Narnia in Magician’s Nephew is not one of introduction but one of revelation. It’s gives us a beautiful background for what we already know and love.
That is not to say you cannot appreciate the series if you start with Magician’s Nephew or even if you randomly pick up Silver Chair and branch out from it. But I do believe there is a sense of awe that is missing if your journey into Narnia does not start with Lucy stepping in the wardrobe, past the fur coats, through the rough tree branches and out into a magical world that is always winter and never Christmas.
Because of that, our read-along of “The Chronicles of Narnia” will start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and will go through the series in publication order. Next week, we’ll have an introduction to Wardrobe and discuss how each week’s read-along will go.