Reading The Narnia Chronicles |
 Mar 28 2008, 07:36 PM
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#1
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One Half of the DDD  Posts: 8,407 Joined: 5:31pm August 30, 2006 Location: Siriusly Dreaming Somewhere   |
As the books in the Narnia series are fairly short I thought we should discuss how we want to read the series. For anyone who wants some descriptions of the books, their history, illustrations and more this is a great site.
The books tell the story in this order: Book 1, The Magician's Nephew Book 2, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Book 3, The Horse and His Boy Book 4, Prince Caspian Book 5, The Voyage of "The Dawn Treader" Book 6, The Silver Chair Book 7, The Last Battle but they were published in this order Book 2, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Book 4, Prince Caspian Book 5, The Voyage of "The Dawn Treader" Book 6, The Silver Chair Book 3, The Horse and His Boy Book 1, The Magician's Nephew Book 7, The Last Battle As they're fairly short books we should also discuss whether we want to spend a month on each book or whether we should read two books at a time and then read the final book and have an overall discussion of themes acrosss the series (such as characters' journeys, good v evil, courage, etc) in a separarate month. The decision about whether we read them in the story order or published order will decide which books are paired together. --------------------  November's book will is The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" |
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Mar 31 2008, 08:07 PM
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#2
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Fortescue's Spoon Polisher  Posts: 3,628 Joined: 6:04pm November 6, 2005 |
Well, as I was first to vote, I have no idea what anyone else thinks yet!
I would prefer to read them in the story order, rather than published order, as that just makes more sense to me - they story of Narnia follows on in story order, right? I haven't read this series for a VERY long time, so really can't remember! Though I really wouldn't mind reading them in the published order, either - they were published in the order of the characters stories, right? (Well, at least the first 4?) I was thinking it'd be good to discuss each book for just 2 weeks (before this thread was posted). I still think that may be best, as, if we discuss them in story order, then the 2 books we do together each month will each have different main characters. The only 2 that will have any of the same characters are Books 5 & 6 with Eustace, I think (I don't mean Narnia beings, just the main characters from our world). Then again, not everyone can get online as much as me, so if each Book Club was only open for 2 weeks, that wouldn't be fair to them. Umm, I voted before I thought of the above, so maybe discussing them in published order would actually make more sense. I'm confused now 
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Apr 1 2008, 10:20 AM
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#3
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Loyal Lockhart Fan  Posts: 4,278 Joined: 10:42am February 15, 2005 Location: Embracing my Inner Slytherin |
Tee hee, it can be quite confusing. I voted for published order simply because that's the way I've always read them. I prefer written order to chronological!
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Apr 1 2008, 10:31 AM
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#4
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Leaky's Official Donut Maker and Mosquito Man Posts: 11,070 Joined: 10:51am August 25, 2005 Location: Playing kal-toh with Professor Snape  |
Me too, I voted for *published order* because I guess that's the way they were intended to be read & I think even the movie people are going with published order not chronological order but, I'm actually happy either way because discussing them will be fun
--------------------   I'm 1 of the 99.99% W.L.Y.J.  When I sleep I dream, and when I dream I can rise above the walls Remember Cameron Duncan Thanks Jeff! |
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Apr 1 2008, 11:14 AM
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#5
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Neville's Personal Dietitian  Posts: 659 Joined: 2:20pm September 22, 2007 Location: Hiding in Ron Weasley's wardrobe, waiting to jump out at him and trying not to laugh too loudly =P |
I would definitely prefer to read them in the story order because I think it makes a lot more sense than the publishing order.
For the next point - I voted 'other' because I think that one month is a bit too long to spend on such short books, but I don't think they should be discussed in pairs, because not all of them go with another book. E.g. it wouldn't make a lot of sense to discuss The Magician's Nephew and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe together in a pair because they have different characters and are generally completely different! But something like Prince Caspian and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader could be more easily discussed as a pair as they involve the same characters - then they could be compared, whereas TMN and TLTWATW couldn't be. If that won't work out, then maybe (as I suggested in a previous poll) there could be a poll where everyone gets to choose their three favourite books to discuss. There could be a first choice, second choice and third choice as different parts of the poll and then each vote for the first part counts as 3 points, each vote vote for the second part counts as 2 points and each vote of the third part counts as 1 point. Then the total number of points for each book could be added up and then the three highest scoring books get picked to be discussed, in reading order. Um, I'm not entirely sure that made any sense! But I guess it doesn't matter as that option would leave people disappointed if their favourite book didn't get picked.... 
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Apr 1 2008, 06:23 PM
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Knight Bus Driver in Training Posts: 555 Joined: 7:21am April 18, 2006 Location: I'll let you know when I find out! |
I voted to read them in the story's order because it does make a bit of sense to do it that way. That's the way I first read them, and from what I can remember, there are some very significant themes and connexions that can be made if read that way.
Which leads me to my next point, the books being read in pairs: I think it would be interesting to contrast two books in the series at a time, particularly when considering CS Lewis' inspirations (and intentions) and considering the length of each book. It would give rise to more interesting discussions, in my opinion. |
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Apr 2 2008, 06:00 AM
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#7
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Professional Diagon Alley Window Shopper Posts: 60 Joined: 6:43am April 10, 2006 Location: NJ |
I don't mind in which order we read. I've always read them in chronological order, but published order would be fine, if that's the consensus. I do prefer L.J's plan of discussing one book for two weeks as oppose to two books together. I think two weeks is a fair amount of time to discuss each book. We can always do a joint discussion towards the end of the month after everyone has read both books.
In any case, I'll be fine with whatever is decided. -------------------- "While you are experimenting, do not remain content with the surface of things. Don't become a mere recorder of facts, but try to penetrate the mystery of their origin." Isabel Allende |
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Apr 7 2008, 09:00 AM
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#8
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Stocking Snitches at Quality Quidditch Supplies  Posts: 692 Joined: 6:51pm November 1, 2005 Location: The Rare Books section in the Hogwarts library |
I (who need to get my fingers on the right keys this morning
 ) voted for reading them in the published order--i.e. THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE first. I prefer that order because that is the way I first read them. I think it's only relatively recently that the publisher (at least in the United States) has started numbering and arranging them, in omnibus volumes, in story order. I myself think THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW is more interesting if you already know the "later" stories--so as you read it, you think "Aha! That's where the lamppost originated," for instance. MuggleQueen has a point about the way the books are paired: for example, pairing THE LION... with THE MAGICIAN'S NEPHEW doesn't make a great deal of sense, whereas PRINCE CASPIAN and THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN-TREADER (which show us Caspian at different ages and points in his life) would fit together better. Actually, I suggest pairing THE LION... with THE HORSE AND HIS BOY, which gives us a glimpse at Narnia during the adult reign of the characters who become kinds and queens as children in THE LION.... -------------------- Avatar by tonksgirl |
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Apr 12 2008, 06:07 PM
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#9
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Eeylops Owl Cage Cleaner Posts: 249 Joined: 6:26pm November 24, 2007 Location: (Greater) Manchester, UK |
I've read the books several times but have only ever read them in story order (maybe one day I'll read them in publication order) apart from when I first got into the Narnia books in the 80s (via the BBC) and I read The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe first.
Would be good to read Prince Caspian around the same time as the film comes out so we could discuss differences in the book and film. -------------------- If Neville was a Ravenclaw he'd be just like me. |
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Jun 22 2008, 08:07 PM
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#10
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One Half of the DDD Posts: 8,407 Joined: 5:31pm August 30, 2006 Location: Siriusly Dreaming Somewhere |
This is a thread that was started in a previous Book Club a couple of months ago. As the Narnia books are currently in the lead in the poll for reading the next individual book and series I thought it would be good to revive the poll so that people here can vote for how we read the books, i.e. in the order in which they were written or in the order of events in the story.
-------------------- November's book will is The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger "THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE DIED!" roared Black. "DIED RATHER THAN BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS, AS WE WOULD HAVE DONE FOR YOU!" |
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