38carrots Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 What age to read? I really, really dislike fantasy. Never got into it and I didn't grow up in North America, so I sort of missed this one as a classic. DD8 got the series for Christmas and is reading the "first" book now--she started with the book labeled "1" (which I now understand is not the best way, but it is too late now.) What do I need to know? I skimmed through review and the Wikipedia. Should I force myself and read the books? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutTN Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 (edited) Love, love, love Narnia. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is indeed first, regardless of the current numbering. The unabridged audiobooks (not the radio theater ones) are very good. Edited January 8, 2017 by ScoutTN 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Love. Good for tween ages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 They didn't do much for me. I can't see why you should force yourself to read them unless she really wants you to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 They're good. I always read them in publication order. And the entrance to Narnia is always through the Wardrobe. After the 1st read-through, they can be read in story order. Best wishes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I loved them and we started with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. By 8 I didn't have as much reading time as my daughter, so she read a lot of things without me from there on out. Maybe start one of the books and bail of you don't like them. The kids can read them themselves or listen to them on tape. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonhawk Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I never got into the series. I think I got through 3 books. Despite being a fantasy/fairy tale/etc fan, it just didn't click for my kid self. My DH loved it as a kid and chose the Lion W.W. to read to the kids for their reading time together. My kids loved it too. It's a fairly short and easy read; I would suggest reading just LWW if you have the time, just so you can see what the hype is about. If you don't like it, at least you know the general story, characters, and style. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Love love love. They're good for tween age I think. Start with The lion witch and the wardrobe and see if you like them or not. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I love The Chronicles of Narnia. One of the few (two, actually) series I have read entirely with each kid. (Harry Potter being the other.) I LOVE the first book, The Magician's Nephew, because it actually explains so much about why Narnia is the way it is and why the Wardrobe is magical. I read the series with my kids between ages 9-11. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 (edited) My kids loved it, starting at age 5. Favorites were lion, Dawntreader, Caspian. Horse a bit. They missed the Christian allegories until they were much later. We adults like Lion, Dawntreader, Caspian. We cannot stand The Silver Chair. ETA: We all greatly enjoyed the Focus on the Family dramatized audio versions. They are fabulous. (And we don't normally agree with FotF) Edited January 7, 2017 by regentrude 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 They didn't do much for me. I can't see why you should force yourself to read them unless she really wants you to. I can't figure out from Wikipedia whether they are Christian books or just books with Christian-based themes? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I remember liking The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe when I was a kid. I don't think I ever read the others. My dd got a set of them as a gift when she was younger &, I think, ended up reading most of them. I think she considered them ok, but nothing great. It wasn't a series that she re-read. She did like the movies. Ds never wanted to read them & I didn't force him to. I've never felt the slightest bit of interest in reading them for myself as an adult. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted January 7, 2017 Author Share Posted January 7, 2017 They're good. I always read them in publication order. And the entrance to Narnia is always through the Wardrobe. After the 1st read-through, they can be read in story order. Best wishes. Is it really horrible that she started with the Magician's Nephew? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I can't figure out from Wikipedia whether they are Christian books or just books with Christian-based themes? There is a lot of Christian allegory, especially in The Last Battle, Magician's Nephew, and LWW. But it's all in symbolism, and supposedly, Lewis said they were not meant to be Christian allegories. I think that's bull, but whatever. One could enjoy them as Chtistian allegory or simply as fantasy stories. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I have read them a few times...at different ages. They are different books each time. Same with LotR. Given that I have read them several times, I guess I love them. :0) CS Lewis did not write these as allegories, but as ways of wrestling with some of the questions he had as a Christian and used fiction/fantasy to explore and clarify the discussions, and to find a way to talk about them without invoking :::gasp::: religion. (If you ask me. It's not like I ever took a CS Lewis class.). I have found them helpful in this way, as I have noted in other threads. And I am not a fantasy or sci-fi person, either. However, I have enjoyed these books and CS Lewis' space trilogy (particularly the third book). By the way, I held off reading these to my son until he was about 9 or 10. I figured that they would withstand a later reading where other books would not (Winnie the Pooh at age 10? Nope. But it is perfect at age 5-6...and there are only so many read-aloud hours in a day.). And I never have seen LotR, the movie. I like my own imagination just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Is it really horrible that she started with the Magician's Nephew? Of course not! I think it will be a different experience, that's all. When you start with the Wardrobe, there is some mystery as to the beginning, which is explained in Magician's Nephew. She is just starting with the explanation instead of some mystery. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pippen Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 My kids loved it, starting at age 5. Favorites were lion, Dawntreader, Caspian. Horse a bit. They missed the Christian allegories until they were much later. We adults like Lion, Dawntreader, Caspian. We cannot stand The Silver Chair. ETA: We all greatly enjoyed the Focus on the Family dramatized audio versions. They are fabulous. (And we don't normally agree with FotF) Ditto on these titles, as well as the radio drama. I also agree not to worry about the order. It really didn't matter to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I read these when I was 12. Started them while on vacation. Any Christian allegories/references must have flown over my head. I don't remember anything that would have indicated Christian content to me. FWIW, I wasn't a big fantasy person. I preferred science fiction. However, I did like some of this series and remember reading them with fondness while we were traveling that summer. While starting with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe is usually preferred, it is fine that she started with The Magician's Nephew. It won't scar her for life or anything. :) As for you reading them, too, I agree with up thread. Maybe start one and see. If it is like nails on a chalkboard, just bow out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samba Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I never read them as a child. Dh read them as a child in a secular household and loved them. My kids love them. I've read them aloud, they've listened to the Focus of the Family drama audios and the unabridged audiobooks; they've loved it all! I have loved parts, been bored in parts, but overall have enjoyed the series. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I did not like it as a kid, but loved it in my 20s. It helped that I knew a lot more about Christian theology at the time (I was in seminary.) My kids loved "The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe" at around age 9. We then watched the movie which they all enjoyed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 (edited) I can't figure out from Wikipedia whether they are Christian books or just books with Christian-based themes? They are Christian allegories. Taken at face value without any Christian background, they are fantasy children's stories. A child who is not raised Christian won't recognize; a child who is raised Christian may realize when they are a bit older. They are beautiful stories. The Christian message is rather subtle - except for the silver chair and the last battle. There it is very in-your-face, and can be quite unpleasant even for somebody who generally has no problem with Christian content. I never read them as a kid, because in Germany they are not part of the cultural canon. I read them when my kids were little, i.e. listened to the audio in the car with them. Edited January 7, 2017 by regentrude 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 My favorite series as a pre-teen or so. I read them myself, to myself. I read them out loud to my own kids when they were younger. LOVE them. I grew up overseas, but I don't think that matters. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 I think that if you don't read them as children, you won't find them so charming as an adult. I can think of much better kidlit fantasy to start with if you want to try sharing your daughter's taste in books. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 We're big fans. My girls best love The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe and Voyage of the Dawn Treader, while (when I was younger) I really enjoyed the oft-overlooked Horse & His Boy. :p 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 7, 2017 Share Posted January 7, 2017 Is it really horrible that she started with the Magician's Nephew? I started reading them to the kids that way and was so glad I did! Made a lot of the other books feel more connected from the getgo. I'd seen a dramatized version as a kid but that was the first time I'd read them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38carrots Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 Meh. When we got to the end, Ds said that realizing the whole Christian thing with Aslan and heaven ruined the whole series for him. I enjoyed LWW, thought the rest of them were garbage. We watched an old television version, I think from the BBC? Cheesy, but still better than the later movies. We watched a British made (BBC?) series called Magician's Nephew! We only found some of the episodes so didn't finish the series. The kids loved it, but I found some of it a bit creepy. I don't remember C.S. Lewis being referenced in the titles. Was it based on this book??? I need to research! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I loved them at about age 9. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I can tolerate them. I love SF/F, but in these the allegory is a little too heavy-handed for me. I enjoy books where you can make a connection later on after some thought (whether literary, theological, whatever) but Lewis seems really determined that YOU WILL KNOW THEY ARE CHRISTIAN ALLEGORY, lol. I do love how British they are, and the talking animals are great. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I can tolerate them. I love SF/F, but in these the allegory is a little too heavy-handed for me. I enjoy books where you can make a connection later on after some thought (whether literary, theological, whatever) but Lewis seems really determined that YOU WILL KNOW THEY ARE CHRISTIAN ALLEGORY, lol. I do love how British they are, and the talking animals are great. Did you feel this way if you read them as a child? Because honestly I didn't catch 99% of the allegory when I read and fell in love with them. I loved them for the fantasy and the adventure. Prince Caspian and The Horse and his Boy were my favorites. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Did you feel this way if you read them as a child? Because honestly I didn't catch 99% of the allegory when I read and fell in love with them. I loved them for the fantasy and the adventure. Prince Caspian and The Horse and his Boy were my favorites. I never read them as a child, so I can't answer that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 They are quite bad. CS Lewis was not a gifted writer (and a most illogical person when writing apologetics) and these tales are a mishmash (as his friend Tolkien told him forthrightly). The series at times breaks into cringe-worthy racism. They are pushed (especially in homeschooling circles) for the obvious Christian allegories more than the literary value IMO. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe alone has value as a cultural reference point. Otherwise drivel. Bill 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 You're crazy, Bill. I love you but you're nuts. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 As far as reading order, like I said, I have read the series a number of times. And in different orders. Sometimes by date of publishing, sometimes by story-order. Once I read them backwards story-line order and actually got some allusions I had not before. Each reading has been with a different amount of life experience which has also changed the story, to some degree. I think that is a mark of good literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Loved them. I didn't read the last one for years and years because I didn't want to face the end. Have re-read all of them many times. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gaillardia Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 5th grade, after recess, our teacher would read to us. Awesome stuff, I mean, the teacher was so awesome, her reading aloud was awesome and we were all so tired by then. It was wonderful. These days my kids have loved the books too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RioSamba Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I loved them as a child, and I have loved reading them with my son. We have a heavy blanket,of snow right now; perfect LWW weather. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 They are quite bad. CS Lewis was not a gifted writer (and a most illogical person when writing apologetics) and these tales are a mishmash (as his friend Tolkien told him forthrightly). The series at times breaks into cringe-worthy racism. They are pushed (especially in homeschooling circles) for the obvious Christian allegories more than the literary value IMO. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe alone has value as a cultural reference point. Otherwise drivel. Bill I'm so glad you said that. Thank you! I never heard about them as a kid, but read the aloud with my kids because they were supposed to be so great. My kids rolled with it, but it always bothered me that I didn't like them when people said what great literature they are. They didn't make a lasting impression here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 (edited) The racism is there; the bad guys are clearly Middle Eastern. They are Christian allegories, no matter what the author says. :) I adore the stories. My favorites are The Magician's Nephew and A Horse and His Boy. My older son listened to them on CD when he was about 10. I read them to my younger son last year when he was 10. We all greatly disliked The Last Battle. It was a slog to get through. There are not too many bright moments in that book. Everything is pretty dreary where the good guys keep losing over and over. I had read them as a kid and adored them as many others have. I lived in England for a bit when I was 5-7 years old. When we came back from England a friend my family made there, Lucy, came to visit us in America. I was eight. While she visited, she read The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to me before I went to sleep at night. Nothing better than a little old English woman named Lucy reading WWW to you as you drift off to sleep at night. Edited January 8, 2017 by Garga 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xahm Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Bill is right about the racism. It's not exactly TinTin in the Congo cringeworthy, but Lewis' treatment of the dark, bearded Calormenes who just happen to worship the evil Tash is pretty iffy. These gosh-they-seem-Middle-Eastern Muslim! characters can only be redeemed by understanding that Tash is evil, leaving their homeland, and converting to the Way of Aslan aka Christianity. Otherwise they are just baddies. Like, Satanic baddies. It is racist to make all your baddies dark, and all your heroes...well...white. I'm sure Lewis was just reflecting the prejudices of his time; I don't think he set out to be deliberately racist. But yeah, it's there. I very much agree that in this Lewis reflects the racism of his time, but one of the controversial (to conservative, fundamentalist Christians) things he does in The Last Battle is have one of the Calormenes clearly going to "heaven" without ever having converted. He basically says that by earnestly seeking the truth and desiring to to good, his faith and service were counted as righteousness. Sorry if that doesn't make much sense, but the kids are climbing on me. Oh, and not all the baddies were dark. The White Witch was very white, after all. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lecka Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I read them when I was about 10 or 11. I didn't like them that much. My older sister loved the series and gave me a box set for my birthday, so I wanted to like it. My sister also gave me a set of Pern books by Anne McCaffrey that I did love. I haven't read either to any of my kids. There have just been too many other read-alouds. I would definitely give them another shot if it seemed like a good time or like any of my kids would be really interested, but it hasn't happened yet. I won't feel bad if I don't get to them, but I am not avoiding them at all. I often read books to tie in with a movie, and I thought I might read them when the movie came out recently, but it ended up not being on our radar like I had thought it might be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 What we really disliked about Silver Chair was that the kids were given a series of (to them) incomprehensible instructions and punished for not following them to the letter.The fact that this is clearly meant as allegory makes it worse. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I very much agree that in this Lewis reflects the racism of his time, but one of the controversial (to conservative, fundamentalist Christians) things he does in The Last Battle is have one of the Calormenes clearly going to "heaven" without ever having converted. He basically says that by earnestly seeking the truth and desiring to to good, his faith and service were counted as righteousness. Sorry if that doesn't make much sense, but the kids are climbing on me. Oh, and not all the baddies were dark. The White Witch was very white, after all. That was one of the things I liked about the last book. I was Evangelical when I first read it, and I was struggling against the "narrow is the path" teaching I had been raised to believe. He was, I assume, basically talking about Baptism By Desire, I think it's called. Certainly glad he used that treatment instead of doing it the other way. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennyD Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 (edited) Love. I never read them as a child but we listened to the complete audiobooks for the first time a few years ago and were all absolutely mesmerized. My older two have since read them many times. I think it is an extraordinary series. We're Jewish and the Christian allegories give us a lot to talk about. My kids also appreciate the allusions to classical mythology. Edited January 8, 2017 by JennyD 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatechip Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I big puffy heart love the Chronicles of Narnia. They were my favorite books growing up. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seeking Squirrels Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I used to love them, but as no longer religious, I guess a bit of my love has faded. Horse and His Boy was always my favorite. We listened to the dramatized LWW with the kids and they seemed unimpressed. If they want to read them, I have no problem with it, but I'm not going to push them. I would recommend publication order for the first read, and chronological for re-reads, but where she's already started TMN, I don't think it's a big deal. Just a different story experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan in SC Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I loved The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, liked The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and tolerated the rest. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I read them and one of my kids read some of them. We didn't discuss them and just enjoyed them for the fantasy side of the stories. I liked them. But I also didn't overthink them. Was a little disturbed by some stuff I read after the fact, but I just didn't think about it. That said, I only heard about them as an adult. I could have lived just fine with never having read them so read them or don't read them. I don't see the big deal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaBearTeacher Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I am on the third time reading them with my kids. My favourite is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader but I liked them all as a mother thinking of her children's enjoyment. There is a lot of imagination in the stories and the kids are empowered and good. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lllll Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 (edited) nm Edited January 11, 2017 by .qp_ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rebcoola Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Love, Love, Love. I actually have been planning to get the lamppost tattooed on my leg. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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