I would guess that others have said it as well, but that was the theme ofthis thread that I started. Although though most of the responders seemed to agree with my theory, there were a couple that dissented.
There’s also a discussion in that thread regarding the reason for the change. It all comes from a letter written by C. S. Lewis as a reply to an American fan. From the entry on the Chronicles of Narnia on Wikipedia
You can see that the preference expressed by Lewis is a mild one at best. And it’s entirely possible that the remark was simply made in order to encourage a young fan. I sincerely doubt he put a lot of thought into it or expected publishing companies to rearange the books based on an offhand comment in a letter.
According to the IMDB, yes, Baldwin, there is a Santa Claus… er… Father Christmas.
Heh. You do realize that this is akin to abortion, religion, and “-gry” debates, here on the Straight Dope . In other terms, them’s fightin’ words.
Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe comes first. All other arrangements are the works of small-minded marketing people. (I was going to say “Satan himself”, but then figured “small-minded marketing people” was an even greater evil.)
The Magician’s Nephew may be the first chronologically, but it was written for those who had already read the first 5 books, and it has little dramatic meaning when read by someone with no knowlege of Narnia or of Aslan. Putting it at the beginning of the series would be like putting all the flashbacks at the beginning of a movie. Chaging the order of the books is retroactively changing history, and that’s George Lucas territory already and I think that that’s one inspiration we’re trying to avoid, don’t you think?
It may not be the first Narnia book, but it’s certainly the first Narnia movie. So how about this: I won’t call The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the book) “N1”, only The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (the movie).
The preference of the author is the Word of God in these matters, at least in official terms (although Lewis didn’t express a really strong opinion). Of course, as Lewis pointed out, it probably doesn’t matter much in what order you read them (although I’d maintain that one should read The Last Battle last.) If I were trying to interest a child, I’d start with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
Did anybody else get that Jack Chick vibe right at the end of The Last Battle? If not, good.
*“They say Aslan is on the move - perhaps has already landed.”
“And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning—either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or beginning of summer.” *
Quoted and posted for two purposes:
If one had read The Magician’s Nephew first, this paragraph would lose a lot of its effect to a young reader.
And,
I’m with Lucy on this one Can’t wait until December.
The website might answer some questions, and goes a bit into the ordering debate.
<RPG GEEK>The Aslan may be on the move, but as long as the Imperium has the I.S.S. Azanti High Lightning on patrol in this Sector, our system won’t be attacked.</RPG GEEK>
U guys are only Clvl 58,and that’s just cuz their hacked. Aslan is a Clvl Infinity Times Two +1. Anyway Aslan has the Heaven’s Light Mighty Scepter.And the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch. Aslan ownz the I.S.S. Azanti High Lightning, u n00bs.
Oh wait, I started this thread, now look what I’m doing to it…
As for the Xtian elements, to be fair, Aslan is as much a Krishna figure as a Jesus Christ type. Which is to say, really, he represents Lewis’s idea of God rather than something religiously orthodox.
Hmm. I’m not sure I can agree. I re-read LW&W about a year ago for the first time since I was 12 or so, and I was surprised at just how direct a retelling of the Christ myth it is – the sacrifice, the celebration with followers before the crucifiction, the desecration of his flesh and dignity, and of course the returning to life after death, it’s all in there. I’m not familiar enough with Hindu mythology to know if the parallels with Krishna are near as strong, but I’d be very surprised if they are.
Thanks; didn’t see that before I posted again. I’m not surprised; Lewis was an intelligent Anglican, and his theological writings are more sophisticated by orders of magnitude than anything Jack Chick ever produced. It’s just that the scene at the very end of The Last Battle, when the children are overjoyed to find out that they’re dead made me picture a rather ghastly final panel in a tract.
In the last pages of the last book, the Unicorn says:
“I have come home at last! This is my real country. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now.”
What’s not to like about the Afterlife?
Jack Chick is a writer of evangelical Christian tracts, in small comic book form. Said tracts are noted by many for their lack of Christian love and tolerance, and for embracing the “fire and brimstone” method of scaring the Hell out of you. Chick is extremely bigoted against Catholics, and they are often depicted as the villians in his little morality tales, deliberately leading people away from “true” Christianity. Jews aren’t as openly reviled as Catholics, but Chick doesn’t like them much either.
Do a Google search on his name. Also search these boards, a number of rants in the Pit have scorched their way through here.
Can’t wait until December.
