# Narnia - Which order should they be read? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2004, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135 "2004-11-11T03:02:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/41 "2004-11-12T15:13:52Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > What’s wrong? The first thing that’s wrong is that I’m a big doofus. Which is why I didn’t initially catch the second thing, which is that the title is _ **A** Horse and His Boy_, not **The**. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/42 "2004-11-12T16:11:28Z")
The original, published order. I find it fascinating how Lewis tied things together by inventing the connecting circumstances as he went along. It’s part of the charm of the series. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/43 "2004-11-12T22:56:51Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > The first thing that’s wrong is that I’m a big doofus. > > Which is why I didn’t initially catch the second thing, which is that the title is _ **A** Horse and His Boy_, not **The**. Actually, you were right [the first time](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0064471063/ref=dp_primary-product-display_0/103-5666880-9987006?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155) ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/44 "2004-11-13T00:31:11Z")
> [@Arch Trout](#): > > Original published order, missing out Horse and His Boy as it’s utter utter drivel. Word. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/45 "2004-11-13T01:19:47Z")
> [@Keapon Laffin](#): > > 😛 > Ahhh… but where did the Wardrobe come from? Exactly, you don’t know…there’s this cool house with this cool magic wardrobe. It’s a mystery. And you try out all the closets in your house, because you’re not British and you don’t really know that a wardrobe is a stand alone thing - and they’ve never worked before, but hey, you never know And then it goes “click” several books later, and it’s cool because now all the pieces have fallen into place. Maybe the people who like the bad chronological order are the ones who read the last pages of a book first to make sure their favorite characters will end up ok. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/46 "2004-11-13T02:09:49Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Actually, you were right [the first time](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/0064471063/ref=dp_primary-product-display_0/103-5666880-9987006?%5Fencoding=UTF8&n=283155) oH. My bad, then. Would somebody be good enough to pass me the doofus hat? The extra-colorful one, please. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2004, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135/47 "2004-11-13T09:45:41Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > (a) Publication order. Period. > > (b) Is it just me, or does _The Last Battle_ kind of suck? Definitely not, Max. It takes a high order of suckitude to not only be a bad book, but also to spoil every other book in the series. I cannot read Narnia any more - not because of the writing, or because it’s “too childish”, but because that loathsome and blatant allegory at the end of TLB makes the whole thing feel rancid [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/narnia-which-order-should-they-be-read/274135.md?page=2)