Order of Narnia

A couple years ago I decided to buy a hardcover single-volume edition of The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Once upon a time when I was a kid (maybe when I was 8 or 10 years old??) I read through all seven books in the series, but beyond The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I really didn’t remember many details (or even broad strokes of the plot) from the series. With the new movies coming out, I wanted to refamiliarize myself with the novels. A side “benefit” was that I’d be more keenly aware of where I should be disappointed with the movies when they inevitably depart from the plot, haha.
Upon buying the book, I noticed that the first book in the volume was not The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but rather The Magician’s Nephew. I therefore had a bit of a quandry on my hands: should I read the books in the order in which they were published, or in Narnia-chronological order (which is how my single-volume edition had them)? Some people have strong feelings on the subject for sure. I’d always been kind of in the camp that publishing order was the order in which they should be read, mostly because that’s how I read through them as a kid (though I didn’t remember terribly much about them), and because I figured that C.S. Lewis wrote them in the order he wanted them read. This time around I figured I’d give the Narnia-chronological order a go, though.
I started reading sometime last fall, and one of the primary things I remember from reading The Magician’s Nephew was that there were several places where Lewis clearly expected the reader to have prior knowledge of Narnia. That’d make sense, because it was the sixth book in the series that he wrote, even though it was basically a prequel to the entire series. And then in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Lewis spends a great deal of time introducing the reader to Narnia, which again makes sense because it was the first book he wrote, even though it’s second chronologically in Narnia-time. Also, the only other book in which the creation of Narnia or the first human visitors to Narnia were mentioned was The Last Battle, which even though it’s about the destruction of Narnia with several stories in between (chronologically, anyway). So on all those counts it seems like it’d make more sense to read through the series in the original publishing order. However, there are ways in which it was nice to read through the books chronologically in terms of the story. The primary benefit was that I thought it was actually easier to to follow the plot as a whole, especially when there’d be several weeks between times that I’d pick up the book. So what’s my verdict on the “proper” order in which to read The Chronicles of Narnia? I guess I’d still give a slight nod to the publishing order, but I can definitely see why many people prefer to read them in the chronological order.
The other thing that clearly stood out to me as I read this series over the last few months (most often a couple chapters before bed, and I finished the last two-thirds of The Last Battle on Friday night because I was on a roll and getting so close to done) was how powerful a Christian allegory this series really is. It’s something that mostly went over my head when I read it as a kid, but I can’t not notice it now. The whole way through, from Aslan’s creation of the Narnian world in The Magician’s Nephew, to Aslan’s sacrificial death and resurrection to save Edmund in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, all the way through to The Last Battle which, to mix metaphors, is absolutely dripping with echoes of Revelation, and several other moments in the stories in between involving either Aslan or the other characters, there are definite similarities and allegories to various accounts in the Bible. Is Aslan a perfect allegory for Jesus Christ? By no means! For Christ did far more than to die to save a single person, like Aslan did for Edmund — Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, of all who would believe in Him. The Narnia books do point to Jesus though, even if it’s not explicitly, and by learning about Aslan, you can see several characteristics of the God of the Bible. I think there’s definitely value in reading them. The books are pretty easy reads as well, and are reasonably entertaining, though as a piece of literature I don’t think Narnia is on the same level as The Lord of the Rings (they were written for different target age levels though, so maybe it’s not a fair comparison). It was still a fun read. If you’ve never read the books, or if you haven’t read them since your early childhood like was my case, I’d recommend picking it up from the library or buying your own copy and giving it a read. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader will be coming out in theaters before you know it, so it’s timely as well.