Time is relative, lunchtime...

[threemonkeys]

Dymocks managed to score a whole pile of very cheap Chronicles of Narnia omnibus editions - ones with all seven books in one volume. I guess somebody overestimated the appeal of the books when the film came out and now they are trying to unload the surplus. Anyway, I bought one and had a read of these works again - apart from The Magician's Nephew, it was the first time I had read them for a long time.

There isn't much to say about these books that hasn't been said many many times before. One thing did interest me however - the order of the books in the volume. They have been put into a sequence corresponding to the internal chronology of Narnia. This is not the order in which these books were written or published. I don't think this is the right order to read these books. Contents of the books written later, but set earlier, are informed by the earlier books. To read The Magician's Nephew without having first read The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is to lose something. I think the same general rule can be applied to other series - would you read all the Dune prelude books before reading Dune. Likewise, would you read Asimov's Foundation books in internal chronological order or in the order written? I can think of similar examples on TV - the B5 movie In the Beginning, only works if you have seen the series. So I would say that you shouldn't read prequels before reading the original work. Or is it just me?

Comments

[random-alex.livejournal.com]

Perhaps that explains why I didn't fully appreciate the B5 movie; I thought I was doing the right thing!

I think you're right, often, about reading in the order written. Tolkien is an interesting example, because a lot of stuff was written at the same time, but I can't imagine anyone reading and enjoying The Silmarillion without first reading LOTR.

[stephen-dedman.livejournal.com]

I find it difficult enough to imagine anyone enjoying The Silmarillion, period!

I think that in this case, however, that reading the Narnia books starting with Genesis The Magician's Nephew works about as well as reading them in the order in which they were written. Mind you, I started with The Silver Chair, because it was the only one in the school library, and didn't read the others until a couple of years later. I don't think it made that much of a difference.

I haven't read any of the Dune or Foundation prequels, but I'm sure that if The Phantom Menace had been the first Star Wars film I saw, it would also have been the last. In all of these cases, I think that the original trilogies are better than the later additions: the best prequel I know is The Godfather, Part II, which is roughly equal parts sequel, so that the two films together effectively create a trilogy by themselves (Part III, IMHO, is another afterthought which adds little to the story).

Oddly enough, someone just gave our 11-year-old a used copy of The Last Battle as a Christmas present, and that is definitely the worst place to start the Narnia series!

[littenz.livejournal.com]

I heard The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in primary school, then read the whole sequence about 35 years later - starting with The Magician's Nephew.

I think The Lion etc. is the one to read first, but it made little difference to me. I certainly wouldn't start with The Last Battle.

[random-alex.livejournal.com]

Starting with Last Battle is ridiculous... not least because it is, I think, the least readable. Definitely agree about Phantom Menace! I just realised that the first movie of B5 that I watched was, indeed, *the* first movie - at least going by the production dates. So my not fully getting it is either me, or pitfalls in the pilot...

(and I do like The Silmarillion, mostly! =D )

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

B5 has both a pilot and a prequel. The pilot is slow and ponderous and was not a good way to attract people to the series. The prequel is better written but mostly pointless from a series point of view apart from answering a couple of questions.

[random-alex.livejournal.com]

Ah-ha-ha! All makes a bit more sense now!

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

The last Battle *shudder* Oh yes, the worst point to start and the worst overall. In fact this time, unlike the other stories, I didn't even read the whole thing - just skipped through reading the highlights.

[beagl.livejournal.com]

I'm a strong believer in reading books in the order of writing, for the reasons you give.

[botrytis.livejournal.com]

"would you read all the Dune prelude books before reading Dune"

No... I wouldn't read them (the prelude books) at all :) There's something about preludes written by other authors that just doesn't sit right with me.

I have no problem reading the Narnia books in either order, MN then LWW or LWW then MN. There's some things in Lion that make sense after you've read Nephew if I recall correctly (the lamp post in the wilderness for example).

Having said that, I'd agree that In the Beginning works better if you watch it after having already seen some of B5 - I'm not sure you have to have watched all five series however.

[threemonkeys.livejournal.com]

No... I wouldn't read them (the prelude books) at all :)

Well yes, a good point. I have read a couple and now regret doing so.