Favorite Narnia book

[nome1486]

Mine, by a hair, would have to be The Horse and His Boy because it gives a glimpse both of Narnia during its Golden Age and of other parts of Narnia's world. Narnia seems the most real in this book, although it does so in the other books as well. I especially like how this book focuses on new characters, then shows how they view the original characters we know and love. I also love any story with a case of mistaken identity (the one in this book reminds me of The Prince and the Pauper, though that may not have been Lewis' intention).

[Admin]

I also like a Horse and His Boy.

In a close second would be Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

My least favorite, easily, is the first one. I pretty much like the ones without Peter and Lucy and all the rest. The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle are good too.

[den]

Horse and his Boy, yes!

[imthefoolonthehill]

I completely agree... Horse and His Boy is THE BEST one of them...

In my opinion, it goes:
1. The Horse and His Boy
2. The Silver Chair
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. Prince Caspian
5. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
6 The Last Battle
7. The Magician's Nephew

I like them all... but the Magicians Nephew is definatly much worse than the rest of them...

[imthefoolonthehill]

In fact, during the past three hours, I just reread the Horse and his Boy... and it was even better than I remembered... there are few children's books that get better with the age of the reader, but Narnia Series is one of them.

[nome1486]

Yes, and I think part of the reason is that we read them when we're very young and we imagine all of Narnia just like a real country, then when we go back to them it's like going back to someplace we actually visited in our childhood and had almost forgotten about. I love the scenes when the children are transported to Narnia from our world...it makes magic really seem possible.

[Shea]

I really have a difficult time choosing a favorite, but it would have to be the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I like the way Eustace is changed and that it actually takes to him. I guess because there are certain members of my family that never seem to learn from something that life has taught them. It might be nice to have some of them turned to dragons! lol :D I would agree with nome1486 about "The Horse and His Boy", though. That would be my second pick. ;)

[Adelheid]

The Horse and His Boy.

By the way, do any of you see a "connection" between Aslan and Jesus? I don't know whether that's the right way to put it, though.

My least favourite book would be The Last Battle. It is supposed to have won the Carnegie award, the highest mark of excellence for children's literature, but I found it boring enough... :-) The ending was good, but the happenings wasn't...

[Adelheid]

I don't understand the question and the poll... could someone care to explain it to me?

[IWilKikU]

The guy who posted this poll waaaaaay back in 2003 selected 7 options for the poll, but forgot to title each option so all the 'yes, no, maybe, etc...' are the defualt options when you try to publish a poll. In the last 2 years since this was posted most people have figured out how to work forums better. Did I mention this thread is from 2003?

[kimmie83]

Hey! Is there anyone that wants to help with the promotion of the Disney/Walden movie: NARNIA: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe? We are looking for true fans of Narnia. If you are interested, please drop us an email at [email protected].

Thank you!

[Beaumains]

This thread started in 2003 and it's still on page one? I'm not sure how that happens, but I digress. I agree with the majority; The Horse and His Boy is my favorite one of the series. Perhaps it reminded me of Mister Ed, or maybe it was the setting, I cannot say for sure...

[Jack_Aubrey]

Silver Chair.

[mono]

I feel like the true minority here, though I have not read the Narnia Series since childhood, but I would have to choose The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, though I very much enjoyed all of the novels.

[Jay]

Since a few days ago I haven't even heard about Narnia, let alone knowing there's more than one book! Still not sure what it's all about.

[Snukes]

Go find out immediately Jay! They are WONDERFUL. Yum. Religious connections are there to make IF you want to make them, but the books stand entirely alone. I guess they were the perfect books in my mind - a fantasy that every child wants to experience themselves, with all the developement and depth that makes them continue to be wonderful well into your adult life, as has already been mentioned.

I must say, I recall being a Voyage of the Dawntreader fan, as of the last time I read them. But yum, they're all so good!

And I continue to insist that anyone who has not read them yet should read them in the PROPER order (not the order which they're being sold these days), which is (lists and comments swiped off Wikipedia, for convenience):

"The books of the series, in the order of their publication, are:

1. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
2. Prince Caspian (1951)
3. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
4. The Silver Chair (1953)
5. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
6. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
7. The Last Battle (1956)

The first American publisher, Macmillan, put numbers on the books and used the publication order. When HarperCollins took over the series, the books were renumbered using the internal chronological order, as suggested by Lewis' stepson, Douglas Gresham.

1. The Magician's Nephew (1955)
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
3. The Horse and His Boy (1954)
4. Prince Caspian (1951)
5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (1952)
6. The Silver Chair (1953)
7. The Last Battle (1956)"

[rachel]

Through the eyes of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis's dear friend, more like brothers they were I grew to love "Jack" as he was called.
But as for his books for some reason they absolutely freaked me out. I still am not sure why.
I never got over Mr. Tummnus for years, frozen stiff like that or whatever happened to him, it was a long time ago I read The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe.
Maybe I should try again. After all orcs don't bother me.

[Pendragon]

My favorite Narnia book is out and away The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. The Californian C. S. Lewis Society was very nice and published my sonnet A Tribute to C. S. Lewis in their monthly magazine back in 1996 or thereabouts. It drew heavily on this book for inspiration. I also had a free verse poem taken by The American Tolkien Society the same year, entitled A Little Too Real, dealing with being lost on the barrow downs. Narnia and Middle Earth, two great inventions of fantasy by two great authors. I am humbled to have had work published in their honor.

[Padan Fain]

Silver Chair
Caspian
LWW
Magician's Nephew
Last Battle
Dawn Treader
Horse and His Boy (only one I didn't care too much for).

I have read these a number of times. Hell, along with the Hardy Boys, they helped push me to love reading. at each stage of my life, when I have read them, they spoke to me in different ways, deifferent levels. Kind of like the Muppet Show. Something for kids and adults at the same time.

[shewolf]

I am shocked to read that the admin of this site thinks the lion the witch and the wardrobe is the first in the narnia series and seems to have missed the entire point of lucy and her siblings, without which there are no subsequent successors, eustace beign their cousin who is converted both literally and symbolically in narnia.
i am also very disappointed to discover these forums contain nothing more than what do you like? i like... what do you like? i was hoping for probing analysis and provoking discussion. yours ect.

[Padan Fain]

Really? I'm fairly new here, but I think there is a good balance. I mean, I haven't seen many discussions that were footnoted, but we can all hope, eh? Maybe you should look around a bit before you trash the place.

So, what are your ten favorite books? What do you like? I mean, other than Superfudge.

[Logos]

i am also very disappointed to discover these forums contain nothing more than what do you like? i like... what do you like? i was hoping for probing analysis and provoking discussion. yours ect.

Sorry to disappoint.. maybe you could start us all off on such a topic?

[Satine]

I've been re-reading these books this past week. Finished The Magicians Nephew and the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Tonight I start The Horse and His Boy. I read these as a child, and yet re-reading them I feel like I've never read them at all. There is so much I don't remember happening, characters I'm getting aquainted with all over again...I am so glad I decided to go back and read these again. I'm enjoying it so much. If you're into this genre of reading, and you haven't read these since childhood, I'd strongly recommend going back and reading them again. The adventure begins all over...

[cateye515]

do any of you know if they plan on makeing any more movies? :confused: :goof:

[cateye515]

The Horse and His Boy.

By the way, do any of you see a "connection" between Aslan and Jesus? I don't know whether that's the right way to put it, though.

My least favourite book would be The Last Battle. It is supposed to have won the Carnegie award, the highest mark of excellence for children's literature, but I found it boring enough... :-) The ending was good, but the happenings wasn't...


c.s. lewis wrote it basically based on the bible...aslan is basically god

[Apotropaic]

My favorite is No (not appropriate for site) :nod:

[IrishCanadian]

Aw common Aptropaic, they're classic childerens novels and really well done allagories. My fav would have to be The Last Battle ... but its been a while since I read them and I think if I re-read them my new favorite would be The Horse and His Boy.

[WaxDoll]

Wow, so many Narnia fans. I tried reading them in third grade - bored me to death. I tried again in fifth grade, and I got through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, liking it okay. But when I started on another one (forgot which), bordum arose once more. Who knows, maybe I'll try again. Third time's the charm ;)

[cateye515]

Wow, so many Narnia fans. I tried reading them in third grade - bored me to death. I tried again in fifth grade, and I got through The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, liking it okay. But when I started on another one (forgot which), bordum arose once more. Who knows, maybe I'll try again. Third time's the charm ;)

when i first tried it, i read half of Lion, The witch and The Wardrobe; then my grandma bought them for me last year and i got hooked. as soon as i finished the Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe, my best friend and his girlfriend took me to see it in the theaters! so now i just can't get unstuck :lol: :D

[Jesourirai]

I love them all so much! But I would have to say The Last Battle is my #1 favorite followed closely by The Magicians Nephew (reminded me of E. Nesbit in style) and the Horse and his Boy.

[Charles Darnay]

My list:

1. Voyage of the Dawn Treader
2. The Last Battle
2. The Horse and His Boy (it's a constant struggle between the two, I can't decide)
4. Prince Caspian
5. LWW
6. Magician's Newphew
7. Silver Chair (Still a great though!)

In regards to Admin's comment on how LWW was the first in the seiries... this is sort of true in the sense that it was written first.

[Shannanigan]

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader was the one where Reepicheep finds the place in the ocean where the water is sweet, right? That one nearly made me cry, and I was a kid! That would have to be my favorite...

I really did love The Magician's Nephew, as much as many of our forum members seem to have disliked it. I just loved how descriptive the time travel was, I still hold memories of it, it was so exhilerating for a 4th grader stuck at home for a summer...I've got to re-read these stories...

[subterranean]

I'm bit confuse with the poll. Well my fav so far is Magician's Newphew. The first book, where it all began :nod:

[penelopea]

Voyage of the Dawn Treader
never dive in without testing thewater ..........
My house is full of dark corridors with beard mirrors.
In fact parts of this book dictate still my life.
My yacht is named after it .

The Silver Chair is ACE

I cant live without Narnia.

[Loup Ombrage]

Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Magician's Nephew. The Horse and his Boy and The Silver Chair come second. I never really liked LWW as much as the other books, but its still good.

[grace86]

I instantly fell in love with the Narnia books. I think that I read the whole set of them in about a month this time last year. It is hard to point out my favorite, but the one that comes to mind first is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I loved the sea of lilies and Eustace turning into a dragon and the place in the ocean that they went to and it was pitch black..and the stars...oh goodness I am going to have to read them again.

[melancolia]

Gah! It's such a shame I only read one of the series in sixth grade, that being...The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe... I loved it and I still do. I only found out this year that there is more than one Narnia book , hehe... Oh well.. looking forward to reading them
:D

[thevintagepiper]

Nothing can top The Lion, The WItch, and The Wardrobe for me.

The Last Battle is next because of its symbolism (though not as obvious as in TLTWATW) and beautiful, unending finality.

[FRENCH1016]

The Magician's Nephew, was by far my favorite though I am partail to the whole series, wonderful memories from childhood!!!!!!!

[grace86]

I think people are posting their favorites, but not voting in the poll!!! I just now remembered to do so.

[Charles Darnay]

I liked the old poll: "No" all the way!!!

[Shannanigan]

"No"? You don't know what you're talking about, "No, not appropriate for this site" all the way!!! :P

[penelopea]

Theres a poll?

[Charles Darnay]

"No"? You don't know what you're talking about, "No, not appropriate for this site" all the way!!! :P


Ya, actually I think you're right :D

[kathycf]

There is a poll, but this is an older thead. Nonetheless, I voted for Voyage of the Dawn Treader the Last Battle was also good, but I really loved all of them and still own my original set I received *gulp* 30 years ago...(I was a little girl way back then! :) )

[Reepicheep]

I voted for Dawn Treader. This may seem a little out of place here but I have to discuss this somewhere and there doesn't seem to be a general Narnia board. (There should be). I found one continuity problem between the books and it bothers me. It's not like "Edmund's hair parts on a different side" or something very trivial like that. It's a direct conflict in something Aslan says to Lucy and Diggory. In Prince Caspian Aslan says to Lucy "To know what would have happened?" "Nobody is ever told that". He again reminds her of this rule in Dawn Treader when he chides her for spying on her friends back on Earth. Yet in Magician's Nephew he clearly and thoroughly explains to Diggory (later the Professor) what would have happened if he had given in to Jadis' temptation with the apple. "And that is what would have happened". Now this bothers me because in these stories Aslan is not like Christ he is Christ. A third of the holy trinity and according to some points of view God Himself. He can not be proven wrong, contradicted or speak untruth. I also don't think Lewis would make this mistake so he must have done it on purpose. Help me understand why.

[packersfan]

I also voted for Dawn Treader. That is by far my favourite (my second favourite being the lion, witch, and wardrobe). The first chapter of Dawn Treader is magnificent, absolutly fantastic.

[sonofaslan]

I also prefer HHB. I suppose it is because the primary character isn't someone natively from our world. I also like the idea of humans and talking horses being fleeing refugees from an oppressive society. The hidden spiritual impressions seem to me to be the most subtle in this book (the way I like it)... "'Who are you?' 'One who has waited long for you.'"

It is for that reason that I like TLB least. All the embedded Christian meanings are too flagrant in this book. It bears too obvious a resemblance to Christian eschatology. I do not fault Lewis for this, for such a book about death and the end of the world, if it is going to parallel the Christian ideology, must be this obvious. If I were Lewis, I would have called TLB, "The Narnia Story for Christians", since it is essentially a story about what we Christians refer to as "The Blessed Hope".

I didn't care as much for the plot of TSC, although one of my favorite Narnia characters (Puddleglum) is found in TSC.

On your first reading, I recommend Narnia's publication order, with all subsequent readings being in the order you choose. There are benefits to reading in the chrono order, but the books were written to be read in their order of publication.

For example, Lewis assumes the reader has never heard of Aslan when he says in LWW...

"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."

...but quite naturally, if you've read TMN, you have indeed heard of Aslan, and the statement in LWW loses some of its dynamic.

I also like VDT. It awakens a sense of adventure in the reader quite unlike the rest of the Narnia Series.


I found one continuity problem between the books and it bothers me. It's not like "Edmund's hair parts on a different side" or something very trivial like that. It's a direct conflict in something Aslan says to Lucy and Diggory. In Prince Caspian Aslan says to Lucy "To know what would have happened?" "Nobody is ever told that". He again reminds her of this rule in Dawn Treader when he chides her for spying on her friends back on Earth. Yet in Magician's Nephew he clearly and thoroughly explains to Diggory (later the Professor) what would have happened if he had given in to Jadis' temptation with the apple. "And that is what would have happened". Now this bothers me because in these stories Aslan is not like Christ he is Christ. A third of the holy trinity and according to some points of view God Himself. He can not be proven wrong, contradicted or speak untruth. I also don't think Lewis would make this mistake so he must have done it on purpose. Help me understand why.

I think all Aslan is revealing to Digory is the consequences of sin, that obtaining good things in ways, or in degrees, which is otherwise forbidden will destroy the pleasure in an otherwise pleasurable experience. In both cases, Digory's mother would have recovered, but the details would have varied, destroying the pleasure had Digory's mother recovered due to eating the forbidden apple.

Think of it like this. In the Scripture, God tells man the consequence of sin, and the consequence of righteousness. Both can give pleasure, for the moment, and righteousness can give lasting pleasure, where the indulgence of sin will soon destroy the pleasure. So in this sense, it is same as Aslan telling Digory the consequence of his actions had he sinned by taking a stolen apple back to his mother.

But in the Scripture, God never tells a doctor how his life might have been different had he become a lawyer. God never tells a husband what would have been different if he'd married a different woman. One thing, the thing in TMN, is dealing with sin, taking a benefit unlawfully, and the other thing, the thing with what Aslan tells Lucy, is only talking about choices regarding life's scenarios.

Of course, one could argue that it was for sin when Aslan scolded Lucy for eavesdropping on her friend's conversation. But if one sins, I suppose it is a little easier to speculate on what might have happened if the sin had never happened. Just ask any cheating husband whose wife is now gone.

But when one has done all the right things regarding one of life's choices, it is mostly difficult to speculate on what might have happened if one implemented shady tactics in resolving life's issues.

It also pay to keep in mind that Lucy was favored by Aslan, and just like in the Scriptures, those favored by God often had tougher rows to hoe. ;)

[StayGolden]

"No"? You don't know what you're talking about, "No, not appropriate for this site" all the way!!! :P

I'm confused. How is this thread/the Narnia books "not appropriate for this site"?

Anywho. My favorite is The Last Battle.

[happyeverafter]

Ok...apparently this thread has been dead for sometime now but I am going to post on it anyways. I enjoyed all of the Narnia books, and own all of them on CD. But if i had to pick a favorite....oh it would have to be Voyage of the Dawn Treader, because of Reepicheep. But i have good things to say about all of the books. Although the first time through, i did not like Prince Caspian @ all and i found the beginning of TLB very tedious....but after i got to the part when Jill and Eustace come into the picture...it all started to make sense. but i also must comment on The Magician's Nephew, simply because i find that story fascinating, even though the general opinion i've gotten says that they find it boring. But anywho...hopefully more people will post on this thread because i really enjoy the Narnia books!
Always,

[Shurtugal]

the last battle.

[Rogers_68]

Man, I don't know if I could pick one. They all go so well together. Anytime in the past that I've re-read them it's always been the whole series. Next time I go through them I'll have to think about which one I like the best.

[Shurtugal]

yeah, i've read them over so many times...

[tiredstudent]

It was my favorite. by far.