Resumo de The Chronicles Of Narnia

Narnia is a wonderful, magical fantasy world that exists apart from, though accessible from, our own world and into which two young boys and two girls venture in Britain of the early 20th century. There they have many incredible adventures and learn a great deal about themselves. A wonderful piece of fiction for adults and children alike.

The Chronicles of Narnia have recently been republished, perhaps to coincide with the coming film, in their chronological order. This places the books as follows;

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

As a child, however, many - including myself - read the books in the order in which they were originally published;

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

Many people disagree on which order is most suitable. To my mind, however, the original order engenders a greater sense of mystery and discovery upon first encountering the land of Narnia. It also offers a few more surprises the nature of which I will not delve into, to enhance the revelation for those of you who will read these books.

When read by children, this is a magical fantasy to spur the imagination and is truly a story that will stay with a child well into adulthood. Even having read these books some 20 years ago now, I still recall aspects of each story with great fondness and nostalgia.

When read by adults, the tales' Christian allegory is more apparent. This is where the chronological order reveals its strength. The allegory becomes considerably more apparent when the books are read this way. Apparently, even C S Lewis himself intimated that he preferred this order. Having said that, the debate raged even back then and he happily conceded that, perhaps, the order that the books were read was not so important after all.

As the written word is becoming an increasingly unpopular medium with children, in the advent of computer games, consoles, mobile telephony and other gadgets, if we are lucky, perhaps the film will be an accurate portrayal, and acceptable subsitution, for these novels which have delighted and enraptured children and adults for decades.

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