Are you up for a Narniathon?

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After I posted a review of Katherine Langrish’s excellent From Spare Oom to War Drobe one blogger expressed the thought “how wonderful a group read of the Narniad followed by Langrish’s book would be!” She teasingly added “Host it, Chris, host it next year!” And then another blogger joined in… Thanks so much, Laurie and Sandra, I hope you’re not offering me what could turn out a poisoned chalice!

Well, as leery as I am of potentially onerous commitments here I am actually contemplating it. Who knew? So what form should it take? When should it start? Which of the Chronicles of Narnia should a readalong begin with? And would any bloggers be interested in joining in?

I haven’t run a poll in quite a while so you lucky people will be treated to a short series now. To get you focused I’m borrowing a title previously used on social media (for, I think, watching screen adaptations of the series), namely Narniathon — short, precise and hopefully memorable.

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Laurie outlined an easy approach to a Narniathon, taken from a Thomas Hardy readalong: “Each month we read the title and discuss it the last weekend of the month. The moderator throws out maybe three questions and we use those as springboards.” As moderator I would pose the questions in a dedicated post and readers could then discuss them in the comments section. This has the virtue of being simple and requiring the least effort from me, so I shall go with it! One title a month, with a discussion of Langrish’s book to finish, would cover two-thirds of a year. Easy-pimps!

So, are you interested? If so, when to start? And what order should the books be read in? (As the WordPress Reader doesn’t seem to show the polls you may need to view this post directly here.)

The publication order of the books, which appeared between 1950 and 1956, are as follows:

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.

On the other hand the internal chronology has a different sequence, and is said to have been sanctioned by C S Lewis himself, and though I read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe decades ago this was the sequence I read many years later.

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.

Peter J Schakel in an essay (‘The “Correct” Order for Reading The Chronicles of Narnia?’) echoes many Lewis scholars when he bemoans the confusion created by recent publishers, who have adopted the chronological order without reference to the original order they appeared in:

In one sense, then, as Lewis said, the order in which The Chronicles are read doesn’t really matter, but it unquestionably does make a difference—which he didn’t acknowledge, and perhaps didn’t recognise fully. The decision to renumber and rearrange The Chronicles in current editions may or may not be considered unfortunate. [… But I]t is a decision that detracts from, not enhances, recognition and appreciation of the artistry and meaning of Lewis’s best-known books.

Peter J Schakel in ‘Revisiting Narnia’ edited by Shanna Caughey (Benbella Books, 2005: 91-102)

I will go with whatever you all democratically decide, but should there be a tie I’ll have the casting vote; as a decision regarding this isn’t an urgent matter I suggest a cut-off point around mid to late July, with an announcement in, say, early August.*

Over to you now!

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A note on the The Chronicles of Narnia: my first full foray into Narnia (‘Landscapes to walk in’) found me fairly dismissive, which is why I subsequently decided to reembark on the journey. Michael Ward’s Planet Narnia: the seven heavens in the imagination of C S Lewis was a catalyst for a revisit (‘Contemplating the Narniad’), as was Lev Grossman’s part-parody, part-homage trilogy beginning with The Magicians (‘A book of Fillory tales’). What’s clinched the deal, though I’d already started with The Magician’s Nephew, was Katherine Langrish’s From Spare Oom to War Drobe. (All links to my reviews.)

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* Coincidentally, today is the longest day of the year for us folks north of the equator or, for antichthones, the longest night. Anyway, Happy Solstice, wherever you are!