Continuity is for the Fanboy

The ever-blogging dr. clam (Narnians, I highly recommend his current blog The Skeleton in the Wardrobe) has provided a link to a great article about the much debated preferred reading order of the Narnia books. It seems that not only is there Lewis’ recommended reading order (I couldn't tell exactly, but this is possibly based on a single comment in a letter to a young fan), but the order the books were written in is also different from the order they were originally published in. Put that with "any order you feel like" and there are at least 4 immediately identifiable recommended reading orders that can be thrown into the pit to see which has the strongest arguments for it.

I really liked the discussion about how one approaches the books effecting how one perceives the books. It would be good to know who/when/why "Chronicles" was attached to/imposed upon the stories. The word certainly has a more epic sense than "A Collection of Episodes from Narnia", but I'd never until now realized the implications of that upon the reader. The point certainly bears remembering when one approaches the books. I'd also completely forgotten that The Horse and His Boy takes place in the final chapter of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

All in all a great link that thankfully opens up more questions than it answers.