There are spoilers in here for those who have not read the books or seen any of the film productions.
So far so good. At first I was wary of this whole "reading order" idea, but as soon as I read The Magician's Nephew, which is about the creation of Narnia, I understood. (The religious themes and undertones which have always eluded me are much clearer as well.) I finished The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe last night and am about to start The Horse and His Boy.
Now that I look at it, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe should probably be The Wardrobe, the Witch and the Lion as Lucy discovers the wardrobe first, then Edmund meets the witch, and only when they are all in Narnia do they (and the reader) meet Aslan the lion.
The first time I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, I was in second grade, and I remember the book being incredibly beautiful and magical and heartbreaking. I wanted to have tea with Lucy and Mr. Tumnus. I despised Edumund for his allegiance to the witch and wasn't nearly as willing to forgive him as his siblings were. And my heart broke when the witch killed Aslan. I remember seeing it all so clearly in my imagination.
This time around, however, I had to work harder to conjur the images. The story seemed so much simpler (not to mention shorter). I can't decide if it is a factor of growing up (or at least getting older) or a result of knowing the story fairly well already.
Further bulletins after I read more chronicles.
(And I haven't forgotten about Rostropovich.)
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