Some questions abou the Narnia books.

Never realised the Christian connection until a few years ago when I went to a christening and the vicar had bought the child LWW as a present.

They were read to us in primary school. Our teacher did a fantastic Eustace Scrubb voice which is why I love the Dawn Treader and Silver Chair best.

9 or 10

Nope, altho I did notice that 'the horse and his boy' had characters which were blatently middle eastern and the author was obviously demonizing them, which took the shine off the books for me.

I only realised the books had a Christian message when I read another book which said so [daft emoticon]. BUT I've not been bought up in the Christian faith, and didn't know about the trinity and the second coming until I was a lot older and had got round to reading more.

Oo, and I also LOVED the Magician's Nephew and Silver Chair. Although 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' was my absolute favourite. And I lvoed 'The Horse and His Boy' cos Aravis was so cool and I loved horses. Oh darn it, I loved them all!

This is such an interesting thread! I read the Narnia books from about the age of 6 upwards and they made such a huge impression on my life (still have really). I grew up in a non-religious Jewish household and saw nothing symbolic in them whatsoever until I re-read them as an adult and found it quite an eye-opener. But so what? They didn't convert me, I didn't feel preached to, I loved them for the adventures they are. I think 'betrayed' is a bit OTT. They're certainly much better than a lot of books of that era in terms of strong women, diverse neighbourhoods etc, even if there are a few dodgy bits (the Tarkaans and Tarkhinas are bordering on racist depictions for example, although again, I never 'got' that as a kid).

LittleBella - good comment there! Definitely worth looking out for the negative propaganda too.

Thinking about it some more, part of the reason it was so obvious and non-contentious to me was that being at a CofE school I was very familiar with parables - we had proper Assembly every day, with the local Vicar taking at least one service a week and lots of RE. Although we did study other religions too, it was very much 'this is what some exotic people in far away places believe' rather than anything related to our own lives. The only child who was really different from the herd was in the Sally Army!

what's the book called, nkf? Would you recommend it?

When I was older, I read some of CS Lewis's other work - remember The Screwtape Letters was v. good (letters from the Devil).

I read them between about 7 and 9. Immediately noticed the parallels between Aslan and Jesus, but I was at a convent school, so pretty unavoidable. The anti-Islamic imagery in Horse and his Boy was pretty obvious as well tbh - Tash is a frightening, unloving god, unlike the loving Aslan - I really got that one.

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I picked up the parallels between Aslan and Christ on first reading, when I was eight or nine. But I was in a catholic primary school so very attuned to the symbolism.

We read "The Magician's Nephew" and LWW at primary school, and I don't recall any discussion of Christian imagery. I think my teacher missed a trick there! But she also introduced us to The Dark is Rising series, so I shall forgive her.

notcitrus I loved The Magician's Nephew as well...the between-worlds woods with all the pools was so brilliantly evocative and the dying world where the original witch came from was just spooky as fuck. Like most people I read LWW first and for several years didn't know it was part of a series; I remember being quite blown away when I found out about the others and read The Magician's Nephew.

Also really enjoyed The Silver Chair - I've always hankered after a bath you could swim in

I read them early - at 6 or 7. My parents were lentil weaving liberals who explained the Christian allegory to me, and explained how wrong it was to mask propaganda in that way. I have tried to pass the same message (which I believe very strongly) on to my own children. They tend to ignore me on this - and many other - matters!

Was about 8 when I read the series first time. Didn't notice the link until I was about 12 or 13. I am not religious but no it didn't bother me, in fact I thought it added another element to look out for as I read them again IYSWIM.

Why do you ask?

was obsessed with them when aged about 11 or 12. yes, got the religious element. that was why i liked them.

think my favourite was voyage of the dawn treader.

I loved them 6-10

complete atheist upbringing

only heard about the christian thing when the Pullman books where discussed along side narnia on the radio!

Around age 6 or 7
Never noticed the Christian subtext until much older - maybe 10 or so
Didn't bother me - CofE primary school but atheist parents including mother who had a tendency to go church for the music and atmosphere, so was quite used to taking in Christianity as an interesting story IYKWIM

I read them over and over again between the ages of about 7 or 8 and 10 and didn't notice the Christian messages at all. I'm now a teacher of 9-11 year olds and they are still fairly popular...I think with children's classics, as with any classic novel, the old fashioned language becomes part of the book rather than making it seem dated.

Interested that some of you say age 7 when you read them.

Could I give them to DD (good reader) who is 7 then?

I personally think that, like the William books, the language and mores of the time have dated very rapidly - what I mean is I read Narnia and William 35 years ago, not so long (relatively) after they were written, so talk of shillings and maids and jolly good show was not so distant if that makes sense, as it seems to be on reading them to the DC now...

I read them at about 9 or 10, I think. The Christianity message became obvious in my teens when I re-read them. I think it is telling that the last few books were my least favourite.

I'd like to re-read them again now to see what I make of it all. I have recently become interested in Christianity, and I wonder what I would make of it?

Read them aged 7. Was aware of the religious connotations but the magic seemed so much bigger back then. I read them now and while I still love them, the magic is hidden behind the overt Christianity.