Some questions abou the Narnia books.

[nkf]

If you are a fan of them, can I ask?
When did you read them first?
Did you notice the Christian message?
If not on first reading, then when?

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.

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?

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!

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

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.

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.

Message withdrawn

KingCanute - the reason I'm asking is because I'm in the middle of a rather fascinating book about the Narnia series. And the writer talks of feeling "betrayed" by the realisation that the books had a Christian message. And that seemed a little extreme to me. So I wondered how other people had found the books. I think I saw the parallels later but was pleased to see them there. Also, my memory is that not all the books are equally religous. The Last Battle is but I think The Silver Chair is less so. And The Horse and HIs boy has all that Eastern exocticism going on.

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.

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).

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!

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

It's called The Magician's Book. It's by Laura Miller. I would recommend it. It's quite a dense read but worth it. Thought provoking. Only read it if you love the Chronicles and best if you know them quite well.

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).

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!

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.

I agree Edam.The Screwtape Letters is very good.

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.