Narnia poll!

[starlady]

So I have finished my Narnia reread, in honor of which, I have a very important poll:

Poll #6446 The Chronicles of Narnia: favorite?

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 40

View Respondents

Which is your favorite Chronicle of Narnia?

View Answers

The Magician's Nephew
5 (12.5%)

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
5 (12.5%)

The Horse and His Boy
9 (22.5%)

Prince Caspian: The Return to Narnia
5 (12.5%)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
11 (27.5%)

The Silver Chair
5 (12.5%)

The Last Battle
0 (0.0%)

TMN | LWW | HHB | PC | TVDT | TSC | TLB

With a bonus post on the Narnia musical.

Comments

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

I am floored by the number of votes for A Horse and His Boy. That would not have been the one I predicted.

[musesfool]

But, but, Aravis!

Admittedly, I can't bring myself to reread it because of the race issues, but, Aravis is the MOST AWESOME. Also, talking horses.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Between the race issues and the way it has almost nothing to do with Narnia proper, I can't say I've ever much liked it (despite Aravis). Me, I'm a Dawn Treader girl from early days, though The Silver Chair is probably my favorite book from a more mature perspective.

[starlady]

I voted for TVDT as a compromise between TMN and LWW. I think TSC is undoubtedly the strongest single book of the lot, though.

[cofax7]

I like Aravis, but still! I like Jill Pole best, I think. She's in no way special, which makes her awesome.

[starlady]

She was a Guide! And that's it. Hooray Jill.

[starlady]

I nearly voted for all of them except TLB, because they all (even TLB) have their good points, and Aravis and being set entirely in-world are two of HHB's.

I'm so torn.

[jesse_the_k]

These books saved my sanity when I was wee, and my family was in the middle of some ugly shit. After Winnie the Pooh, they were the first books I owned. I read 'em three times in a row. As we shuttled between apts and moved cities I developed an Aslan-based religion.

Just after I finished TLB for the last time, I read an article in the newspaper about the Christian allegory. My upbringing was militantly secular Jewish. I felt totally unmoored.

So I want to reread them, and then I don't. Is it wiser to leave the whole issue in the past, or should I stir it up so I can appreciate your criticism and reflections?

Re: I'm so torn.

[starlady]

Though my experience w/r/t discovering the Christian aspects wasn't so wrenching, I also didn't really reread the books after I found it out, and that was a dozen years ago. Speaking personally, I think I've come to appreciate and understand how much I still love the books all the more for having done this reread, and I've come to a better grasp of how the Christianity--which Lewis obviously put and saw there, but which isn't necessarily obvious if you're not looking for it--fits in with the other elements of the books.

[seekingferret]

I've only read LWW and PC, being as how Narnia was suspiciously left out of my upbringing. I liked LWW better.

[starlady]

PC is invariably an also-ran among the Narnia books: in both the movies and the books sales, LWW is #1, TVDT is #2, and PC is #3. But I think it has a lot of good points that aren't readily apparent until one has read all of them.

I think you might like a lot about Narnia, actually. I'd certainly be interested to hear your take on the books, should you ever read the rest--they're all quite short.