h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi Sho!

Thought I'd do you a message on your PS to talk about Narnia rather than jump all over the other posts on the reading thread. You know, I only found out just before Christmas that the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe was NOT the first of the Narnia books! I think I only read that one when I was a child, and had no idea there were so many more! (how silly did I feel!). Naturally once I found out more, the set went on my present list and Santa was good to me. I will be reading them in chronological order (apparently C.S.Lewis did not recommend that?) as I do like to know where the beginning, middle and end are in such a big story. I've nearly finished the Magician's Nephew and love the fact that now, finally after all these years I know how Narnia came to be and some more about it's beginnings!

I see the Chronicles are on your list of favourites - I'm guessing you've read all of them? Without giving too much away, what did you think?

Looking forward to discussing this with you! Hope you don't mind me popping in

p.s. No, you are not the last person to find the statistics page - I didn't even know it existed until I read your PS!

hi Jem!

Absolutely no worries about popping over here - I'm always ready to talk Books in general, and Narnia in particular.

I read the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe when I was 7, and the rest soon after, and have read them over and over since the. I love them. Last year I read the lot (in publication order - I'm a rebel ) to the Gruesome Twosome, and they loved them so much that #1 has written little stories about one of the talking animals. (something I did too)

As for the order... well, they work both ways. I prefer publication order simply because I find it fascinating to see how Lewis' mind worked, especially with something like the Magician's Nephew and The Horse and His Boy. And while I realise he preferred chronological order, after reading a few books, then finding out how it all started... well that got my young mind working overtime.

It's only now that I am old that I have come to be ever so slightly irritated by the obvious Christian message (because I'm not one, I suppose) but it doesn't spoil it in any way for me.

And I am soooo hoping that they will film the rest of the books now.
Have you seen the film?

there's no reason to feel silly about not knowing there are more than one Narnia book - it's an exciting thing to be readng them for the first time, I'm quite jealous!! and of course, any time you want to discuss them, get over here.

I'll even give you and !

Hi Sho!

I'll take you up on that and ta!

I should finish the Magician's Nephew tonight - I only tend to read at night before going to sleep and I've been so busy at work lately that I manage to get through about 3 pages before crashing out!

So I'm interested to know what the original publication order of the books was? Is it really that different from the chronological order? I think it's great that the books have such an effect on children's imaginations to the point that they start making up their own stories. Such fun!

I must admit that I've not spotted the Christian message yet - I'll look out for it. I'm not a Christian either and I'm not keen on preaching but if it didn't spoil the stories for you then I'm sure it wont for me. I've not seen the film yet. I wanted to read the book before I saw the film so as I'll be starting it tomorrow I'll have to rent it fairly soon! I saw some of the clips of the movie and it did look wonderful. Another thing that drew me to it was that Ray Winston did one of the animal voices and I think he's great.

Thanks for the reply Sho, I do love talking books so it's nice to have a new hootoo reading buddy!

See you soon

*holds out plate of and a cup of *

I couldn't quite remember the publication order, so I googled and I have to say that the Wikipedia has a good page about it

They say publication order is this:
1 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
2 Prince Caspian
3 The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4 The Silver Chair
5 The Horse and His Boy
6 The Magician's Nephew
7 The Last Battle

As you can see, you have to wait a long time to find out about the origins of Narnia, but I love it that way. The Horse and His Boy also came as a total surprise to me, number 3 in chronological order,I think?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Narnia

actually I never thought of searching on h2g2... (my bad)

How are you doing with the series? The Gruesome Twosome really loved them, and are really bugging me to read them again, but I have so many other things for them that they will have to learn to read english and do it themselves!

By the time you hit The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe you'll get the Christian imagery at least

and now I'm off to search h2g2 because I'm sure we must have an entry on this here somewhere.

Oh yeah, Ray Winstone was Mr. Beaver, Mrs. Beaver was Dawn French and they were fantasic.

I can totally relate to a few pages of a book before crashing - I'm having the same problem. which isn't so bad because I'm reading some Westerns at the moment, so nothing too complicated.

Hi Sho!

How you doing? I finished L,W&W and just finished The Horse and His Boy last night. I see from our last posting that it's taken me 3 weeks to read 2 books, so considering my previous comments of falling asleep after a couple of pages I guess that's not too bad! I see what you mean about Christian imagery in L,W&W, much made of Christmas and also the "re-birth" of Aslan when the stone table breaks. I still love it as much as I did when I was younger, and it just remains for me to rent the movie and watch that!

The Horse and His Boy I found quite different. Though Narnia was the goal of Shasta and Aravis' journey, I did not find it quite as al as the previous 2 books and I must admit that it took me some time to get into, but I persevered and am glad that I did - I really enjoyed it in the end! I like the way that King Edmund, Queen Lucy et al were involved in the time line too.

I'm going to start Prince Caspian tonight! I've read the sysnopsis and can't see where it fits in with my existing knowledge of Narnia (or any of the characters) but I guess I'll find that out

So how have you been over the last few weeks? Enjoying the Westerns that you were reading? Hope all is well with you and the kids, and I hope to talk to you soon!

p.s. I made some for you - enjoy!

The Horse & His Boy is lovely, isn't it? I thought the characters were beautifully written, and the way the Narnian king and queens came in was fabulous. Even though it's not really "narnia" I still like it, it really made me think as a 10 year old, and nothing has changed in that respect.

Do rent the movie, it is fantastic. I got a mail from that well-known online book retailer that the DVD comes out in April - so I've pre-ordered it.

Prince Caspian confused the pants off me the first time I read it (age 10 or so) but it really is worth while. I'd love to hear what you think of it.

As for my cowboys, I can't get enough of 'em! I have just about finished the 10 I borrowed from my parents in October, and have had to resort to buying my own I've got myself involved in the Sharpe entry here and am having fun rereading a couple of those - fantastic stuff (but I'm ex-military so that could be part of the attraction)

and how are you? Thanks for the just the thing for Sunday evening. How about some to go with it?

as for the kids, one is throwing a major tantrum in her room, the other is enjoyig having the tv to herself. I don't call them The Gruesome Twosome for nothing

Hi Sho!

How are you? I finished Prince Caspian a few days ago and I thoroughly enjoyed it Thanks for advice to keep going with it! Once Doctor Cornelius came along and began telling the story of Old Narnia I was storming along and didn't want to put it down. Some of the ending confused me a little and I had to back track a little to re-read the end of the battle because I blinked and missed it, and I was a little disappointed of the way Peter and the gang simply came back to "our world" barely saying goodbye - but apart from that little bit at the end I loved the book. Reepicheep is one of my new favourite characters, and I'm glad he's in the next book. I even took the book to work with me today and read some more at lunchtime because I wanted to get going on the voyage!

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope to speak to you soon !

ooooohhhhhh! Reepicheep is so wonderful as a character - he plays a big part in Dawn Treader which is probably my 2nd favourite of the books.

I realised last year, when I read Prince Caspian to the Gruesomes that I really really like that one too - it really shows how far Edmund came, and the rediscovery of Narnia and how time works is fantastic.

Can't wait to hear what you think of Dawn Treader though - it has some of the best Narnia moments in it.

I still really enjoying it and I'm not quite half way through yet. It's nice that Edmund is growing up into a nice chap and not the brat he used to be, but of course Eustace is the brat on board now, and I really don't like him! Just got to the bit where they have had several days of severe storms, finally found some land and Eustace has gone off wandering on his own while they rest on dry land. I'm hoping something horrid will happen to him, but I'm fully expecting him to turn into a nice humble person after his experience! Obviously, you already know what happens, so I'll have to read a bit faster to find out what does happen to him.

Long live Reepicheep!

what happens to Eustace is another of those "pesky Christian messages" but it is brilliant!

Hi Sho! How are you? I hope that all is well!

I finished Voyage at the weekend, and as I went to Edinburgh on a business trip on Monday I took The Silver Chair with me and started it whilst waiting in the airport and then on the plane.
Ok, so Voyage of the Dawn Treader - I LOVED it! I loved it because it was as magical as the first 2 books and I really felt there with them on the trip. Once again, I was disappointed with the ending and the way they left Narnia. What is about the endings in the Chronicles? So much magic and fun through the whole story, and then suddenly they walk through a door that has appeared and that's the end! It does frustrate me So anyway, I'm glad that Eustace turned out an ok chap after his "rebirth", and I thought the Dufflepuds were hysterical You know, until we got a proper description of them, I pictured them as tall chunky warriors looking like roman centurians for some reason! I can only think that it must have been the marching that did it, but I did like that whole part of the book with Lucy reading the Magicians book - again lessons to be learned in that chapter when she peeped on things she shouldn't have. You know the feeling of happiness the kids get when Aslan turns up? I get like that when he turns up in a chapter - silly huh? It's like he represents the Mum and Dad who are there to give you a hug when you really need one, but will also teach you a lesson when you deserve it! So yes, the Voyage of the Dawn Treader was a winner for me.

The Silver Chair is another frustrating one for me so far simply because I keep thinking it is so obvious that they should follow Aslan's instructions but maybe that is because I am a grown up! I've babbled for far too long now so I will sign off, and let you know how I get on with this one!

babble away - I'm really keen to hear what you think about The Silver Chair - it's my favourite.

Voyage - oh my, I so relate to how you felt about the ending - I wasn't keen on the lamb, but as a kid I wept buckets at the scene of Reepicheep paddling off into the lillies. Gruesome #1 was just the same.

The Dufflepuds is the best part of that, really well written, and the part with Lucy and the Magician is so well written it is really really probably the best of all the Narnia scenes out of the 7 books. (with the possible exception of the description of Queen Jadis riding the Handsom Cab in The Magician's Nephew)

Of course, Voyage is also quite preachy, but it is completely possible to ignore all that.

The kids in Chair are infuriating, but I think they are supposed to be a product of their anti-authoritarian school. Most likely CS Lewis was not in favour of modern stuff like that

Business trips are great for reading, I usually go to Hannover once a year, which gives me a total of 5 hours on the train, I get loads of reading done then.

and can you imagine... the Narnia film is out soon on DVD - I'm more excited than the Gruesomes!

Hi Sho!

Well, as you've seen on the forum I finished The Silver Chair and have just begun the last of the series. I don't think I enjoyed the silver chair as much as the others (my least favourite as opposed to your most favourite!). The kids drove me mad all the way through until the very end - obviously a product of the school environment they were in, but for once, I loved the ending! The way Aslan let the Prince go back with them for 5 minutes to fight the bullies was great. I can't really think of any other part of the book that stood out for me before the actual rescue...... funny that!

Anyway, I'm enjoying the last battle (only a few chapters in, Jill and Eustace have just turned up), and will let you know how I get on with it! I've no idea what I'm going to read when I've finished it 'cos I've been reading them since the new year! At least it's kept me away from the book shop for 3 months!

I can well understand why people think of the Silver Chair as their least favourite - it does get really annoying in parts. But Puddleglum is one of the best characters in Children's writing ever. IMO of course

The Last Battle is a hard one. Difficult to talk about until after you've finished. You'll see why.


As for what to read next... I've just found some books I've been looking for for the best part of 10 years, 3 novels about a little girl who goes on holiday to Cornwall and meets a dragon. The first is called Green Smoke and it's waaaay out of print. But I've found it, and the next two in the series of four. My mum has them now, so when the Gruesome Twosome come back from visiting our family at Easter I can read those.

as for what you can read next... have you read Harry Potter?

I don't _only_ read kids' books btw

I LOVE the Harry Potter books! The day the most recent one was released my postman had been warned that I would be waiting for it, and delivered it at 7.30am because he saw me looking for him out the window! I've not seen the latest movie though . I was disappointed with the 3rd film so didn't go to see number 4 at the cinema and will soon be renting the dvd.

The books about the girl who meets the dragon sounds interesting. I look at fantasy type books in the book shops but tend to shy away from buying them if it is an author not know to me, so I often rely on recommendations. Maybe I'll keep an eye out for the hard to get Green Smoke!

I'm on another business trip this week with a very early start to Germany so more hours to kill reading! I'll let you know how I get on with the last battle.

Take care!

oh where in Germany? you can wave to me out of the window...

Looking forward to hearing what you think of TLB. I like it, but it's probably my 2nd least favourie. If that makes sense.

I'm going to Stuttgart in the morning for 2 days of meetings so I'm staying over for one night. Where in Germany are you then? I'll wave at you from the plane!

miles away from Stuttgart, unfortunately! But wave anyway.

I have a friend down there, and I can tell you, landscape wise it's much nicer than here.

Hi Sho! How are you? Sorry I've not continued the conversation sooner, I've been a busy bee.

Well, Chronicles are finally finished! I found the last one a little long winded in places, but overall enjoyed it. Because I knew that Peter, Edmund and Lucy (and the rest) would be turning up at the end I got impatient waiting for them, and kept expecting them to turn up in full battle dress with swords and bows/arrows to help in the battle and save the day! I was ever more conscious of the christian theme throughout this one, and also had a feeling at the end that they were all dead - a bit odd to think about, but very fitting for them to end up together in their real earth/heaven. I still need to rent the DVD, but have to wait for a weekend when the other half is out because it's not his kind of thing!

I discovered a second hand charity book shop in my local town at the weekend and got 4 books for £1 each (one of them was half price!), so my next piece of reading material is Chocolat by Joanne Harris. That one is also now a movie which funnily enough was shown over the weekend, so I've recorded the movie and will not watch it until the book is finished - I like to know the proper ending before I see the Hollywood ending!

Have you started anything new lately?

for finishing Narnia - in the Last Battle, did you when the horses died, I was for ages!

Chocolat is fantastic - the book is just waay better than the film, which is only saved (for me) by having Johnny Depp as Roux. I'd deffo say read first, because then you really know what's going on.

I have just finished The Blind Assassin, which had an unsatisfactory ending. I read a Louis L'Amour on the train to Frankfurt for the German met, and I've now started the Bernard Cornwell series about the American civil War. (the Starbuck chronicles)