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In What Order Should the Narnia Books Be Read? by Andrew Rilstone over at Narnia Web succinctly points out how a “reader’s response” to how they read the Narnia books impacts their interpretation of it. I’ve made the decision to organize the collected fanfiction chronologically, even though I first read the books in publication order and am entirely sympathetic to that method (for more than sentimental reasons), because I expect that everyone who reads fanfiction has already read the books (or at least seen the movies – :wince: ).
But as Rilstone points out, both methods have their merits and drawbacks. In this case, despite my sympathies, I feel that both methods have something valuable. It reminds me strongly of my college theology professor, who insisted on the principle of Both/And (which stood, I suppose, in opposition to the Either/Or dialectic). Narnia can be read both as strict allegory and imaginary history. But then, isn’t that the whole point of fantasy, to tell old things in new forms? The better one understands the new forms the better one understands the old things, and the more the old things are understood the richer the new forms are. Or, at least, that is how good fantasy should work. Goodness knows how much most fantasy falls short of this.
What is most interesting about Narnia (I think) is how the two intersect and grow off each other. Which only goes to show much people should not “pigeon-hole” the meaning, no matter how they read the books, and it also shows how much the books can offer upon re-reading them, again, no matter how they are re-read. By holding both readings together the reader can begin to approach the Both/And meanings, recognizing the strength of the message of both, while also seeing the inherent limitations.
Narnian Caparison 