35
votes
Accepted
Why is the order of The Chronicles of Narnia changed from original publication?
The question of reading order for The Chronicles of Narnia is a complicated one, with much debate even among avid fans of the series. But you've asked only why publishers changed the order, which is ...
- 70.7k
29
votes
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What suggests Edmund might be gay?
As someone who rather likes the totally non-canonical idea of gay Edmund, there is really no textual evidence to support this idea and you are right to point out that it is extremely unlikely that ...
- 1,177
21
votes
Is Judaism represented in the Narnia books?
Note: This does not in ANY WAY represent my own religious views.
It's possible that C.S. Lewis meant for the Dwarfs to represent the Jews. At the end of The Last Battle, the Dwarfs refused to be '...
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19
votes
Accepted
Was C. S. Lewis condemning nuclear weapons in The Magician's Nephew?
The Magician's Nephew is set a generation before The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, specifically 1900 (see Wikipedia). The latter book is set during World War II. Thus, in the time frame of The ...
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16
votes
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Was Rowling inspired by the railway station scene in Prince Caspian?
Oddly enough, Rowling has cited The Chronicles of Narnia as an inspiration for her King's Cross entryway to the world of magic, but not the part you're thinking of!
I found myself thinking about the ...
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14
votes
Accepted
Was Susan ever able to return to Narnia?
Susan probably made it back to Narnia, because her experience with faith reflects that of Lewis himself.
In 1960, C. S. Lewis wrote back to a reader and said that Susan is not in Aslan's country.
...
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13
votes
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Does the description of Eustace's parents fit some known stereotype?
I believe Lewis meant readers to assume the Scrubb family were adherents of scientism.
There's only a small amount of evidence for this in Dawn Treader itself, but it makes sense in light of his ...
- 2,003
13
votes
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Why is C.S. Lewis so concerned with being locked into a wardrobe?
According to an article on the CS Lewis Institute website:
The actual wardrobe that prompted the stories was one made by Lewis’s
grandfather and was in the family home in Belfast. Later, it was moved
...
- 724
12
votes
Accepted
Is Deeper Magic something more than God (the Emperor beyond the Sea) in Narnia?
First we need to understand what the "Deep Magic" is/represents, before moving to the "Deeper Magic." We know from chapter 13 of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe that the Deep Magic is written ...
- 2,042
12
votes
What is the source for C.S. Lewis' quote "A good book should be entertaining"?
This is a slightly mangled version of a phrase from Lewis’s An Experiment in Criticism (1961). Here’s the whole paragraph:
In characterising the two sorts of reading I have deliberately avoided the ...
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11
votes
Accepted
Why didn't The Last Battle mention Susan's reaction to her family's death?
(Please note: I'm not a expert in Christian/Lewis in particular's theology; this is my impression primarily from the text of the book.)
Peter, Edmund, Lucy and the rest don't know they're dead until ...
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11
votes
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Was Neil Gaiman's Stardust influenced by C.S. Lewis?
While we can't rule out an influence from Lewis, he was not Gaiman's primary motivation. Gaiman has named different influences for Stardust.
Stardust has a much closer parallel to the 1926 book Lud-In-...
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11
votes
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What are "smoking-room stories"?
Wordy, but fun to write.
From context, "smoking-room stories" means something like off-color stories, dirty stories, steamy stories. One dictionary entry for the adjectival form of "smoking-room" ...
- 3,965
11
votes
Aslan as an alternative version of Jesus as the form in which he may have appeared in an alternative reality?
Already answered over here: In-universe, is Aslan actually Jesus? (my highest-voted question on the SE network). There's two explicit quotes from Lewis's letters, and one very heavy implication in the ...
- 70.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Did C. S. Lewis support the Ransom Theory in the Chronicles of Narnia?
To cite an answer on Christinanity SE that sticks to C. S. Lewis' expressed views on the matter, avoiding theological debates:
Lewis
does not see any need to settle on a particular theory of the ...
- 1,908
10
votes
Accepted
For and Against different Reading Orders for Narnia
I first read the books in the chronological ordering when I was about five. And that, I think, makes a big difference, because to a five-year-old, The Magician's Nephew is a slog. I didn't understand ...
- 2,003
9
votes
Was Neil Gaiman's Stardust influenced by C.S. Lewis?
It looks like he was influenced by traditional English fairy stories and in particular a writer by the name of Lucy Clifford
A star still falls, a boy still promises to bring it to his true love, ...
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9
votes
Accepted
Does The Chronicles of Narnia promote deism?
Although Aslan was more of an immediate presence to Narnia than the
Emperor, he and his father worked in perfect unity. The Emperor was
often referred to as "Aslan's great Father, the Emperor-over-...
- 1,903
8
votes
Accepted
Why are the bears bulgy?
If you google "algy met a bear" you will get thousands of hits on the traditional "Algy met a bear, the bear met Algy. The bear was bulgy, the bulge was Algy". If you look up pre-1940 bulgy bear in ...
- 3,965
8
votes
Accepted
What is the symbolism of Eustace's arm ring?
The main point of the arm-ring is that it's a piece of treasure Eustace is trying to hoard for himself. He puts it on because he's selfish and grasping, like a dragon. That's why he turns into a ...
- 499
7
votes
What suggests Edmund might be gay?
It is worth noting in this conversation that Lewis had very level-headed opinions about homosexuality and did write directly about the subject outside of his children's fiction; in his private life, ...
- 198
7
votes
Where does this quotation by C. S. Lewis come from?
It comes from a letter to Mary Willis Shelburne, a lady who was (thought to be) dying.
From this page about the Misquotable C. S. Lewis (emphasis mine):
When you read the above words what do you ...
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7
votes
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Did the Friends of Narnia die at Harrow and Wealdstone?
Two train crashes are often cited as the inspiration for the crash described in The Last Battle. One, as mentioned in the question, is the Harrow and Wealdstone disaster of 1952, and the other is the ...
- 8,021
6
votes
Was CS Lewis referencing the uncanny valley?
We can't be sure.
The simple reason for this is, as you noted in your question, that the term itself was first used in 1970 and translated into English in 1978, meaning that Lewis certainly didn't use ...
- 4,347
6
votes
Accepted
What is the symbolism of Ransom's heel wound?
The answer goes back to Genesis 3:15 -
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” - Genesis 3:15 (...
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6
votes
Did any of the Pevensie kings and queens find romance while in Narnia?
To quote The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (pg 183-184 in my edition):
And Susan grew into a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet and the kings of the countries ...
- 4,722
6
votes
Accepted
Is there any significance in the cry "Euan, euan, eu-oi-oi-oi" in Prince Caspian?
Apparently ’euoi’ is a ‘cry of impassioned rapture in ancient Bacchic revels’, per wiktionary and ‘Euan’ or ‘Euhan’ is a Latin name for Bacchus, per Notre Dame University.
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Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible