How often do you reread the series? - Talk About Narnia https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/ NarniaWeb Forum Discussion Board en-US Sat, 11 Apr 2026 23:42:34 +0000 wpForo 60 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-363093 Fri, 26 Sep 2025 11:58:58 +0000 I hardly ever reread the whole series as a continous project - I may have done so, but can't remember. I reread individual books, though, just because I feel for reading that particular book at that particular time. Not necessarily every year.

I read some books more often than the others. No idea how many times for each of them, other than that I've read LWW far more times than the others. Partly because from 1963 till 1976 that was the only Narnia book I had (or even knew about), and I read it several times during that period. (Then I bought the 6 others in May 1976 and read them all during the next few weeks.)

But I'm fairly certain that I must have reread every book at least once every decade, which makes roughly four or five times.

]]> Talk About Narnia Varnafinde https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-363093 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362951 Fri, 19 Sep 2025 00:14:27 +0000
Posted by: @narnian78

How often have you read the series during your lifetime?   I believe I read the series four times.  The first time was between high school and college and I read them again during the C.S. Lewis course I took and two more times after I graduated from college.  Sometime I would like to read all seven books again from beginning to end. I have the books in chronological order which was done by the publisher, Harper Collins, but since they are separate volumes I can ignore the numbers on the spines.  I am sure that there are people here who have read them more often than I have.   I have other books that should be reread, and some of them are children’s stories.

Three times I believe.

Part of my motivation is selfish. I have a long drive to/from work (over an hour) and this time of year gets rough with long hours. There's nothing more comforting to listen to on audiobook than Narnia.

]]> Talk About Narnia starlit https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362951 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362947 Thu, 18 Sep 2025 22:36:30 +0000 How often have you read the series during your lifetime?   I believe I read the series four times.  The first time was between high school and college and I read them again during the C.S. Lewis course I took and two more times after I graduated from college.  Sometime I would like to read all seven books again from beginning to end. I have the books in chronological order which was done by the publisher, Harper Collins, but since they are separate volumes I can ignore the numbers on the spines.  I am sure that there are people here who have read them more often than I have.   I have other books that should be reread, and some of them are children’s stories.

]]> Talk About Narnia Narnian78 https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362947 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362912 Tue, 16 Sep 2025 20:57:17 +0000 Just wanted to add that thanks to this thread, it prompted me to start reading The Horse and His Boy last night  {ym}:grin: . These books are very much a comfort read.

]]> Talk About Narnia Sir Cabbage https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362912 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362898 Mon, 15 Sep 2025 16:22:04 +0000 I'd guess I do a reread every 5-10 years. I just read the entire series to my kids last year for school. {ym}:smile:  

I will add though, I purposefully avoid doing a reread right before an adaptation comes out. If the story is fresh in my mind, the changes bother me a good deal more and I'm less likely to enjoy the film. So I doubt I will reread Magician's Nephew again until after the end of 2026.

]]> Talk About Narnia fantasia https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362898 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362897 Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:51:35 +0000 I read The Chronicles of Narnia every two years, whether that involves the physical books and/or Focus on the Family's excellent radio theatre adaptations (although I aim to hear them on audio annually). But going back to the books, themselves, is always a treasure, and my heart's desire is to never give that up. My parents first read them to me as a preschooler, so my love for the stories extends back a long, treasured time. But since I read The LotR every second year, I focus on the actual reading of the Chronicles during the alternate years, aside from my FotF listens. {ym}:smile:  

EDIT: I have listened to the Branagh / Jennings / York / Redgrave / Jacobi / Northam / Stewart Narnia audio book series, which, overall, was quite well done (with the exception of Branagh's {ym}:thumbsdown: ), and will take in these again at some point, I am sure. 

]]> Talk About Narnia johobbit https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362897 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362896 Mon, 15 Sep 2025 14:26:46 +0000 It has been years since I reread the entire series, although I will occasionally refer to individual books to check out quotes to see if they are accurate e.g. the Walden films and the BBC series. I recommend doing this so that you can see the differences between adaptations and the original stories. So even if you don’t read the entire books again this is a way to remain in touch with their author. I think that is a good thing.

 

]]> Talk About Narnia Narnian78 https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362896 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362878 Sun, 14 Sep 2025 20:40:17 +0000
Posted by: @starlit

I knew he finished MN last, but I wasn't sure if it was one specific part he was reworking or not. So that's interesting, thanks!

I'm not sure either if he wrote all or most of MN last — I'm going from vague memories of something I read several years ago. It's possible that we can't know for sure, as Lewis himself didn't keep most of his drafts and notes after he completed any of his writings, and I have a feeling the only information we have about the order and approximate dates of completion of the Narnia books comes from what he shared verbally with either Roger Lancelyn Green or Walter Hooper, or both. I'll check my Narnia commentaries once I'm home, over the next few days. 

(For anyone who may not know, Roger Lancelyn Green was a student of Lewis's at Oxford and the two remained close friends throughout their academic careers; Walter Hooper was an American scholar who corresponded with Lewis for some years and then became his live-in secretary during the last few months of Lewis's life. Lancelyn Green and Hooper collaborated on the first full-length biography of Lewis (inventively titled C.S. Lewis: A Biography), which was published in 1974. Both of them had a great interest in the Chronicles of Narnia in particular — it was in fact Lancelyn Green who came up with that as the official name for the series! — and they both made significant contributions to early Narnia scholarship, as we may call it. {ym}:smile: ) 

]]> Talk About Narnia Courtenay https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362878 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362873 Sun, 14 Sep 2025 16:56:22 +0000 Every few years... Usually all of them together and in chronological order (sorry!). Actually I not so long ago re-read MN and LWW and haven't yet gone on to the HHB, so I ought to rectify that soon.

]]> Talk About Narnia Sir Cabbage https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362873 RE: How often do you reread the series? https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362869 Sun, 14 Sep 2025 16:20:39 +0000
Posted by: @courtenay

@starlit Interestingly, from what I've read, Lewis worked on The Magician's Nephew and The Last Battle pretty much simultaneously, and he actually completed MN last. In one Narnia commentary that I have (I'm not at home right now and can't check it, but I will do when I can), it lists the seven books in the order in which Lewis finished writing them, as a suggested alternative to the publication order and the chronological order. I'll quote it when I have the chance to look it up, as I can't remember all the details of it! 

I knew he finished MN last, but I wasn't sure if it was one specific part he was reworking or not. So that's interesting, thanks! Obviously there's some continuity between the two since a number of the MN characters appear in LB.

]]> Talk About Narnia starlit https://community.narniaweb.com/community/talk-about-narnia/how-often-do-you-reread-the-series/#post-362869