I only met one person in my life who actually hated Narnia, and well...he was kind of special. The reason why he hated Narnia was because it made you believe that Narnia existed when it actually didn't. He said that when he was a kid he actually believed that Narnia existed, and when he was older and realized that Narnia didn't exist, he started to hate it.

This makes me think of the theme of the movie Lost Horizon, the original black and white version, great movie and deserving of the title of timeless classic, just like the Chronicles of Narnia books.

But as to the topic, I have never met anyone who hated the series. I think nowadays there are more people who view film adaptations as canon instead of reading the book, which might have something to do with it. Now that I'm older, I prefer being able to imagine things myself while reading the books, instead of relying on someone else's imagination to 'show me' the story. I freely admit when I was younger, it was more the opposite. It was the BBC version that got me into the books in the first place that is, and I watched the Anne of Green Gables/Avonlea show that...Kevin Sullivan? put out, but never read the books until a few years ago, and they were so much better than the TV version. As for the religious aspect of the Narnia series, I never saw it really as a kid, not even now, except for the Adam/Eve reference. Yes, Aslan's sacrifice for Edmund is similar to Christ's crucifixion, but in fantasy epics, there's usually some sacrifice that happens. So it's all about what you want to think about the series. If people gave the books a chance, they might be surprised.

I think some times people don't like the simplicity of the books. It is very different from Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings (both of which I love!), in that you don't get as much detail about characters and the world. And some people don't like that style.

I'm just popping in to say that this is a Narnia fan site so pretty much all of the people posting in this thread don't hate Narnia. Any answers they give to the titular question are going to be a tad speculative. You should probably ask someone who really does hate Narnia.

I think the main reason a lot of the people I meet don't like Narnia is because for them it was kind of eclipsed by Tolkien's works. Narnia seemed too simplistic and childish, while LOTR has a more complex, subtle structure and message. But when I ask them about the significance or meaning behind those books, 9 out of 10 of them say something like, "Well, it's less of an allegory or a parable and more about good versus evil, etc."
This is not to say that LOTR and the Hobbit don't have any meaning behind them. I have heard at least 1 fan explain them intelligently. But the majority can't.
So if you just enjoy the Middle Earth stories more than Narnia, that's fine. Just don't say that they're better than Narnia because they have more sophisticated messages. If you can't understand them, why not come over to Narnia for a spell and see what you can make of it?

I think the main reason a lot of the people I meet don't like Narnia is because for them it was kind of eclipsed by Tolkien's works. Narnia seemed too simplistic and childish, while LOTR has a more complex, subtle structure and message.

Tolkien is actually one of the few people that comes to my mind as an actual person who hated Narnia.

I think most people who don't like Narnia are indifferent or dismissive of it, thinking that they are "just children's books" or heavy-handed Christian allegory, but Tolkien actively disliked it, despite the fact that Lewis loved The Hobbit and LotR. I've always thought that the clash in their tastes was interesting... I get the sense that there are certain personalities that just aren't going to take to Narnia as much as others. If you require a well-ordered fantasy universe, then Tolkien's works are definitely going to be more your cup of tea. This article does a good job detailing Tolkien's issues with CoN, although I don't agree with the author's conclusion about Middle-Earth containing a "deeper magic" than Narnia.

Arrrgh, why did you have to quote that last line, Rose-Tree Dryad? Now I'm going to feel compelled to read that article even though I know it's going to irritate me to no end! Must...re...sist!

Arrrgh, why did you have to quote that last line, Rose-Tree Dryad? Now I'm going to feel compelled to read that article even though I know it's going to irritate me to no end! Must...re...sist!

Oh, the author has a perfectly interesting perspective... it just happens to be wrong.

In that author's comparison of Tolkien and Lewis, I find support for saying (as I have said earlier elsewhere) that while Tolkien's world-building was even better than his story-telling, Lewis' story-telling was better than his world-building.

Perhaps people who prefer a perfectly built world, will dislike (or even hate) Narnia for its defects in that area.

Personally, I don't mind those defects much - Narnia is such a charming world in its own way that I'm quite happy with it

Personally, I don't mind those defects much - Narnia is such a charming world in its own way that I'm quite happy with it

This

Our world is complicated enough the way it is, and when I read Tolkien, I think I find it more of a chore than I do enjoyment. Narnia is just so simple, charming, and juvenile. . . Things are just "easier" there, and I think that's why I like it so much.

Narnia doesn't go overboard with politics either; I think it has just enough of that to make it seem real without making the stories like a history book.