On Second Readings

I completed a second reading of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW). Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead’s A Reader’s Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis’s Classic Story enriched the second beyond my initial expectations. The guide explains the storyteller’s craft and the purpose and meaning of story types (genres) like fairy tales and romance literature. Moreover, Ryken is exceptionally well-versed in C. S. Lewis.

At the end of his guide, Ryken quotes Lewis regarding the importance of reading great books more than once. Lewis believed that one could do well without reading some of the greatest writers, but he did not think that a reader of great books should be satisfied with a single read. This is because great books, by definition, offer more than a first reading can provide. Books like Homer’s Odyssey require many readings.

This is also true of modern works, such as Shakespeare’s tragedies and comedies, which can be read repeatedly for enjoyment and benefit. The great classics educator Mortimer Adler said as much in his book How to Read a Book: the best books cannot be fully mastered; they are over us and require more than a single reading to gain rich dividends of wisdom and insight.

The LWW is a classic, one that should be and is often read more than once. The ancient story type of the quest in pursuit of a noble goal, the journey, the coming of age story, the fight against evil, the nature of the good, the reality of a supernatural world, and ancient archetypes that picture these realities all make this classic a memorable and thought-provoking reread.

The most significant part of the LWW is its insight into human experience and the beautiful ways that it relates this to students, young and old.