On Second Readings

I completed a second reading of C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (LWW) in a year. Leland Ryken and Majorie Lamp Mead’s A Reader’s Guide Through the Wardrobe: Exploring C.S. Lewis’s Classic Story enriched the second reading. One of the great benefits of the guide is that it explains the storyteller’s craft and the purpose and meaning of story types (genres) like fairy tales and romance literature. Moreover, Ryken is an excellent writer who is 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 a reader of great books must not think a single reading sufficient. This is because great books, by definition, offer more than can be taken in the first reading. Books like Homer’s Odyssey demand many readings, each benefitting the reader.

This is true of more modern works like Shakespeare’s tragedies and comedies, which can be read repeatedly for enjoyment and benefit. The great classics teacher 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.

Judging from international sales and translations and its positive effect on generations of young people into adulthood, Lewis’s LWW may be considered a classic. The story’s combined impact of the story forms and material makes it worth more than one read. The ancient story of the quest in pursuit of a noble goal, the arduous 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.

Perhaps the most significant part of the LWW is its insights into human experience in beautiful ways that children, young and old, have enjoyed and continue to enjoy.