Here's an outline of an article by Leland Ryken on bad ways--and good ways--to read Lewis's The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Bad practice #1 is using The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe instead of receiving it.
Bad practice #2 is to value The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe primarily as a collection of ideas.
Misconception #3 is to assume that when Lewis composed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, he started with a set of ideas and then created fictional details to embody them.
Good practice #1 is to read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe first as an escape from the real world to an imagined world.
Good practice#2 is to enter into the particulars of the imagined world that a writer creates.
Good practice #3 is to view the far-flung fantasies of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a window to reality and truth.
Good practice #4 is to value the artistry and technique of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as a self-rewarding aesthetic experience.
Good practice #5 is to recognize and value the religious and moral viewpoints embodied in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.
Read the whole thing--and check out the rest of the journal.
(HT: Mere Orthodoxy)
