OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

[jesso]

SO. I went to dinner with mah daddeh (mmmm, Nagoya) and then we went to 24 Hour Fitness and got me all set up with a membership and blah blah blah yay.

THEN. When I was driving home. I passed by Half-Price Books, and on a random whim decided to go in. I thought to myself, "Yeah, I'll see if they have any cool chemistry books, because dang if I didn't learn jack from my high school chem teacher." I had actually already passed the store, so I turned at the cross street and went into the parking lot from that way. I went in, went to the wrong side of the store and ended up in crafts instead of science, so I cut across the back to the other side. I happened to see a copy of Island of the Blue Dolphins, which I remember liking as a kid, so I stopped and considered it.

THEN.

THEN I noticed, up on top of the shelves, shrink-wrapped together, THE ENTIRE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA SERIES FROM 1970.

I may or may not have squealed out loud. I know I did in my heart.

I grabbed the nearest stool and got the books down and hugged them. The whole set was only $15, and who needs food anyways, right? I bought it, bouncing in line as the lady in front of me argued about exactly how many books she had on reserve, and hugged it some more. I kept reaching over and petting it in the passenger seat all the way home.

You have to understand... I've been looking for this particular edition of this series for years. Every other edition I've found puts the books out of order. Some stupid idiot silly publisher rearranged them into "chronological" order, after CS Lewis died, and that's how they've been published ever since. And it's STUPID.

This is the same edition my neighbor had, all those years ago, when I was babysitting and picked up The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe after putting the kiddos to bed. I borrowed the whole set, and fell deeply in love with the story and the land and the characters and the books themselves. I went to buy my own copy, and was shocked to find out that you could only buy them in "chronological" order. I begged my neighbor to let me buy her set, but of course she said no, because she loved them, too.

I have been looking for this for years. My parents bought me this edition for either my 17th birthday or for my graduation, I don't remember, and while it was an admirable effort (I'm surprised they knew I was looking for it!), it still had the books in the wrong order. I wrote on the table of contents the correct order, but it just wasn't the same as those thin little paperbacks, with the wonderful covers. At one point I saw spinooti had the set on her bookshelf and I came very close to clubbing her over the head and stealing them, but then I remembered that I like AnnE.

I really cannot even express how excited I am about this. LOOK:







Aren't they beautiful???

*squees and fangirls and dies a little bit from hyperventilation*

PS: Anyone who comes in here and claims that the chronological order is the right order will be shot, defriended, kicked off the internet, hanged, drawn, quartered, burned at the stake, boiled, mashed into bits, stomped on, and then shot into the sun. Seriously.

Comments

[krycek-chick.livejournal.com]

Hey! That's my set of the books! :O

[tomnoir.livejournal.com]

Hey, I've got those! Those are the ones my mom read to me when I was a kid.

[digalicious.livejournal.com]

The correct order begins with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Anyone who says differently I'll help you beat up. :]

That set is one of the collections my parents have (who have several old school collections). Isn't The Last Battle a beautiful story? I think that volume and The Magician's Nephew are my two favorites. They're all great though.

[la-bellisima33.livejournal.com]

I love this post. :)

[niobedancing.livejournal.com]

OMG! I grew up with that edition and loved it. when they started putting it in the wrong order I was all "WTF????"

Now I want to find that edition again too!! Those look in fantastic condition.

[masterhibb.livejournal.com]

This is exactly the edition I first read. And by "read," I of course mean "had my parents read to my sister and me to keep us quiet on the 12-hour drives to see our grandparents."

$15 is also a fantastic price. I think I paid $50 for the set of newly reprinted "first edition" books (that are still re-ordered), and they all have stupid little emblems that say "Soon to be a major motion picture!" crapping up the cover art.

[mary-lennox.livejournal.com]

OMG, I am absolutely thrilled for you! And.. I have the exact set as you do - in fact, I do believe my sister bought them at 1/2 price books as well! (Of course, my set isn't nearly in the great condition as yours is, but it's well and truly loved, lol!)

Isn't it wonderful? I totally remember reading those books when I was little and I COMPLETELY agree with you about how this is the ONLY way and order to read the books. What on EARTH is going on with this newfangled order? It's ridiculous! I love how you found out about the beginning sort of close to the end, it was such a wonderful way to love Narnia even more! You know, I was thinking that I was the only person who thought that way, good to know there are other sane people out there!

What an amazing find! I've been looking for an older set version - I've seen some random copies but I'm holding out for a complete set.

What a find, I'm still grinning ear to ear - fifteen dollars! That's amazing! I haven't had a cool find like that in forever...wish me luck!

[mary-lennox.livejournal.com]

Wow, after staring at your pics again, it's making me feel very guilty for not taking care of the set I have right now.

I'm remembering the number of times I've stuffed (one or more) of the books into a tiny purse to read while waiting to get poked and prodded at the doctors. I find these books so soothing when you're someplace very unpleasant and just feeling miserable.

My favorite one, The Horse and His Boy, actually still sort of smells like hospital...

[http://users.livejournal.com/patrick___/]

Wow, that's awesome!

[fluffy-cloud.livejournal.com]

That is the same edition I had as a kid! Sadly, I only have The Last Battle. When I was 15, my family was moving and my Grandfather came over to help up load up the truck. For some reason, he saw fit to take what I had packed and throw it in a dumpster. I don't know how long he had been at it when I finally caught him but I ended up losing a few childhood treasures that way.

[rurounifalcon.livejournal.com]

I also have that set of the Chronicles, in about the same condition, complete with the book-box to keep them in.

I read those books through so many times as a kid, and still occasionally pull them out.

[catmean.livejournal.com]

Don't laugh, but if you got them from the Half Price on Cooper and Pioneer, then they probably indirectly came from me. I sold a huge lot of books to them just a few weeks ago and I had that set complete in the outer cardboard box. Had I known you wanted them, I would have given them to you outright and cut out the middleman. (p.s. if anyone wrote in them it would probably have the name Inglish)