I read the Prydain books around 4th grade or so -- I don't remember how old I was when somebody gave me a set of the Narnia books, but it was definitely while I was still in elementary school, and all the religious allegory sailed *whooooosh* right past me. But I did always find The Last Battle and The Magician's Nephew a lot less satisfying than the other books.
(I didn't pick up on any of the religious or autobiographical elements in Tolkien the first few times either, since I started reading those so young -- it was really fascinating going through those all over again in my teens for the first time after I'd read the biographies and some WWI history and so forth.)
no subject
Date: 2011-03-21 01:11 am (UTC)(I didn't pick up on any of the religious or autobiographical elements in Tolkien the first few times either, since I started reading those so young -- it was really fascinating going through those all over again in my teens for the first time after I'd read the biographies and some WWI history and so forth.)