Exploring Narnia

Somehow my husband and I both missed the Narnia books when we were kids. Now with the Disney movie of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe coming out in December, we thought it was high time we availed ourselves of the books. In order to share them more easily, we got them on CD. We just finished listening to The Magician's Nephew read by Kenneth Branagh who, while a fantastic actor, is not much of a book reader. I know The Magician's Nephew was not originally the first book in the series, that is was written after the other books. And while I now feel like I am prepared for the next book because I know how the wardrobe became magical, I sort of feel like we should have skipped this one. I didn't like it all that much. I liked the cabbie who became king of Narnia, and I like the horse who became Fletch. And certainly Uncle Andrew being planted by the animals was very amusing. But overall I found it to be a rather blah book. Disappointing. So now that we are going to begin listening to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, instead of being excited about it like I was when we started the first book, I am feeling reluctant. I don't want to be disappointed again. I'm worried because the books are supposed to be so magical and wonderful. So I'm thinking, is there something wrong with me? Am I an old fuddy-duddy?