Monthly Archives: August 2011

Forgiving a Bully: Lewis’ Lifelong Struggle

Posted on August 29, 2011 by

I cam across this comment in Letters to an American Lady. In Surprised by Joy, Lewis shows great generosity for the schoolmaster who quite brutal to him and others–I describe here in “On the Nobody Somebody Has Inside: Lewis, Me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

The Marriage of Now and Then: A Review of C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce

Posted on August 25, 2011 by

Last spring, after I read Rob Bell’s bestseller Love Wins, I knew I had to go back to C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce. Though often missed by reviewers, Bell’s work is shot through with Lewis’ influence. My first encounter with … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Imaginary Worlds: A Review of Bridge to Terabithia

Posted on August 22, 2011 by

Imaginary worlds are common trade now. Our world is linked to others through secret passages or magic portholes or, in the case of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials (the Golden Compass) the worlds are bridged by intricate tears in the … Continue reading →

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On the Nobody Somebody Has Inside: Lewis, Me, and Bullies

Posted on August 15, 2011 by

By all accounts, C.S. (Jack) Lewis was bullied badly in the English private school that he was subjected to as a child. His first school, Wynyard, had a headmaster as a bully. Robert Capron, nicknamed “Oldie” by the Lewis boys, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Caedmon’s Call, “The High Countries”

Posted on August 11, 2011 by

A bus station, in the steam from the rain In this line of pale strangers, should I go or stay? The whole field of vision, fades beneath me now And the houses spread for a million miles, in this gray … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

On Work and Pay

Posted on August 9, 2011 by

“I’ve been made a Professor at Cambridge, which will mean less work and therefore of course (’tis the way of the world) more pay” (C.S. Lewis, Letters to an American Lady, 31; Sep 19, 1954)

Posted in Memorable Quotes | 3 Comments

The Pilgrim’s Regress and the Reader’s Progress

Posted on August 8, 2011 by

As much as I always love it, reading Lewis occasionally reminds me of how I’m so deficient in “the literary canon”—the great pieces of literature that everyone has read; a.k.a., the books I should have read already. All too often … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Lewis’ Voice Beyond the Grave

Posted on August 8, 2011 by

As far as I can tell, of all the BBC talks that C.S. Lewis has given only one has survived: Beyond Personality, from 1944. It is one of Lewis’ thoughts about God and time, in this case about the idea … Continue reading →

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The Art of Letter Writing in the Digital Age

Posted on August 2, 2011 by

I have always been fascinated with the art of letter writing but have always failed at actually doing it. I yearn for rich, paper correspondence, where my ideas can be later—much later, I hope—dissected and the me I leave behind … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | 10 Comments