Monthly Archives: December 2013

2013 End of Year Book Survey

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

I thought I would jump in on the End of Year Book Survey over at The Perpetual Page-Turner. Looking at the pages linked there, it was a big year for fiction. My reading list is mostly non-fiction, but I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, children's literature, Cormac McCarthy, fantasy, George MacDonald, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Madeleine L'Engle, Narnia, Stephen King, ursula le guin, Virginia Woolf | 14 Comments

2013: A Year of Reading

Posted on December 27, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

Once again I managed to keep one of my New Year’s Resolutions. In January 2012, I resolved to read 50 books or articles related to my research and writing on C.S. Lewis and the Inklings, and I hit #50 near … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Douglas Adams, fantasy, H.G. Wells, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Madeleine L'Engle, New Years Resolution, Reading, Roger Zelazny, Stephen King, ursula le guin, Virginia Woolf | 33 Comments

“On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity” by John Milton

Posted on December 25, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

I am reading through John Milton’s Paradise Lost and stumbled upon his poem, “On the Morning of Christ’s Nativity.” There are two parts, a 4 stanza “proem” followed by a 27 stanza hymn. They hymn is quite lovely, beginning: I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Christmas, Hymn, John Milton, Nativity, Paradise Lost, Poetry | 13 Comments

Love Lessons from “Love Actually”

Posted on December 23, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

I did not grow up with the spiritual significance of Christmas in my home, so Christmas was about three things: food, toys, and Christmas movies. I am still a little traumatized by a stop-action drummer boy in my childhood memory, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged Christmas, Cloin Firth, Emma Thompson, film, Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Laura Linney, Liam Neeson, love, Love Actually, Martin Freeman, Rowan Atkinson | 5 Comments

“What Have We Done?” A Review of The Desolation of Smaug (Hobbit Part 2)

Posted on December 18, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

These words are breathed in the dying moments of the second installation of The Hobbit adaptation, The Desolation of Smaug. Inevitably, this is the question that true Tolkien fans expect Peter Jackson’s adaptation team to be asking of themselves right … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, fairy tale, fantasy, film, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Martin Freeman, myth, Orlando Bloom, Peter Jackson, Sir Ian McKellen, The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings | 52 Comments

The Youngest Reviewers Get it Right, or The Hobbit in the Hands of Young Men

Posted on December 16, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

Last year, when my son, Nicolas, was 8 years old, he wrote a review of The Hobbit for A Pilgrim in Narnia. This is what he wrote: My dad and I just finished reading The Hobbit and since he didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged adventure, books, children's literature, fantasy, film, film adaptation, hobbits, J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson, publishing, The Hobbit | 35 Comments

The Fated Classic: The Great Luck of the Hobbit

Posted on December 12, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

Hobbit fans around the world are already lining up to see part 2 of Peter Jackson‘s adaptation of The Hobbit, called The Desolation of Smaug. I have already talked about how important C.S. Lewis was to the publication and promotion … Continue reading →

Posted in Creative Writing, Fictional Worlds, Lewis Biography, Reviews | Tagged Alister McGrath, Bilbo, children's literature, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, Out of the Silent Planet, publishing dreams, The Desolation of Smaug, writing | 12 Comments

Talking of Books

Posted on December 10, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

My grandmother used to read aloud bits of whatever she was reading to my grandfather. Most typically this was the newspaper. Grampie would be sitting on the sofa reading the Holstein Journal, while Grammie would sit in her well-worn arm … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Reflections | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Cecil Harwood, friendship, hiking, J.R.R. Tolkien, literary friendship, literature, Nelson Mandela, The Guardian, walking, Warren Lewis, WWII | 7 Comments

A Just-For-Fun Quiz: Which Character in the Hobbit Are You?

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

TheOneRing.net tweeted out this quiz by the LOTR Project: Which Character in the Hobbit Are You? I think as we head to the release of The Desolation of Smaug, the second instillation of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, we could use a … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged dwarf, fantasy, film, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit, Thorin Oakenshield | 45 Comments

Virgin Books

Posted on December 3, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

I am reading C.S. Lewis’ A Preface to Paradise Lost for the first time. This is one of Lewis’ early works (1942), and comes out of his lecturing in English Literature. I was struck immediately on the first page by … Continue reading →