Monthly Archives: December 2014

2014: A Year of Reading

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

I seldom do well at New Year’s Resolutions. I’ve failed at almost every well-intentioned goal. One that I have managed to keep is my reading resolution. As I’ve begun working on a PhD in Theology and Literature (focussing on C.S. … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, fantasy, George MacDonald, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Ransom Trilogy, Reading, Stephen King, The Screwtape Letters | 20 Comments

The Gift of the Magi

Posted on December 24, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

There are few of them left: the kind of used bookstore with old, over-stuffed wooden shelves, literate staff, and stacks of volumes crowding the aisles. The kind of used bookstore that plays the Canadian Broadcasting Company in the background. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged Christmas, O. Henry, The Gift of the Magi, Used Bookstores, writing | 7 Comments

Pushing past the Coats and Back into the Wardrobe (Guest Blog)

Posted on December 22, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

by Sarah Waters Narnia, or at least the idea of a wonderland which you can access with a couple of quick steps into your wardrobe, has become a well-known phenomenon since the publication of those Chronicles many years ago now. … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs, Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, lion the witch and the wardrobe, literary criticism, Narnia, Reading, theology, wardrobe | 20 Comments

The Hobbit as a Living Text: The Battle of 5 Blogs

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

This post is part of the Battle of the Five Blogs, or six blogs to be precise. It is a throw-down of various Tolkien bloggers who are thinking about the release of the final installment of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Christopher Tolkien, Diana Pavlac Glyer, film, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, That Hideous Strength, The Battle of Five Armies, The Hobbit, The Silmarilion | 92 Comments

The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Blogs

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

Or thereabouts. A very serious sounding business, isn’t it? Well, we have fewer enemies and more allies than Peter Jackson’s crowd. We also have fewer extras and less CGI–though some of us may CGI a little for dates on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged Blogging, C.S. Lewis, fantasy, film, film adaptation, film review, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Peter Jackson, The Battle of Five Armies, The Hobbit, The Oddest Inkling | 15 Comments

A Level of Hell that Dante Forgot: A Note from Discworld

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

Terry Pratchett is about as weird and wonderful an author as I could ever want. A master world-builder, he trades in irony, parody, and satire the way the TV show Glee trades in stereotypes. And yet, despite the constant self-degradation … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged C.S. Lewis, children's literature, Dante, Discworld, fantasy, Faust, Fictional Universes, Glee, Goethe, hell, intertextuality, Terry Pratchett, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters | 25 Comments

I’m a Blog-hobbit!

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

“Maybe there are more blog-hobbits around there parts! If we find enough, we could make a pie!” Tom said…. Well, that’s not exactly what Bilbo Baggins said when asked by the trolls what he was. But I thought, given the … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged art, Bilbo, Blogging, books, C.S. Lewis, film adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien, literature, Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, The Hobbit, trolls | 8 Comments

Is it Time for Radagast the Brown? (and a note on Middle Earth Wizards)

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

If you are anything like me, a lover of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth who has only slowly explored all the secrets behind The Lord of the Rings, you may have been surprised by Radagast the Brown. I knew he existed, … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged Christopher Tolkien, creation care, film adaptation, Gandalf, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Peter Jackson, Radagast the Brown, The Hobbit, The Unexpected Journey, Unfinished Tales, world-building | 9 Comments

“I’d Rather be Damned than Go along With You!” The Big Man in The Great Divorce

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

Readers here will know that I’ve blogged about bullying before. C.S. Lewis himself struggled with the culture of bullying at the schools he went to. In this intriguing chapter of The Great Divorce, published 70 years ago today, Lewis explores … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reflections | Tagged bullying, C.S. Lewis, heaven, hell, Milton, Paradise Lost, The Great Divorce | 22 Comments

The Novelist as Listener, by Eugene Peterson

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

Over the past few years I have had the luxury of being a TA and Instructor in Regent College’s phenomenal distance education program. Long past the days of correspondence tapes in the mail, distance ed is now highly relational and … Continue reading →