Monthly Archives: December 2014

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 | 30 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 | 14 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 →