Monthly Archives: April 2016

Last Chance to Sign Up: Mythologies of Love and Sex (Signum University Class)

Posted on April 29, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am truly pleased to be offering a course at Signum University this coming Spring. This is my first time teaching at Signum, and I love the way they set up their courses: An inexpensive and accessible online program with … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, higher education, literature, love, myth, Mythgard Academy, mythology, mythopoiea, sex, Signum University | 5 Comments

Interview with William O’Flaherty, “C.S. Lewis Goes to Hell”

Posted on April 27, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Readers of A Pilgrim in Narnia will know of my abiding interest in The Screwtape Letters. As the 75th anniversary of the first printing of the Letters is next Monday, we are taking a couple of weeks to celebrate this “positively diabolical” … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, News & Links | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis Goes to Hell, hell, lion the witch and the wardrobe, Narnia, Screwtape, The Screwtape Letters, theology, William O'Flaherty, writing | 12 Comments

How Screwtape was Introduced to the World

Posted on April 25, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Next week we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the book that made C.S. Lewis a household name: The Screwtape Letters. It was first serialized in The Guardian, a relatively minor Anglican weekly. Screwtape joins Charles Dickens‘ Bleak House, Frank Herbert’s Dune, and Stephen King‘s The Green Mile … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Original Research | Tagged Dune, Frank Herbert, Out of the Silent Planet, Science Fiction, Screwtape, Stephen King, The Allegory of Love, The Guardian, The Personal Heresy, The Problem of Pain, The Screwtape Letters | 48 Comments

Tolkien’s Road: A Film (Friday Feature)

Posted on April 22, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

A reader tipped me off to this little piece. While documentaries on J.R.R. Tolkien abound, and there are adaptations of his fiction, there have been few who have attempted to capture the story of the Mythmaker himself on film. Here … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, News & Links | Tagged Addison's Walk, C.S. Lewis, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, myth, mythopoiea, Oxford, PTSD, The Book of Lost Tales, The Hobbit, Tolkien's Road, WWI | 51 Comments

The Shocking Reason Tolkien Finished The Lord of the Rings

Posted on April 20, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

J.R.R. Tolkien was a notoriously difficult writer to get to print. That The Hobbit found its way to store shelves was something of a publishing miracle, and it took Tolkien 15 years to write part two, “the new Hobbit,” which we … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, On Writing, Original Research, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Bandersnatch, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Christopher Tolkien, Diana Pavlac Glyer, fictional worlds, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Middle Earth, mythopoiea, speculative fiction, The Company They Keep, The Hobbit, The Silmarilion, writing | 55 Comments

12 Reasons not to Write Lord of the Rings, or an Ode Against the Muses

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I’ve never understood images of the Muses as seducers. Perhaps I am not truly inspired, but I get the same cold, clammy response from the Muses as I did from girls when I was in Junior High School. Fortunately, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged art, C.S. Lewis, Frank McCourt, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Leo Tolstoy, literature, Lord of the Rings, mythology, Out of the Silent Planet, Stephen King, Steven Pressfield, The Hobbit, the muses, The Silmarillion, The War of Art, writing | 29 Comments

500 Posts!

Posted on April 15, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Dear Reader, On Wednesday, in a rather inane reaction to David Foster Wallace’s impossible book, Infinite Jest, I hit 500 posts. I have talked about blogging here and here, so I won’t completely rehash the delights and difficulties of blogging. For … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | 5 Comments

Thoughts on reading Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace: #InfiniteWinter Midterm Update

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

This book is long. I mean, the “infinite” in Infinite Jest is approaching a new kind of literal meaning for me. My copy has 1079 pages. These are thick, full pages. Infinite Jest is a bestseller as well as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged 1Q84, aliens, Canada, David Foster Wallace, Harold Bloom, Infinite Jest, Infinite Winter, Superman | 27 Comments

Annie Dillard, An American Childhood

Posted on April 11, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Can I come to you as a literary evangelist for a moment? Actually, I’m always doing that, aren’t I? I have worked to remind a world much different than the original about The Screwtape Letters, and argued that The Great Divorce is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, An American Childhood, Annie Dillard, books, Frederick Buechner, letters, literature, Marilynne Robinson, Poetry, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters | 16 Comments

A Tolkien Book Collection

Posted on April 8, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Because it coincided with Holy Week and family commitments, I missed Tolkien Reading Day. I am reading Return of the King to my son, and have begun Tolkien’s letters. I thought it would be fun to end the week with a Tolkien reader’s treat. My … Continue reading →