Monthly Archives: August 2019

Joy Davidman’s Conversion Story “The Longest Way Round”: Audio Narration and Doodle

Posted on August 30, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

In this Friday Feature I want to share a creative way to read Joy Davidman’s conversion story, “The Longest Way Round,” which you can find in various places online and in Out of My Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman, … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday | Tagged Abigail Santamaria, C.S. Lewis, C.S. Lewis Doodle, Don King, Joy Davidman, Lyle Dorsett, Out of My Bone: The Letters of Joy Davidman, Smoke on the Mountain, Surprised by Joy, The Longest Way Round | 8 Comments

Rather than Marching to Doom I Walked the Cheshire Countryside

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

As I posted about earlier today, tomorrow I march to my doom, my PhD defence at the University of Chester. This is where all those years of preparation, research, testing ideas, and writing will come to a point of decision. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Cheshire, Chester, PhD, PhD Research, University of Chester, walking | 15 Comments

Thoughts on the Eve of my PhD Viva

Posted on August 29, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

As I announced at the end of May, I have completed my PhD thesis at the University of Chester and I have been awaiting my defence date. The viva voce, or just Viva, is this terrifying affair where two scholars … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Chester, PhD, PhD Research, research, spiritual theology | 49 Comments

On the Critical Missing Piece from the Best Part of Gary Selby’s Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith

Posted on August 26, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

I am about to defend my Ph.D. thesis on the “spiritual theology” of C.S. Lewis as part of a larger research project on Lewis and the spiritual life. I am on the lookout, then, for books and articles about Lewis … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged A Fellowship of Differents, A Life Observed, American evangelicalism, Christian spirituality, Devin Brown, Earthy Spirituality: C. S. Lewis and Incarnational Faith, evangelicalism, Gary Selby, Joe Rigney, John Bowen, Lewis on Christian Life, Martin Luther King, PhD Research, Scot McKnight, spiritual theology, spirituality, The Hidden Story of Narnia, The Spirituality of Narnia, Theology of Culture, Will Vaus | 14 Comments

“The Places of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis” with Patti Callahan, plus a Wade Podcast, Timeline, and Other Resources (Friday Feature)

Posted on August 23, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

I recently featured New York Times Bestselling author Patti Callahan’s novelized biography of Joy Davidman, Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C. S. Lewis. I found it a helpful book with fine writing, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday | Tagged Abigail Santamaria, Becoming Mrs. Lewis, Crystal Downing, david downing, Don King, Joy Davidman, Lyle Dorsett, Patti Callahan | 4 Comments

Brenton’s Top 5 Forbidden Love Films, from “C.S. Lewis and Mythologies of Sex and Love” (Signum University)

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

As I announced a month ago, I am once again teaching the great Signum University class, “C.S. Lewis and Mythologies of Sex and Love.” I love this course, which uses C.S. Lewis’ book and lecture series, The Four Loves, to structure … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Brokeback Mountain, C.S. Lewis, Can't Buy Me Love, Dirty Dancing, Lars and the Real Girl, Pretty in Pink, Signum University, Sixteen Candles, The Four Loves, The Royal Tenenbaums, Titanic, Twilight | 4 Comments

Robert Browning’s “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came” read by George Guidall

Posted on August 14, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

There are few short pieces in literature that have generated as many new stories as Robert Browning’s 1855 poem, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came.” The story itself comes from an old folktale that inspired a moment in Shakespeare‘s King … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged A.S. Byatt, Alexander Theroux, Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came, George Guidall, Gordon R. Dickson, Harper Lee, John Connolly, King Lear, Neil Gaiman, P. G. Wodehouse, Robert Browning, Roger Zelazny, Shakespeare, Stephen King, The Dark Tower | 15 Comments

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the UK’s Favourite Book

Posted on August 9, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

According to a OnePoll survey of 2,000 UK adults, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is Britain’s most popular book. It is an intriguing find, but not inconsistent with other surveys and with research by people like Stephanie Derrick (see … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Anne of Green Gables, Arthur Conan Doyle, C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Emily Bronte, Harry Potter, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Life of Pi, lion the witch and the wardrobe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Stephen King, The Da Vinci Code, The Handmaid's Tale, The Hobbit, The Lion, The Lord of the Rings | 25 Comments

A Brief Note on the N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy

Posted on August 8, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have just finished reading N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth Trilogy, which has the distinction of winning the Hugo Award for Best Novel in three consecutive years for … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Reviews | Tagged Broken Earth Trilogy, CliFi, J.G. Ballard, Larry Niven, N.K. Jemisin, Octavia Butler, Science Fiction, The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky | 3 Comments

“This Year of the Atom”: A Poem on the Anniversary of Hiroshima, by Joy Davidman

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

At 8:15 local time on Aug 6, 1945, American airship Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 100,000 people, most of them civilians. On Aug 9th, the American military would reassert their ability to waste the countryside by … Continue reading →