Monthly Archives: January 2020

Shūsaku Endō’s Silence: A 10 Minute Book Talk

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Shūsaku Endō’s Silence is the story of, Sebastião Rodrigues, a Jesuit missionary who goes to 17th century Japan to be a priest to an oppressed church and to find his mentor, Fr Ferreira, who is reputed to have apostatized. Fr … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 Minute Book Talk, Reviews | Tagged Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Christianity, Eugene Peterson, faith, Global Christianity, Japan, Martin Scorsese, persecution, Shūsaku Endō, Silence | 11 Comments

Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women: A 10 Minute Book Talk with Brenton Dickieson

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Some thoughts on my very first read of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. I’m an absolute amateur in reading this kind of book, but I was really intrigued by the new film. Reading this book, I realized how influenced I … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 Minute Book Talk, Reviews | Tagged Anne of Green Gables, Christian Bale, Claire Danes, film adaptation, Kirsten Dunst, L.M. Montgomery, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott., Lucy Maud Montgomery, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside, Susan Sarandon, Winona Rider | 22 Comments

When Screwtape Haunts in Eden: A Lecture on C.S. Lewis’ Fantasy Writings by Dr. Brenton Dickieson

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

In this lecture that I prepared for The King’s College in New York City, I talk about my research into C.S. Lewis’ world-building project. In particular, given manuscript evidence that links The Screwtape Letters with the Space Trilogy, I spend … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Original Research | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Perelandra, Ransom Cycle, Screwtape, Space Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters | 6 Comments

Christopher Tolkien, Curator of Middle-earth, Has Died, and a Letter from His Father

Posted on January 17, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

As last evening tilted towards nighttime in my part of the world, my social media feeds began filling with the news that Christopher Tolkien had died. The last living Inkling, Christopher John Reuel Tolkien (21 Nov 1924 to 15 Jan … Continue reading →

Posted in Letters, News & Links | Tagged archival research, Beren and Lúthien, Christopher Tolkien, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Middle Earth, The History of Middle-earth, The Hobbit, The Inklings, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Tale of Beren and Lúthien | 58 Comments

A Peculiar Dedication: C.S. Lewis’ Dedication of A Preface to Paradise Lost to Charles Williams (with a Note on Lewis Prefaces)

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

At A Pilgrim in Narnia we have an occasional feature called “Throwback Thursday.” This is where I find a blog post from the past–raiding either my own blog-hoard or someone else’s–and throw it back out into the digital world. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Memorable Quotes | Tagged A Preface to Paradise Lost, Charles Williams, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Milton, lion the witch and the wardrobe, Lucy, Paradise Lost, Surprised by Joy, The Allegory of Love, The Discarded Image, The Place of the Lion, The Screwtape Letters, Till We Have Faces | 25 Comments

C.S. Lewis’ Out of the Silent Planet: A 10 Minute Book Talk with Brenton Dickieson

Posted on January 15, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Before I ever returned to Narnia as an adult, I read C.S. Lewis‘ Out of the Silent Planet. I have always loved Science Fiction, and I enjoy stumbling upon a classic SF piece that is worth my time. As part … Continue reading →

Posted in 10 Minute Book Talk, Reflections, Reviews | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, First Men in the Moon, H.G. Wells, Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet, Reading, Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, The War of the Worlds | 12 Comments

Did I Assign the Right Lines from Paradise Lost? A Rebuke from C.S. Lewis and a Christian Literature Reading List

Posted on January 8, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

For the first time, I am teaching Paradise Lost–beyond the normal references that come up in English literature, C.S. Lewis courses, and talks about religious history. I am using it to begin an undergraduate course on Christian Literature (after reading Donne‘s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Canticle for Leibowitz, A Preface to Paradise Lost, A Wrinkle in Time, C.S. Lewis, Frederick Buechner, Gilead, Godric, John Donne, John Milton, Madeleine L'Engle, Marilynne Robinson, Paradise Lost, Perelandra, Shūsaku Endō, Silence, The Great Divorce, Walter Miller | 25 Comments

A Life of C.S. Lewis in 20 Minutes, with Timeline

Posted on January 7, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I have done longer lectures and fireside chats about C.S. Lewis’ life. As someone who lived a rich life, writing book after book that changed the way we think, I have always taken about an hour to capture the whole … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography | Tagged Belfast, books, C.S. Lewis, Joy Davidman, Narnia, Oxford, Timeline, Warren Lewis | 1 Comment

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 128th Birthday #TolkienBirthdayToast

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-eighth (or eleventy-eighteenth) birthday on 3 January 2020, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The Lord of the Rings, Frodo … Continue reading →