I love this little clip by Neil Gaiman about “the book that made me an author.” While Gaiman is one of the most important fantasy authors of our age and a great reader in his own right, there is a perception that he resists C.S. Lewis. This might be because they have a different worldview, or have different audiences (except perhaps in The Graveyard Book or Coraline), or because of his infamous short story, “The Problem Of Susan.”
And yet, I think we can see the true appreciation in this lovely moment:
“It was the first time I ever realized that somebody was really writing this stuff. He would do things like parenthetical asides, put these things in brackets. And I could go, ‘there’s somebody here. There’s an author. He’s doing this!’”
There is also an important note about beards. I hope you enjoy this piece!
And here, Neil Gaiman goes a little deeper:
I believe in open access scholarship. Because of this, since 2011 I have made A Pilgrim in Narnia free with nearly 1,000 posts on faith, fiction, and fantasy. Please consider sharing my work so others can enjoy it.
“A Pilgrim in Narnia” is a blog project in reading and talking about the work of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the worlds they touched. As a "Faith, Fantasy, and Fiction" blog, we cover topics like children’s literature, apologetics and philosophy, myths and mythology, fantasy, theology, cultural critique, art and writing.
This blog includes my thoughts as I read through Lewis and Tolkien and reflect on my own life and culture. In this sense, I am a Pilgrim in Narnia--or Middle Earth, or Fairyland. I am often peeking inside of wardrobes, looking for magic bricks in urban alleys, or rooting through yard sale boxes for old rings. If something here captures your imagination, leave a comment, “like” a post, share with your friends, or sign up to receive Narnian Pilgrim posts in your email box.
Brenton Dickieson is a father, husband, friend, university lecturer, and freelance writer from Prince Edward Island, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter, @BrentonDana.
Yes, thanks for posting that. Monika Hilder makes the point somewhere that some of our critique of Lewis as sexist is our own sexism about what a hero or villain is.
Interesting thing that the asides spoke to Neil. The asides were part of Lewis’s writing style, and was quite a common feature of children’s literature of the day. I personally prefer the happy, delightful tone of Tolkien’s The Hobbit over his more serious style in his other books.
RT @hayesstw: CFP: "Gardeners of the Galaxies: How Imaginary Worlds Teach Us to Care for This One" by Sørina Higgins and Brenton Dickieson… 5 hours ago
@therielnicolas well, isn't the problem that there is an app for each thing ... I would love an app for all things together 5 hours ago
I love this little clip by Neil Gaiman about “the book that made me an author.” While Gaiman is one of the most important fantasy authors of our age and a great reader in his own right, there is a perception that he resists C.S. Lewis. This might be because they have a different worldview, or have different audiences (except perhaps in The Graveyard Book or Coraline), or because of his infamous short story, “The Problem Of Susan.”
A Pilgrim in Narnia 
Concerning “the problem of Susan” see The problem of Susan — growing up?
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Yes, thanks for posting that. Monika Hilder makes the point somewhere that some of our critique of Lewis as sexist is our own sexism about what a hero or villain is.
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Interesting thing that the asides spoke to Neil. The asides were part of Lewis’s writing style, and was quite a common feature of children’s literature of the day. I personally prefer the happy, delightful tone of Tolkien’s The Hobbit over his more serious style in his other books.
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I like both, but read them quite differently.
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