Category Archives: Memorable Quotes

“Gilbert and Jack: What C.S. Lewis Found Reading G.K. Chesterton”: Audio Drama by Alan C. Duncan

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

I am sometimes asked to provide a blurb for an upcoming book, usually something to do with C.S. Lewis and the Inklings. I rarely get the book read in time to meet a publisher’s schedule, so don’t bother heading to … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged Alan C. Duncan, American evangelicalism, C.S. Lewis, conservativism, g k chesterton, The Inklings, Till We Have Faces | 11 Comments

“Inventing a Universe is a Complicated Business”: Ursula K. Le Guin’s Introduction to the Hainish Cycle

Posted on May 17, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

I have always loved Ursula K. Le Guin‘s Earthsea Cycle and have mused once about whether I liked Ged or Arha better. Though Earthsea suits me as a fantasy reader, I recognize that Le Guin’s Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes | Tagged fantasy, Rocannon's World, Science Fiction, The Dispossessed, The Earthsea Cycle, The Hainish Cycle, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Tombs of Atuan, The Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin | 5 Comments

Christ and Hitler with C.S. Lewis and Frederick Buechner

Posted on January 22, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

This week, I have been sharing my thoughts about and some highlights from Frederick Buechner‘s recent book, The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life (2017). Drawing materials from his memoirs–, which are a continual part of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Frederick Buechner, George MacDonald, J.R.R. Tolkien, Letters to Malcolm, Telling Secrets, The Last Battle, The Remarkable Ordinary | 1 Comment

“The Laughing Room of Maya Angelou” by Frederick Buechner

Posted on January 19, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

This week, I am sharing my thoughts about and some highlights from Frederick Buechner‘s recent book, The Remarkable Ordinary: How to Stop, Look, and Listen to Life (2017). Reminiscent of his memoirs–each year I select one to reread–with echoes from key … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Frederick Buechner, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Jürgen Moltmann, Maya Angelou, Now and Then, The Archbishop of Canterbury, The Sacred Journey | 4 Comments

The Remarkable Ordinary, with Frederick Buechner

Posted on January 18, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

A few weeks ago, I wrote about being “Enslaved to the Pressure of the Ordinary.” This was a quotation I found in The Screwtape Letters, and what I thought was a self-revelation I had during our COVID-19 lockdown and the “new … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reviews | Tagged A Room Called Remember, COVID-19, Frederick Buechner, Mario Savio, Systematic Racism, Systematic Violence, The Alphabet of Grace, The Remarkable Ordinary, The Screwtape Letters, Whistling in the Dark | 4 Comments

An Obituary of C.S. Lewis’ Life as an Oxford Don, by John Wain (The 57th Anniversary of Lewis’ Death)

Posted on November 22, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Today is the 57th anniversary of C.S. Lewis’ death. In past years, I have reflected upon Lewis dying in the shadows of great men like JFK and Aldous Huxley on 11/22/63. This year, I wanted to share an obituary of … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, Memorable Quotes | Tagged 11/22/63, A Grief Observed, books, C.S. Lewis, Inklings, Is Theology Poetry, John Wain, Joy Davidman, obituary, OHEL, Oxford, Reflections on the Psalms, The Personal Heresy, The Screwtape Letters, The Waste Land, They Asked for a Paper | 15 Comments

The House of Mirth and the House of Lonely Years: L.M. Montgomery on Charlotte Brontë

Posted on October 27, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

“And you … cannot at all imagine the craving I have for fraternal and sisterly love” (Jane Eyre, ch. 33). I came across this diary entry recently, quoted below, which I found fascinating as it came on the heels of … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Memorable Quotes | Tagged audiobooks, C.S. Lewis, Charlotte Brontë, Elizabeth R. Epperly, Emily of New Moon, Jane Eyre, L.M. Montgomery, L.M. Montgomery Journals, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Thandie Newton, The Fragrance of Sweet-Grass | 9 Comments

Tolkien’s “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size)” in Context: A Note on Books and Their Authors (#hobbitday)

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I don’t know that there is any more famous J.R.R. Tolkien quote than his claim to, in fact, be a hobbit. It’s really quite a delightful statement and worth quoting more fully: I am in fact a Hobbit (in all … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | Tagged Charles Williams, Franz Kafka, Harry Potter, Hobbit Day, I.A. Richards, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literary criticism, literature, Lord of the Rings, new criticism, practical criticism, Stephen King, The Hobbit, Ursula K. LeGuin | 23 Comments

Smiles and Laughs from Anne’s Marking Pile, a Quote from L.M. Montgomery’s Anne of Avonlea

Posted on September 21, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Though fans of L.M. Montgomery will usually take whatever they can get from her, critics are not always satisfied by the Anne of Green Gables sequel, Anne of Avonlea (1909). Montgomery herself was not terribly satisfied, distressed that she was … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Memorable Quotes | Tagged Anne of Avonlea, Anne of Green Gables, Canadian literature, L.M. Montgomery, Lucy Maud Montgomery, Prince Edward Island, Teaching | 11 Comments

The Great Commandments Which All Vampires Must Obey, by Anne Rice

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Richard Matheson’s 1954 novella, I Am Legend–a brilliant story that I am rereading now–is an important vampire tale that follows the great classic film interpretations, but it really is the earnest literary beginning of the zombie genre. And there are … Continue reading →