Category Archives: Thoughtful Essays

Harold Bloom and “The Western Canon”: A Note on His Death

Posted on October 18, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

I received news this week that Harold Bloom has died. Bloom (1930-2019) was an avid reader, a rapid writer, and a penetrating critic whose essays and books on literature are breathtaking in scope and exemplary in their attention to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, canon, Charles Dickens, Charles Williams, Dante, fantasy, feminism, Harold Bloom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Leo Tolstoy, literary criticism, literary history, Milton, mimesis, Reading, Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, The Western Canon, Ursula K. LeGuin | 21 Comments

Blackface, Shameface, and Prime Minister Trudeau

Posted on September 19, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is putting on his best shame-faced demeanour today. Trudeau has positioned himself as a bastion of inclusivity, multiculturalism, and fights against racism, sexism, and other forms of discrimination. When photos surfaced in the last few … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Blackface, Brownface, Canada, Canadian Politics, Cheryl Thompson, Edwin W. Brown, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister, racism, sexism | 11 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 | 17 Comments

When in Rome: A Letter to the Editor on Language, Immigration, and Culture

Posted on August 1, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Note: Nearly four years ago, one of the regular local Letter to the Editor writers complained of a phenomenon at our largest grocery store. He spoke about how a group of “Asians” were speaking loudly to one another in “Chinese” … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged American politics, Canadian Politics, culture, immigration, language, Prince Edward Island, UK Politics, US Politics | 26 Comments

Tolkien’s Last Friend in Oxford when the World Went to War, by John Garth

Posted on July 29, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Originally posted on John Garth:
Colin Cullis and J.R.R. Tolkien at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1912 (courtesy of H.D.L. Thompson) ‘Not a single man I know is up except Cullis,’ Tolkien lamented at the start of his final year as…