Tag Archives: art

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 131st Birthday (#TolkienBirthdayToast)

As J.R.R. Tolkien was born about 68,899,680 minutes ago, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor on his birthday, 3 January 2022 (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The … Continue reading

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 130th Birthday (#TolkienBirthdayToast)

As J.R.R. Tolkien was born about 68,374,080 minutes ago, the Tolkien Society is once again raising a toast to the Professor on his birthday, 3 January 2022 (see here). After Bilbo left the Shire on his eleventy-first birthday in The … Continue reading

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Christmas With J.R.R. Tolkien: The Father Christmas Letters

My little 2015 piece on J.R.R. Tolkien’s funny and endearing Father Christmas Letters has had quite a spin around the internet this week. I cannot think of a better Christmas note for you, dear readers of A Pilgrim in Narnia, … Continue reading

Posted in Letters, Memorable Quotes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

A Brace of Tolkien Posts for his 129th Birthday

To celebrate Tolkien’s twelfthty-ninth (or eleventy-nineteenth–a joke that expires this year) birthday on 3 January 2021, 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 … Continue reading

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Harry Potter at Home and at the British Library Online

Last week I talked about some Audible learning resources –including “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” by Stephen Fry in English, but also in many other languages–and how J.K. Rowling opened up copyright restrictions for teachers and parents to help … Continue reading

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Qu4rtets: Makoto Fujimura and A Response to T.S. Eliot in Word, Image, and Sound (Friday Feature)

I am reading Makoto Fujimura’s intricate, personal, and intelligent 2016 book, Silence and Beauty: Hidden Faith Born of Suffering. This book weaves Fujimura’s particular approach to Nigonga painting, “slow art” as he calls it, with Shūsaku Endō stunning novel, Silence, and … Continue reading

Posted in Feature Friday | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

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

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

Posted in News & Links, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

The Gift (and Curse) of Asher Lev

The Gift of Asher Lev by Chaim Potok My rating: 5 of 5 stars The Gift of Asher Lev is a lovely, evocative book. It is my first time reading the sequel to My Name is Asher Lev, which I … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

The Tolkien Film and the Problem of Beauty: Guest Blog at the Forefront Festival

I was very much struck by the recently released Tolkien biopic and tried to capture a few of my thoughts about it in my note from last week. I also received an invitation from the Forefront Festival blog to share … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , | 58 Comments

My Defiant Appreciation of the Biopic Tolkien

I live on the edge of the continent, on a small island in the North Atlantic. This “lonely island” I call home is more like Hobbiton than the majestic and magical sanctuary of Tol Eressëa of J.R.R. Tolkien’s early mythology. … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 69 Comments