Tag Archives: canon

An Essential Reading List from C.S. Lewis: An Experiment on An Experiment in Criticism (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on August 13, 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. … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, books, C.S. Lewis, canon, Deconstructionism, George R.R. Martin, literary criticism, literary history, Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, Narnia, Reader Response Criticism, Reading, Sherlock Holmes, The Western Canon, writing | 46 Comments

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

What Counts as an Old Book? A Response by Dale Nelson

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

This is a response to “What Counts as a Classic? A Conversation with C. S. Lewis and Goodreads,” a blog post I wrote on 18 Dec. 2018 centred on images like the one above. There was quite a conversation that … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs | Tagged Arthuriana, Bible, C.S. Lewis, canon, Cultural Capital, Dale Nelson, Harold Bloom, John Guillory, literature, The Western Canon, University | 35 Comments

The Sorrows of Young Goethe

Posted on August 23, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

Let me tell you a story. In the summer of 1772, 245 years ago, a young Johann Wolfgang von Goethe took a position articling in Wetzlar, Germany. He wasn’t a very good lawyer, however, and spent most of his time … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged canon, epistolary fiction, European Literature, Faust, German Literature, Goethe, love, Napoleon, Reading, Romance, Romanticism, suicide, the Romantic Movement, The Sorrows of Young Werther, Werther Fever, writing | 17 Comments

A Narnian Close Read: Friday Feature

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

A resource recently came to me from a homeschool mom. I am honestly not very connected to that kind of network, so I was pleased to bump into the “Close Reads Podcast,” hosted at the Circe Institute. Past books featured … Continue reading →