Tag Archives: Dante

A Rationale for Teaching C.S. Lewis’ Fiction in The Wrong Order

Posted on March 29, 2023 by Brenton Dickieson

I am in my sixth year of teaching “The Fantasy and Science Fiction of C.S. Lewis” at The King’s College in New York City. I inherited this online course from Dr. Sørina Higgins, who followed the original mind behind the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Dante, liberal arts, lion the witch and the wardrobe, literature, Narnia, Reading, Science Fiction, Teaching, The Ransom Cycle, The Screwtape Letters, theology, Till We Have Faces | 3 Comments

Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo, a Review

Posted on November 9, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

Dorothy and Jack: The Transforming Friendship of Dorothy L. Sayers and C. S. Lewis by Gina Dalfonzo My rating: 4 of 5 stars C.S. Lewis is famous for his comment on a dust jacket autobiographical note that “There’s no sound … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged biography, C.S. Lewis, D.L. Sayers, Dante, Dorothy and Jack, Dorothy L. Sayers, Gina Dalfonzo, Joy Davidman, Lord Peter Wimsey, Narnia, Ruth Pitter, Sr. Penelope, Whose Body? | 5 Comments

My Conference Papers this Week in Canada and K’zoo on C.S. Lewis’ Constructed Language and Intertextuality, with a Note on the Impostor Syndrome

Posted on May 9, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

In an intriguing confluence of events, this week is Canada’s annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Congress2022–what scholarly Canadians used to call “the Learneds”–and is at the same time as the International Congress on Medieval Studies, hosted by … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, News & Links, Original Research, Studies in Words | Tagged C.S. Lewis, conlangs, Constructed Languages, Dante, Imposter Syndrome, intertextuality, Literary Theory, Marsha Daigle-Williamson, owen barfield, philology, Ransom Cycle, Reflecting the Eternal: Dante’s Divine Comedy in the Novels of C.S. Lewis, The Personal Heresy, The Screwtape Letters, world-building | 9 Comments

John Bunyan’s Apology for his Book with a Note from C.S. Lewis on Writing as Holistic Discovery–and How Narnia Achieved the Bigness You See

Posted on March 30, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

In my blog post last week, “Bunyan and Others and Me: Vicarious Bookshelf Friendship and a Jazz Hands Theory of Reading,” I offered two “Theories of Reading” from my experience of trying to find sympathy with John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, On Writing, Reflections | Tagged A Pilgrim's Regress, Arthur Greeves, BBC, C.S. Lewis, Dante, John Bunyan, John Milton, Selected Literary Essays, Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to be Said, Spenser, spiritual theology, The Pilgrim's Progress, writing | 7 Comments

Bunyan and Others and Me: Vicarious Bookshelf Friendship and a Jazz Hands Theory of Reading

Posted on March 22, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

I have been quite open about the fact that I have had some difficulty finding true sympathy with John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. I even went so far as to admit that the text at one time had been for … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Pilgrim's Regress, Auerbach, C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Dante, Enid Blyton, George MacDonald, Harold Bloom, Huckleberry Finn, Jane Eyre, John Bunyan, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, literary friendship, Little Women, Louisa May Alcott., Mark Twain, Middlemarch, Milton, mimesis, Prince Edward Island, Spenser, The Allegory of Love, The Land of Far-Beyond, The Pilgrim's Progress | 9 Comments

Good C.S. Lewis Studies Books That Did Not Win the Mythopoeic Award: Part 3: Literary Studies on C.S. Lewis

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Following news that “Tolkien Studies Projects Sweep the Mythopoeic Scholarship Award Shortlist in Inklings Studies,” and on the heels of a series encouraging strong Lewis studies books, I decided to share some of the good and useful Lewis studies books … Continue reading →

Posted in Lewis Biography, News & Links, Reviews | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Dante, Dymer, intertextuality, Jerry Root, Marsha Daigle-Williamson, Monika Hilder, The Screwtape Letters, Till We Have Faces, William O'Flaherty | 6 Comments

Marsha Daigle-Williamson’s Reflecting the Eternal and Dante in the Work of C.S. Lewis, with Thoughts about Intertextuality (Good C.S. Lewis Studies Books That Did Not Win the Mythopoeic Award Series Insert)

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Intertextuality: The Books Inside the Books We Love to Read I am very much interested in the books that sit behind the books we read, or the idea of “Intertextuality.” I have tackled this topic before (see the list at … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Dante, intertextuality, Marion E. Wade Center, Marsha Daigle-Williamson, Narnia, Reflecting the Eternal: Dante’s Divine Comedy in the Novels of C.S. Lewis, The Chronicles of Narnia, Till We Have Faces, Voyage of the Dawn Treader | 22 Comments

Crystal Downing, Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking Dorothy L. Sayers (Book Launch, Friday Feature)

Posted on December 4, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I am pleased to share the video of the Book Launch for Crystal Downing’s new book, Subversive: Christ, Culture, and the Shocking Dorothy L. Sayers. Famous detective club novelist, strident correspondent, generation-leading scriptwriter, essayist, lecturer, and controversialist, and the producer … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday, News & Links | Tagged Crystal Downing, D.L. Sayers, Dante, david downing, Dorothy L. Sayers, feminism, Literary Theory, Marion E. Wade Center, Mind of the Maker, Postmodernism, The Divine Comedy, The Man Born to be King, theology and literature, Theology of Culture | 16 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 | 20 Comments

The Deeper Meaning of “The Great Divorce” (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Last year I introduced an occasional feature I call “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. This might be … Continue reading →