Tag Archives: George Orwell

Where Do We Find Meaning When We Read? A Spectrum of Discovery in Storytelling

Posted on September 25, 2024 by

Where is the meaning found in the art of reading? Is it in the text itself–some magic of language or mystery of persuasion in the telling of a tale? Or do readers carry meaning in their own curiosity and willingness … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged allegory, Animal Farm, Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, C.S. Lewis, Canada Reads, George Orwell, His Dark Materials, Jonathan Livingston Seagull, lion the witch and the wardrobe, literary criticism, Literary Theory, Narnia, Philip Pullman, Reading | 6 Comments

“The Nightmare Alley of That Hideous Strength: A Look at C.S. Lewis and William Gresham” by G. Connor Salter (Nightmare Alley Series)

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

This is the second post in our “Nightmare Alley” series, where a Pilgrim in Narnia looks at Guillermo del Toro’s critically acclaimed new film, Nightmare Alley, and its connections to the past. The 2021 film, which John Stanifer reviewed last … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Dorothy L. Sayers, Douglas Gresham, g k chesterton, George MacDonald, George Orwell, Guillermo del Toro, Jack Zipes, Joy Davidman, Nightmare Alley, That Hideous Strength, The Inner Ring, The Man Who Was Thursday, The Silver Chair, William Gresham | 12 Comments

George Orwell’s Review of C.S. Lewis’ “That Hideous Strength” (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on September 10, 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. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged 1984, Animal Farm, books, C.S. Lewis, Chesterton, dystopia, fantasy, Fictional Universes, George Orwell, Nazism, Newspeak, Ransom Trilogy, technocracy, technology, That Hideous Strength, totalitarianism, WWII | 70 Comments

“This Year of the Atom”: A Poem on the Anniversary of Hiroshima, by Joy Davidman

Posted on August 6, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

At 8:15 local time on Aug 6, 1945, American airship Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 100,000 people, most of them civilians. On Aug 9th, the American military would reassert their ability to waste the countryside by … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Naked Tree, American politics, Animal Farm, Anna Santamaria, Atomic Bomb, C.S. Lewis, George Orwell, Hiroshima, Japan, Joy Davidman, Nagasaki, That Hideous Strength, war, WWII | 7 Comments

What Counts as a Classic? A Conversation with C.S. Lewis and Goodreads

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a little post called “Reading and the Cultural Moment, with C.S. Lewis.” Though I now think I could have said it even clearer, I was sharing once again C.S. Lewis’ critical idea that … Continue reading →