Tag Archives: Lemony Snicket

The Words C.S. Lewis Made Up: Jollification, Uglification, and the Miserific Vision

We all know C.S. Lewis as the Narnian, but behind the children’s work was his experience as a teacher of English literature, a writer about the history of literary movements, and a tinker in other forms of fiction. In that tinkering, … Continue reading

Posted in Studies in Words | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 21 Comments

Wormwood Reborn? A Screwtapian Look at The Gates by John Connolly (A Little Hallowe’en Demonic Lit)

One of the great perks as a university teacher is that I am constantly in conversation with students about good books. While this occasionally gets me into conversations about Twilight (which I did read, but only with great commitment to my … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

The Haunting Death: Lewis, Buechner, and Me on the Loss of my Parents

On Friday, February 12th, I watched my mother finally succumb to cancer. She was only 61. In her death she taught me a great deal about how to live. You can read a brief story of her life here. I am now … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

I Need Help With “I,” Or Thoughts on Literary Segregation and the 1st Person Narrative

This post is part of an ongoing series Called Writing Wednesdays. I would love your comments below! It’s hard to know where some prejudices develop. My bias against bad drivers—something we Prince Edward Islanders specialize in—came to me slowly. I’m … Continue reading

Posted in On Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Great First Lines

Anyone who writes knows how hard we work on the first line. It’s not that we are trying to live up to all the great first lines. It doesn’t matter how many best of times-worst of times stories we write, … Continue reading

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments

The Personal Heresy and the Growth of a Person

One of the books that cut C.S. Lewis’ critical teeth is The Personal Heresy: A Controversy. The book is a debate with Cambridge professor Dr. E.M.W. Tillyard over questions about the role of the poet in how the reader appreciates … Continue reading

Posted in Lewis Biography, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 35 Comments

A Read-Aloud Post for World Read Aloud Day: Reading the Hobbit

March 6th is World Read Aloud Day! I wrote a read-aloud post last fall for the Hobbit Read-Along, a merry fellowship of nine writers.  When I began the blog project, I didn’t account for the fact that I would be reading … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Blogs, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Wormwood Reborn? A Screwtapian Look at The Gates by John Connolly (Hell Series Part 1)

One of the great perks as a university teacher is that I am constantly in conversation with students about good books. While this occasionally gets me into conversations about Twilight (which I read with great effort) and Hunger Games (which … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Giving Voice to the Story: On Reading the Hobbit Aloud to my Son

This blog is part of The Hobbit Read-Along at The Warden’s Walk. I’ve been assigned Chapter 14: Fire and Water. Feel free to comment on any of the great blogs in the series. When I jumped into the Hobbit Read-Along, … Continue reading

Posted in Guest Blogs, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 20 Comments

The Haunting Death: Lewis, Buechner, and Me on the Loss of a Parent

Lewis in Letters I’ve read, now, about 200 pages of Lewis’ letters. This is just a small slice of the 2000 pages of his letters I have in my bookshelves. But it is enough to begin to see patterns and … Continue reading

Posted in Reflections, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments