Tag Archives: literary criticism

Terry Lindvall’s Heavy Treatment of a Light Topic: A Review of Surprised by Laughter

Posted on February 25, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

Surprised by Laughter Revised & Updated: The Comic World of C.S. Lewis by Terry Lindvall My rating: 4 of 5 stars The word “levity” has two main definitions that we walk around with: a kind of frivolity and something that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, comedy, g k chesterton, George MacDonald, humor, joy, literary criticism, Sehnsucht, Surprised by Laughter, Terry Lindvall, The Light Princess | 44 Comments

H.P. Lovecraft’s “Supernatural Horror in Literature”

Posted on August 22, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

I am in the midst of an extended reading of Stephen King‘s Dark Tower Cycle, including the extra books that connect most intimately with King’s great mythic universe (see Mathew Olson’s essay here; I’m rereading ‘Salem’s Lot now with Wolves … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged 'Salem's Lot, Dagon, Danse Macabre, H.P. Lovecraft, Horror, literary criticism, literary history, Literary Theory, Stephen King, Supernatural Horror in Literature, The Dark Tower, The Wolves of the Calla | 17 Comments

Tolkien’s “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size)” in Context

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

I don’t know that there is any more famous Tolkien quote than his claim to, in fact, be a hobbit. It’s really quite a delightful statement and worth quoting more fully: I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged Charles Williams, Franz Kafka, Harry Potter, Hobbit Day, I.A. Richards, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, literary criticism, literature, Lord of the Rings, new criticism, practical criticism, Stephen King, The Hobbit, Ursula K. LeGuin | 24 Comments

John Lawlor on C.S. Lewis’ “The Allegory of Love”

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

The Allegory of Love … is a work which has all the authority of a mind of the highest quality marking out clear paths in a complex and absorbing mass of material. As such it effortlessly joins company with that … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, John Lawlor, literary criticism, literary history, medieval literature, Memories and Reflections, Shakespeare, The Allegory of Love, W.P. Ker | 13 Comments

George Watson’s Provocative Comments on C.S. Lewis as Literary Critic

Posted on February 22, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the advantages of finding new libraries is that the librarian’s skill of book-buying is more art than science. The librarians I know, despite their adept use of analytics, have as much curator or architect in them as they … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis, Douglas Adams, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, F.R. Leavis, g k chesterton, George Watson, Inklings, Jacques Derrida, Joy Davidman, librarians, literary criticism, myth, Narnia, Postmodernism, Reader Response Criticism, Reading, Roland Barthes, Samuel Johnson, Sherlock Holmes, Socratic Club, Studies in Words, The Allegory of Love, The Discarded Image, The Personal Heresy, Till We Have Faces, William Empson | 16 Comments

New Approaches to Academic Writing: An Unusual Marking Note for a Good Student

Posted on December 8, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

I am at that time of year when the marking pile on my desk is higher than my laptop screen. Like a fool, each year, I go into the marking expecting great things. So far, I have never had a … Continue reading →

Posted in On Writing, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged academic, Alice Walker, autoethnography, B.R. Myers, Christopher Hitchens, Corey Olsen, Dorothy L. Sayers, Flannery O'Connor, George Orwell, Harold Bloom, John Updike, literary criticism, Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, research, Roxane Gay, Slavoj Žižek, Stanley Fish, Teaching, Terry Eagleton, theology, Ursula K. Le Guin, Virginia Woolf, writing | 8 Comments

The Shocking, Horrifying, You-Can’t-Believe-It! Reason This Blogger Isn’t Taking A Break

Posted on November 29, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Last week I wrote a rather personal post about how I was drowning in work. As converging rivers can crush stone, my worlds of work and study have crashed in upon my already eroded personal strength. Even after taking steps … Continue reading →