Tag Archives: Milton

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

Charles Williams’ Arthurian Apocalypse: Thoughts on “The Son of Lancelot” (Throwback Thursday, republished from The Oddest Inkling)

Posted on April 23, 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 Reflections, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged apocalypse, Apocalypse of Abraham, Arthuriana, Bird Box, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Harry Potter, intertextuality, Jewish Apocalypse, Milton, Paradise Lost, Sorina Higgins, The Book of Revelation | 22 Comments

Can Cod-liver Oil Cure Us of Poetry? A Thought on the Uselessness of Poets in Today’s Economy from L.M. Montgomery’s Rainbow Valley

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

It was probably unfair that I had this much fun in a government meeting, but it is even more unfair that the fun came at another’s expense. It is no secret that North American state, provincial, and federal governments view … Continue reading →

Posted in L.M. Montgomery, Memorable Quotes, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged academics, economics, fantasy literature, L.M. Montgomery, Milton, Poetry, Prince Edward Island, Rainbow Valley, Rilla of Ingleside, Ronald Reagan, Shakespeare, speculative fiction, University, utilitarianism | 13 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

Philip Pullman as a Reader of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien

Posted on January 29, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

Philip Pullman is for me a hot-and-cold writer who, fortunately, usually leads with heat. His accomplishment in drawing modern fantasy readers into the worlds of Milton and Dante with the His Dark Materials trilogy is an important one. Lyra in The Golden … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Dante, fantasy, Golden, Golden Compass, His Dark Materials, J.R.R. Tolkien, Milton, Narnia, Neil Gaiman, Paradise Lost, Philip Pullman, The Book of Dust, The Last Battle, The Problem of Susan | 51 Comments

Harold Bloom’s “The Western Canon”

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon: The Books and School of the Ages was a sensation when it appeared in 1994. Harold Bloom, a curmudgeonly anti-academic ivy league scholar, fills this challenging read with fresh insights on every page. He … Continue reading →

TTL 17: “The Son of Lancelot.” — by Brenton D. G. Dickieson

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Originally posted on The Oddest Inkling:
Here is Post #17 in the Series on Taliessin through Logres! It’s a long one, but a good one. Please visit the INTRODUCTION to this series first, and here is the INDEX to the…

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged Arthuriana, C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, Dante, H.G. Wells, intertextuality, Milton, Out of the Silent Planet, Paradise Lost, Perelandra, Sorina Higgins, That Hideous Strength, The Silver Chair | 6 Comments

A Gospel Too Simple for the Learned: Tough Jo in Bleak House

Posted on February 3, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

This is my first time reading Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. As it is featured in Gary Colledge’s God and Charles Dickens and Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon, I thought I should come at last to this very long book. If you have ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reflections | Tagged Bleak House, C.S. Lewis, Charles Dickens, fiction, Harold Bloom, literature, Milton, The Great Divorce | 19 Comments

Finding that Elusive Title: The Many Names of The Great Divorce

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

I am about 50/50 when it comes to titling my own work. Sometimes the title is patently obvious; other times it is a struggle to come up with a pithy phrase that captures what I’ve just written. I have one … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Charles Williams, g k chesterton, Milton, Pilgrim's Regress, self-death, Sorina Higgins, Spirits in Bondage, The Great Divorce, The Screwtape Letters, William Blake, writing | 46 Comments

“I’d Rather be Damned than Go along With You!” The Big Man in The Great Divorce

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

Readers here will know that I’ve blogged about bullying before. C.S. Lewis himself struggled with the culture of bullying at the schools he went to. In this intriguing chapter of The Great Divorce, published 70 years ago today, Lewis explores … Continue reading →