Tag Archives: Milton

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 →

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 | 39 Comments

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

Posted on June 10, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

C.S. Lewis is an author that sends us elsewhere. We pick up The Silver Chair and discover that our ill-used copy of The Divine Comedy needs some time. We pull down Out of the Silent Planet, and then instinctively reach for … Continue reading →

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 | 48 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 →