Tag Archives: Stephen King

Reading J.R.R. Tolkien by Audiobook and Adaptation: Thoughts on a Portland Discovery

Posted on March 25, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

It was pouring rain in Portland as Nicolas and I wove our way through the artisan-filled streets of this renewed East Coast City. I love Portland, though we were not visiting on the best of circumstances. Just a couple of … Continue reading →

Posted in Thoughtful Essays | Tagged Andy Serkis, Beren and Lúthien, J.R.R. Tolkien, Mr. Bliss, Nicol Williamson, Peter Jackson, Philip K. Dick, Portland Maine, Stephen King, The Children of Húrin, The Fall of Gondolin, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, Tolkien Reading Day, Unfinished Tales | 13 Comments

Ann Radcliffe’s Absolutely Essential “The Mysteries of Udolpho” (1794) and the Books I’d Rather Read

Posted on March 23, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho: A Romance Interspersed With Some Pieces of Poetry (1794) has been one of those books that I have been wanting to read for some time—wanting to read in one way, but hesitant in another. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Ann Radcliffe, Becoming Jane, Bleak House, Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, feminism, Jane Austen, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, mary shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Michael Lewis, Northanger Abbey, Pamela, Samuel Richardson, Stephen King, Susanna Clarke, The Brothers Karamazov, The Green Mile, The Monk, The Mysteries of Udolpho | 17 Comments

Share with Me a Woman’s Voice on Shakespeare, with Thoughts on The Merchant of Venice

Posted on February 9, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Yes, I know, it is kind of a strange request: Share with Me a Woman’s Voice on Shakespeare. Moreover, it is one that I cannot necessarily follow up on fully. But let me explain. The other day, I finished up … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, feminism, Goethe, Hamlet, Harry Potter, Helena Kelly, Inklings, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jane Austen, Joanna Russ, Octavia Butler, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Shakespeare, Stephen King, The Merchant of Venice, The Tempest | 13 Comments

2020: A Year of Reading: The Nerd Bit, with Charts

Posted on January 13, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

“No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally – and often far more – worth reading at the age of fifty and beyond.”~ C.S. Lewis “On Stories” 2020 was my first full year … Continue reading →

Posted in Original Research, Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, Flannery O'Connor, Goodreads, Harry Potter, J.R.R. Tolkien, L.M. Montgomery, Marilynne Robinson, Narnia, Neil Gaiman, Nnedi Okorafor, Reading, Sorina Higgins, Stephen King | 2 Comments

2020: My Year in Books: The Infographic

Posted on January 7, 2021 by Brenton Dickieson

Happy New Year everyone! I will have some fun putting together the data in an upcoming post, including some new charts. I love charts. Meanwhile, I wanted to share the Goodreads “My Year in Books” infographic. I’m pleased to say … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged Anne Rice, C.S. Lewis, Chaim Potok, Charlotte Brontë, Flannery O'Connor, Frederick Buechner, Goodreads, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery, Madeleine L'Engle, Marilynne Robinson, Octavia Butler, Reading, Shūsaku Endō, Stephen King | 2 Comments

Tolkien’s “I am in fact a Hobbit (in all but size)” in Context: A Note on Books and Their Authors (#hobbitday)

Posted on September 22, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

I don’t know that there is any more famous J.R.R. 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 … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes | 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 | 23 Comments

The Great Commandments Which All Vampires Must Obey, by Anne Rice

Posted on September 15, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

Richard Matheson’s 1954 novella, I Am Legend–a brilliant story that I am rereading now–is an important vampire tale that follows the great classic film interpretations, but it really is the earnest literary beginning of the zombie genre. And there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reflections | Tagged 'Salem's Lot, Anne Rice, Carrie, Fred Saberhagen, Interview with the Vampire, Mythopoeia, Queen of the Damned, Stephen King, Tanith Lee, The Dracula Tape, The Vampire Armand, The Vampire Lestat, Tom Cruise, Vampire Chronicles, Vampire Fiction | 5 Comments

1,000th Post Party!

Posted on March 4, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

It’s the 1,000th post on A Pilgrim in Narnia! Huzzah! I began this blog way back in 2011 as a sandbox project for thoughts about C.S. Lewis’ writings. “Pilgrimage” was a word-picture I was using a lot for my life … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links | Tagged books, C.S. Lewis, Discworld, Earthsea, Field of Arbol, H.P. Lovecraft, Harry Potter, Jane Austen, L.M. Montgomery, Lilliput, Middle Earth, Narnia, Númenor, Neil Gaiman, New Urth, Oz, Panem, Prince Edward Island, Ringworld, Stephen King, The Dark Tower, The Enderverse, The Great Divorce | 38 Comments

2019: A Year of Reading: The Nerd Bit, with Charts

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Brenton Dickieson

“With such wishes for the New Year as still seem possible” ~ C.S. Lewis to his father from the WWI trenches in France “Except at my job—where the machine seems to run on much as usual—I loathe the slightest effort. … Continue reading →