Tag Archives: The Hunger Games

William Morris’ Nonsense from Nowhere

Posted on May 29, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of C.S. Lewis’ great literary conversation partners was William Morris. Lewis wrote literary criticism about him beginning in his first collection of essays (Rehabilitations, 1939, now in Selected Literary Essays). In that early literary essay, delivered first to the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, C.S. Lewis, g k chesterton, George Orwell, Left Behind, libertarianism, Margaret Atwood, News from Nowhere, philosophical novel, Politics, Socialism, The Hunger Games, The Quest of Bleheris, The Well at the Worlds End, Voltaire, William Morris | 23 Comments

Fun With Stats 1: Lessons on Growth from 5 Years of Blogging

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

One of the critical advantages of WordPress is that it offers the blogger tools for calculating their impact. It is also one of its critical weaknesses as the analytics are limited to daily visitor and hit counts, as well as … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged A Bridge to Terabithia, apologetics, Blogging, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, On Writing, social media, The Clash, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, The Screwtape Letters, Wordpress Stats, writing | 18 Comments

The Real Problem with Teached Helplessness

Posted on July 28, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

On Tuesday I posted an article called “12 Loving Ways You Can Ruin Your Kid’s Career,” which has gotten a bit of chatter. Most readers understood pretty clearly the satire. There is a lot of talk these days about the problems … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged academic, Baby Boomers, Education, Generation X, GenX, higher education, learned helplessness, Millennials, sociology, Teached Helplessness, Teaching, The Hunger Games, Theology of Culture | 12 Comments

Is Nicolas Old Enough for “The Maze Runner”?

Posted on March 27, 2015 by Brenton Dickieson

This was our family discussion this morning–a good thing, since our family discussion is usually filled we these phrases: “Where are my mitts?” “Shoot, I forgot to make lunches.” “We’re late!” “Oh, I forgot! I need a scale-sized model of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, film adaptation, Harry Potter, Jason Mraz, Kit Pearson, Lord of the Rings, parenting, Pride and Prejudice, Reading, sex, The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, violence | 18 Comments

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

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Brenton Dickieson

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 1st Person Narratives, 50 Shades of Grey, books, C.S. Lewis, Great Gatsby, Lemony Snicket, literature, Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl, The Hunger Games, Twilight, writing, Writing Wednesdays | 45 Comments

What are Readers Actually Reading? Fantasy in America

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Brenton Dickieson

Bestseller lists can tell us a lot about the books people buy, but they might not tell us as much about what books people actually read. Genre fiction, from Fantasy to Mysteries to Romance, is typically off the radar of … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Thoughtful Essays | Tagged 50 Shades of Grey, books, fantasy, film, Hugo, J.K. Rowling, J.R.R. Tolkien, jodi picoult, john grisham, literature, Percy Jackson, Stephanie Meyers, The Game of Thrones, The Hobbit, The Hunger Games, Twilight, vampires | 9 Comments

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

Posted on November 22, 2012 by Brenton Dickieson

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 →