Tag Archives: The Western Canon

My Foolish Wisdom about Don Quixote, Urban Tuxedo Cat, and Edith Grossman’s Excellent Translation, with a Note from Harold Bloom Beyond the Grave

Posted on January 31, 2022 by Brenton Dickieson

I have finally completed Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra’ The Ingenious Gentleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha. It is my first time completing this classic of Western literature, except for all of those other times I’ve read it. As I have … Continue reading →

Posted in Memorable Quotes, Reflections, Reviews | Tagged cat poetry, Cervantes, Don Quixote, Edith Grossman, Harold Bloom, Poetry, The Western Canon | 11 Comments

An Essential Reading List from C.S. Lewis: An Experiment on An Experiment in Criticism (Throwback Thursday)

Posted on August 13, 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. … Continue reading →

Posted in News & Links, Original Research, Throwback Thursdays | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, books, C.S. Lewis, canon, Deconstructionism, George R.R. Martin, literary criticism, literary history, Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, Narnia, Reader Response Criticism, Reading, Sherlock Holmes, The Western Canon, writing | 46 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

What Counts as an Old Book? A Response by Dale Nelson

Posted on January 29, 2019 by Brenton Dickieson

This is a response to “What Counts as a Classic? A Conversation with C. S. Lewis and Goodreads,” a blog post I wrote on 18 Dec. 2018 centred on images like the one above. There was quite a conversation that … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Blogs | Tagged Arthuriana, Bible, C.S. Lewis, canon, Cultural Capital, Dale Nelson, Harold Bloom, John Guillory, literature, The Western Canon, University | 35 Comments

Resources on David Lyndsay’s Cult Classic “A Voyage to Arcturus”

Posted on April 16, 2018 by Brenton Dickieson

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a scathing review of David Lindsay’s trippy SF morality tale, A Voyage to Arcturus (1920). C.S. Lewis loved this book–and so does genius actor Paul Giamatti, according to the rather peculiar, subtly hypnotic, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Fictional Worlds, Memorable Quotes, News & Links | Tagged A Voyage to Arcturus, C.S. Lewis, David Lindsay, Harold Bloom, J.R.R. Tolkien, Paul Giamatti, Philip Pullman, The Western Canon, Vakula | 9 Comments

A Narnian Close Read: Friday Feature

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Brenton Dickieson

A resource recently came to me from a homeschool mom. I am honestly not very connected to that kind of network, so I was pleased to bump into the “Close Reads Podcast,” hosted at the Circe Institute. Past books featured … Continue reading →

Posted in Feature Friday | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, C.S. Lewis, canon, Feature Friday, Flannery O'Connor, Jane Austen, lion the witch and the wardrobe, podcast, Pride and Prejudice, Reading, The Western Canon, The Wind in the Willows | Leave a comment

Why C.S. Lewis Says My Reading Program is Wrong, or What Cheese has to do with Reading

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

This year on A Pilgrim in Narnia we have been doing some thinking about programs for reading great books: Why I Read C.S. Lewis Chronologically How You Can Read C.S. Lewis Chronologically The Canon of Fantasy Literature Harold Bloom’s “The Western … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged C.S. Lewis, canon, Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, fantasy, Harold Bloom, Reading, research, Science Fiction, The Western Canon, University | 32 Comments

An Essential Reading List from C.S. Lewis: An Experiment on An Experiment in Criticism

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

On A Pilgrim in Narnia we have been playing with lists of the key books to read–what we might call a “canon.” We’ve thought about the key books of Western literature (here and here), thought about the problems of this discussion, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged An Experiment in Criticism, books, C.S. Lewis, canon, Deconstructionism, literary criticism, literary history, Narnia, Reader Response Criticism, Reading, Sherlock Holmes, The Western Canon, writing | 89 Comments

The Problem of the Canon

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

Lately I have been playing with lists. Partly, this grows out of my desire to read great books. And partly it grows out of attempt to catch up on the severe lack of education I received growing up. So I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reflections | Tagged academic, Brexit, canon, class, Cultural Capital, Donald Trump, Election 2016, Harold Bloom, higher education, John Guillory, Reading, The Western Canon, University | 28 Comments

The Canon of Fantasy Literature (An Impossiblog)

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Brenton Dickieson

This is an impossible blog–an impossiblog, if you will. I have been thinking a lot about the literary canon lately. We have a pretty good sense of who to read to capture the breadth of literary fiction in the West … Continue reading →