Jo-Anna wrote in to remind us about Silver Leaves. Our very own Jonathon Svendsen has an article in this issue, and we’re very proud of that:
Tolkien-based journal “Silver Leaves” Issue Two, has released as of Saturday, Jan. 10. The theme is The Inklings and we are very excited about getting it into folks’ hands. It’s a superb issue, with contributors including Douglas Gresham, Colin Duriez, Brian Sibley, and Jef Murray, along with many others. Ordering information is at www.whitetreefund.org.
NarniaFans Staff Member, Jonathon D. Svendsen, is going to be featured in the second issue of Silver Leaves, which is put out by the White Tree Fund, a Tolkien-related publication. The theme for this issue is dedicated to the Inklings. Fans of CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien know that the Inklings was the name of the informal literary group that consisted of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, Charles Williams and many others.
Long time fans of the Chronicles of Narnia who were saddened by the end of the series in 1956 may rejoice at some news from publisher Harper Collins. With the help of Walter Hooper, Colin Duriez, and other Lewis scholars, Harper Collins is posthumously publishing the book that existed in various fragments. Lewis scholars had found these fragments and pieced them together, resulting in a coherent story.
“Parts of it were in old notebooks. A page or two had been written on a couple of cocktail napkins. The opening page had been scribbled on a student’s test booklet that he was grading. A few other bits and pieces were found in other places,” said Hooper, a long time editor and collaborator with Lewis.
“A few fragments were even found on an old chewing gum wrapper from a stick of gum that Tolkien gave to Lewis,” he added.
“We are very excited about this new release,” said a representative of Harper Collins. “ We were a little leery at first about releasing it as we weren’t sure if it would sell. The only fantasy books that seem to sell now a days are Harry Potter books. You can’t bank on the success of some old dead guy.”
However another CEO, who wished to remain anonymous, expects the book to do well considering the success of Tolkien’s Children of Hurin last summer.
“Children of Hurin was number 1 on the New York Times Best-Seller list. It knocked a Harry Potter book off of it’s spot and out sold the final Left Behind book. A rare feat for a book by a deceased writer. This has shown it could work.”
Narnia has it’s own built in fan base. Readers young and old have been hoping for more Narnia books since the release of the Last Battle,” said Colin Duriez, a noted Lewis scholar and author of various handbooks devoted to CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and their various works. “Now they have their wish.”
Hardcore fans will remember that Queen Swanwhite was mentioned by Jewel the unicorn in the Last Battle as an important figure in Narnian history. Her name is featured on countless Narnia Timelines. There does appear to be some discrepancy between when Jewel says the events happened ( the year 1500 in Narnia time), and the official timeline compiled by Lewis. (900. Approximately before Jadis came to rule Narnia.)
“This book will definitely shed some light on those questions,” said Hooper. “Fans have been wondering about her for years. Now they will discover her rich story.”
We have yet to receive any details on the full plot or what other characters will appear in the story. Early rumors indicate that it may also deal with the Jadis’s return to Narnia, the beginning of the 100 year winter and how Tumnus came under her employment.
The book is expected to be released sometime this Christmas. We have not yet been able to reach Douglas Gresham for comment on this book.
In 2005, a conference was held at Belmont University that brought together many C.S. Lewis scholars. A book has been edited together by Amy H. Sturgis that collects that event. Now we can all experience the event through the chapters of this compilation of essays.
This volume provides a broad sample of the research presented at the “Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C.S. Lewis” international conference held at Belmont University on November 3-5, 2005. The contributing scholars reflect a truly interdisciplinary discussion representing the fields of literature, theology, history, and popular culture. The assembled essays offer insights on the messages of C.S. Lewis’s fiction and nonfiction, the dramatic adaptations of his work, the influence of his faith, and his relevance to related fantasy literature and authors from J.R.R. Tolkien to J.K. Rowling. These diverse contributions combine to offer a better understanding and appreciation of the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis.
It is no small achievement to gather twelve essays with authority and grace (ten on Lewis and one each on Tolkien and J.K. Rowling). Lewis enthusiasts with Puddleglum personalities, who expect at least one bad egg in a dozen, will be pleasantly surprised.
—Robert Trexler, Editor of The Bulletin of the New York C.S. Lewis Society
This is no dry collection, but a continuation in kind of the vibrant conversations that went on between C.S. Lewis and his like-minded friends in smoky Oxford pubs and book-lined college rooms.
—Colin Duriez, Author of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship
A welcome collection of reflections on C.S. Lewis by both seasoned and fresh voices on a wide range of topics topped off with two provocative explorations into Tolkien and Rowling.
—Christopher Mitchell, Director, Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College
1. Preface
By Darrell GwaltneyIntroductory words about the Past Watchful Dragons conference.
2. Introduction
By Amy H. SturgisIntroductory words about the contents of the book.
3. Contribution related to keynote talk: “Apologetics in the Shadowlands: The Problem of Pain and Narnia”
By Bruce EdwardsEdwards explores the relationship between The Chronicles of Narnia and The Problem of Pain, and considers how these works by Lewis together form an awareness of humanity’s plight in a fallen world, an “Apologetics for the Shadowlands.”
4. Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve: Lewisian Perspectives on the Human in The Chronicles of Narnia
By Donald T. WilliamsIt is a critical commonplace that in That Hideous Strength Lewis gives readers a fictional incarnation of the argument he made against reductionism and for a fully biblical concept of what is human in The Abolition of Man. What has been less fully realized is that The Chronicles of Narnia relate to Abolition in precisely the same way. Talking Beasts, much like the hnau of The Space Trilogy, form foils which allow Lewis to set off the essential characteristics of human nature. Williams shows that Abolition constitutes a most useful grid for interpreting The Chronicles, that the conception of human nature incarnated there is informed by a richly biblical anthropology, and that, together with The Abolition of Man, they offer an apologia for a biblical view of human nature that still provides good traction against contemporary forms of reductionism.
5. “Let the Villains Be Soundly Killed at the End of the Book”: C. S. Lewis’s Conception of Justice in The Chronicles of Narnia
By Marek OziewiczOne of the most fundamental assumptions of Tolkien’s famous essay “On Fairy-Stories” is that fairy-stories, or mythopoeic fantasy as some critics would call the genre now, quench human spiritual thirsts. Among those, of paramount importance for a person’s spiritual well-being is human yearning for justice. Although Tolkien did not make it explicit, it is clear in his writings that he was aware of a conflict between people’s customary sense of justice, applied to and expected of them in ordinary human relations, and the legal sense of justice, imposed on them as citizens by the state. More outspoken in this respect, Lewis addressed the problem of justice in many of his essays and repeatedly criticized modern state’s conception of justice as degrading to human dignity. If Lewis and Tolkien thus demonstrated their allegiance to mythic or more traditional concepts of justice, it is nowhere as clear as in fantasy works they wrote. While all of their works reveal a specific conception of myth-derived justice, which Oziewicz calls a compensational one, Oziewicz argues that this concept is one of the many reasons for the lasting appeal of The Chronicles. Compensational justice is more satisfying to human spirit than any legal type of justice known in our world. Although it operates by the principle of “getting what one deserves,” compensational justice is not revenge, nor is it driven by the logic of vengeance. Contrary to faceless legal justice that depersonalizes human relations, it builds and fosters them by making characters face the hurts they caused others, understand the resulting pain, and learn not repeat their mistakes. Oziewicz demonstrates how compensational justice as “textualized” by Lewis involves a whole set of assumptions concerning guilt, crime, compensation and giving others their due. Most importantly, however, he argues that Lewis presents his conception of justice not as a utopian construct, but as a practical ideal to be sought and realized in actual life.
6. “Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle”: Aslan’s Sacrifice in Adaptations of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
By Hugh H. DavisAs Walden Media prepared to release its adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, its early media machine’s emphasis focused on the novel’s final battle, with clips in its trailer of massive armies locked in combat. Early merchandise announcements, likewise, focused on centaur and ogre figures, suggesting significant attention on this battle and its warriors, despite the fact that this war lasts a mere few pages in Lewis’ text. While this conflict between the White Witch’s minions and Aslan’s supporters has narrative importance, allegorically, the more important sequence should be Aslan’s sacrifice in place of Edmund. Aslan’s murder at the hands of the White Witch and her hordes—the crucifixion of this Christ-figure—is the true “glorious battle” of LWW, providing readers with a fantastic/symbolic version of that mighty conflict celebrated in Christian tradition during Holy Week, with the hollow “Triumph of the Witch” (the title of Lewis’ fourteenth chapter) representing in truth the “triumph of the victim,” as sung of in a hymn by Fortunatus . It is on this event of “a magic deeper still” whereupon Lewis sets his supposal, with this lion’s sacrifice and resurrection the pivotal point in the novel upon which all other action relies. Davis considers how attempts to dramatize the novel have presented Aslan’s sacrifice in adaptations of the initial Chronicle of Narnia, considering the transformation of the text into audio drama and into both animated and live-action televised versions while also considering how it presents a story lasting as “eternal ages run”.
7. Sometimes A Film May Say Best What’s to be Said
By Greg WrightBoth C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien voiced serious misgivings about the art of cinema. While Lewis speculated on the obsession with “sheer excitement” in film, and contrasted that with the “hushing spell of imagination” possible in literature, Tolkien went so far as to offer the opinion that the visual arts “outrun the mind,” even “overthrow it.” How, then, do we account for the current enthusiasm among fantasy fans for filmed versions of Middle-earth and Narnia? We might argue that today’s fanbase is woefully out of touch with the love of literature which inspired Tolkien and Lewis; but we might also argue that the Oxford dons were poorly suited to be critics of cinema. First, Tolkien and Lewis were both devoted to literature and steeped themselves in its history, its consumption and its production. Quite simply, they loved words. And while they both were inspired by visual art-Lewis finding most of his creative impetus in concrete visual imagery and Tolkien interpreting his own worlds through drawings and sketches-they could hardly have been described as lovers of film. According to Lewis’ own suggestions regarding criticism, then, the two were simultaneously eminently qualified as critics of literature and roundly disqualified as critics of the cinema. Second, the art of cinema could hardly have been described as mature in the 1930s. While the jury is still out on the ultimate role that film will play in our culture, there can be little doubt that Lewis and Tolkien would have a very different opinion of cinema in 2005 than they would have when their seminal fantasy works were initially published.
8. Surprised, but Not by Joy: Political Comment in Out of the Silent Planet
By Karen Wright HayesGeorge Orwell’s often-anthologized essay “Shooting an Elephant,” originally published in 1936, contains the line, “And my whole life, every white man’s life in the East, was one long struggle not to be laughed at.” Orwell experienced first hand the conflict of being a thinking human being acting as part of a colonial power, and made capital of it. C.S. Lewis published in 1938 the story of another attempted English colonization: Out of the Silent Planet. In chapters 19 and 20, Lewis offers a satirical comment on England’s interaction with “native” cultures, as Weston (”the great physicist”) attempts to communicate with — but more properly to intimidate—the creatures of Malacandra. Lewis’s hero Ransom looks on with minimal reaction but is eventually drawn in to translate for Weston and Oyarsa in a juxtaposition of ideas that rivals another Orwell classic — “Politics and the English Language”– for pointed comment on the relationship between power and words. Lewis, however, makes his anti-colonialist comment in fiction, a form which often slips past the “watchful dragons” of pro-British, pro-Western sentiment, resulting in the assumption by many that he was either a supporter of Empire or oblivious to its existence.
9. The Four Loves of Dorian Gray
By Ernelle FifeAbstract: Although C. S. Lewis’s works of fiction, particularly his Chronicles of Narnia, are slowly finding a niche in academia, his works of literary criticism seem to be ignored, replaced by more theoretical stances. And his overtly Christian works rarely, if ever, are incorporated into literature courses. However, much can be gained by using Lewis’s non-fictional works as a lens to re-examine canonical texts. Fife proposes that using The Four Loves in teaching Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray highlights the underlying morality of the novel. In his The Four Loves, Lewis distinguishes between Need-Love and Gift-Love. Both he concedes are necessary for human existence. Lewis believes that all human love can be categorized as one of four types: affection, friendship, eros, charity. Any type can be a Need-love or a Gift-love, and any type can be corrupted if we attempt to make that love into a Gift-love with the beloved as the object. What is really interesting in Lewis’s argument is that it is not pride or self-love that is the corrupting factor. Self-centeredness or self-indulgence may prevent one from loving anyone at all, but only “[A] faithful and genuinely self-sacrificing passion will speak to us with what seems the voice of God”. Where the danger lies, and what I contend to be the moral of Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray, is when the object of a healthy and necessary Need-love is mistaken for or substituted for what should be the object of Gift-love, God. Wilde’s novel incorporates all four types of love, and each is present as both Need-love and Gift-love. The novel’s inner morality centers upon all the characters creating sinful loves by altering a perfectly healthy and morally sound Need-love into a Gift-love, and thus, destroying both the love and the beloved.
10. A Cat Sat On A Mat: C.S. Lewis In A World Without Wonder
By Rev. Daniel L. Scott, Jr. and Austin CagleC.S. Lewis makes it very clear where he believes the extreme democratization of education has led. In his satirical essay on education, “Screwtape Proposes a Toast,” he uses his unique genre of “diabolical ventriloquism” to explain the specific effects of democratic education that brought about the destruction of education in significant way in Great Britain and a catastrophic way in the United States. Lewis directly opposed this extreme democratization which was introduced to schools in the U.S. by the highly esteemed John Dewey. Dewey’s system is littered with problems. Not the least of which is the propensity of the system to encourage mediocrity and discourage the brighter students to assert themselves; that would be highly undemocratic. Lewis believes that education must base its philosophy on a few very key truths. First, man is created in the image of God. Belief in God permits the possibility of absolute truth and an absolute aesthetic. These are necessary for making any judgment of value in knowledge and beauty, which is the point of education. Second, God gives different abilities to different people. To require that all children be treated the same in school is as foolish as requiring all children to be treated the same in sports. Children have differing abilities naturally. It is necessary to separate the gifted and the hardworking from the average or lazy sportsmen. The professional leagues in the U.S. would have a hard time drawing spectators to the arena if they decided to make their recruiting, coaching, and drafting a more “democratic process.” Third, the beginning of and inspiration for education is wonder. Plato writes, “Philosophy begins in wonder.” And Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel furthers that to, “Wonder is the root of knowledge.” Lewis makes it clear that he values the reinstallation of wonder into people. His fantasy stories provide a means to the beginning of education. Lewis used his faith and his fantasy to combat the extreme democratization of education that is pushed with more vigor today than in his own lifetime. It’s time we listen.
11. C.S. Lewis on Vocation: The Integration of Faith and Occupation
By Devin BrownAs an Oxford don in his early thirties, a secular scholar well-established in what he thought was to be his life’s work, C.S. Lewis could not have known he was about to receive a call to a vocation he had never envisioned—to become the foremost Christian writer and thinker of his day. Brown looks at Lewis’s own vocation and at what he said about vocation in his apologetic and his imaginative works. An examination of the calling of C.S. Lewis can provide key insights into what true vocation is. Lewis never stopped teaching English literature at a prestigious university as his full-time job, never attended seminary, and never went into what some might call “full-time” Christian ministry. Instead he wrote Christian fiction that was marketed by commercial publishing companies, spoke about his faith on the BBC, and created philosophical and apologetic materials intended to be understood by everyone. In short, Lewis responded to his own personal calling by remaining right where he was in the secular world and by adding his unique voice, his own Christian witness, to the conversation in ways that particularly suited his abilities, his opportunities, and his inclinations. Relatively little attention has been given to Lewis’s views on vocation; paradoxically, he had a good deal to say on this topic. His observations hold special relevance for a professional and an academic audience because he was both himself.
12. “It All Began with a Picture”: The Poetic Preaching of C.S. Lewis
By Gregory M. AndersonGreat preaching is not normally considered great art. Yet, C.S. Lewis, a reluctant preacher, pushed preaching to the highest levels of artistic and aesthetic discourse. Lewis was known for his rational defense of the faith but also for his imaginative and creative works. In his preaching, the propositional and the pictorial dimensions of discourse came together. Few have communicated statement and story, proposition and picture, as well as Lewis. In addition, there was a strong ethical strain that enhanced the logical and emotional arguments. The logos, pathos, and ethos of his presentation reveal a master rhetorician at work. What has come to be called apologetics comes to us from rhetoric, long before it came to be viewed as philosophy or theology. Understanding the rhetoric of Lewis will help us understand his ability to communicate across cultures and intellectual fashions. Anderson rehearses Lewis’s views of rhetoric, particularly on the poetic vs. rhetoric debate. His perspective will be examined in the light of ancient rhetoric, as well as the later notions of Fenelon, and Kenneth Burke. Lewis’s theoretical insights are compared to his practice, using his “Weight of Glory” sermon as a case study. A close reading of the context and the text of his most famous sermon demonstrates how Lewis combined romantic, rational, and relational reasons to clinch his case for Christ.
13. Storming the Gates of Barad-Dur: J.R.R. Tolkien, Christian Resistance, and the Imagination
By Harry L. Reeder, IVOne of the clearest refrains of contemporary academic criticism is heard in the word resistance. From confrontation to subversion, this word is one which occurs time and time again in the last thirty to forty years in the different theoretical approaches to texts. Whether it be in radical deconstruction, Marxism, or cultural criticism, resistance is in vogue. And yet, what is the Christian academic critique to do with these theories of resistance that are themselves so resistant to Christian ideology? What are the Christian intellectuals to do in an arena that is subversive to the very foundations of our faith? Retreating is not an option we are ideologically given. Nor can we simply advocate a return to the “glory years” of Enlightenment philosophy or medieval scholasticism. Resistance is a choice the Christian also has: resistance and subversion. I will define these terms more clearly later, but at the time I would like to say that we have, in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, an excellent example of Christian resistance, an excellent example of the Christian’s ability to reclaim truth from pagan world views. Tolkien’s religious resistance is not only seen in his fictional work; it begins in his critical work. Through an examination of Tolkien’s ideology as resistant in his Beowulf essay, “The Monsters and the Critics”, and then through a critical application of those principles to The Silmarillion, Reeder makes several invigorating conclusions about the Christian use of the imagination in our own postmodern context. Tolkien’s work, both fictional and critical, is invaluable in creating a literary ideology of Christian imaginative resistance that does not result in a simple metaphoric rendering of Christianity, but rather one that is insightful, intellectual, literate, and inclusive.
14. The Elfin Mystique: Fantasy and Feminism in J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Series
By Kathryn N. McDanielReaders often criticize fantasy writers for the imperfections found in their fantasy worlds that seem to undermine their ideal, and idealistic, quality. C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling have both experienced criticism for pandering to gender stereotypes or reinforcing the subordinate position of women in society. Because Lewis emphasized faith and spiritual values found in worlds beyond our own, such a critique strikes less at the heart of his message than it does for Rowling, who has created an unabashed liberal fantasy world that exists, so it appears, in the here and now. Scholars and fans alike have wondered about Rowling’s feminist credentials: does she advocate liberty, equality, and dignity for all but women? The answer to this question can be found in an unusual place: through her depiction of the seemingly content, though terribly oppressed, domestic drudges that inhabit her magical world, the house-elves. The house-elves’ supposed happiness with their subordinated position also seems to create a fault-line in Rowling’s liberal fantasy: are they natural slaves who should not gain liberation? If we use second-wave feminism to understand the house-elves’ attitude, Rowling’s message is revealed as consistent, if more complex than her critics have acknowledged. Like mid-twentieth-century house-wives, the house-elves are bound by the invisible chains of culture and tradition to a role of domestic servitude. The conditions of this bondage, as feminists like Simone de Beauvoir and Betty Friedan explained in their pivotal works, offer security in place of freedom and make the oppressed complicit in their subjugation. Instead of the Feminine Mystique, the house-elves are bound by an “Elfin Mystique” that prevents most of them from embracing liberation. Demonstrating that emancipation is not always perceived as unequivocally good, even by those who would be freed, Rowling displays a subtle understanding of the problem of liberation that confirms her liberal (and feminist) message and keeps in tact the integrity of her magical world.
David J. Theroux, the Founder and President of the C. S. Lewis Society of California has e-mailed us with the latest updates on many upcoming events that you’re all invited to attend! I hope that some of you have the chance to visit these events and join Lewis Societies, or even have the opportunity to start one in your own area if one does not exist. Here’s the update:
Please note the following in this issue of the C.S. Lewis Society Update (7/17/07):
1. Christian Groups Are Also Growing in Europe
2. Separation of Charity and State
3. Next meeting of C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club: Film Showing
4. Other Events
1. Christian Groups Are Also Growing in Europe:
Accounts of the rapid spread of Christianity in Asia, Africa, and Latin America have become commonplace. Now, a July 14th, front-page article in the Wall Street Journal reports how Christianity is also growing in Europe as a result in part of the elimination of government funding for established national churches.
“In Europe, God Is (Not) Dead,” by Andrew Higgins
Especially among the young and after decades of decline, Christianity is on the rise as “monopoly churches” feel the taste of competition from leaner, more responsive, church groups emphasizing traditional spiritual faith. Baylor University sociologist and historian Rodney Stark is the key scholar to uncover this trend, based on his extensive examinations of religious changes since before the days of Jesus. Professor Stark has shown that private religious markets are far more effective in facilitating spiritual health than government-imposed or subsidized systems. His Pulitzer Prize-nominated book, THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY, traces the early Christian Church’s remarkable growth in the first three centuries as its being a voluntary movement based on spiritual enterprise and charity. But when the Roman Emperor Constantine began the process of nationalizing the Christian movement, shifting massive imperial funds from pagan temples into Christian organizations, the vibrant, pious, grassroots Christian movement was altered into a “Church of Power” vs. a “Church of Piety.” Professor Stark’s book FOR THE GLORY OF GOD then traces this rivalry through Christendom’s history, including the recurring rebellions within and without the Church leading up to religious wars, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, and much more. The “Church of Power” bred corruption, tyranny, the Crusades, etc., while the “Church of Piety” fought for science, natural law and natural rights; the abolition of slavery, oppression, and witch hunts; and the salvation of all people.
THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY, by Rodney Stark
FOR THE GLORY OF GOD, by Rodney Stark
2. Separation of Charity and State:
In his brilliant classic, DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA, Alexis de Tocqueville discussed the extensive and highly effective system of voluntary charitable and other social organizations in early America. As with the early Christian movement, most early Americans were directly involved in their communities based on their Christian faith, and being independent of government power was key to this success.
Similarly, C.S. Lewis wrote critically of government involvement in charity in his essay, “Is Progress Possible? Willing Slaves of the Welfare State,” which is included in Lewis’s book, GOD IN THE DOCK:
http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a37b88e73403b.htm
Now, Syracuse University economist Arthur Brooks has further advanced our understanding of the dynamics of charity in his widely acclaimed, new book, WHO REALLY CARES? For example, he shows that:
(1) People who practice religion, live in traditional nuclear families and reject the notion that the government should engage in income redistribution are the most generous Americans to both religious and non-religious charities. People who oppose government income redistribution donate four times as much money each year as do redistribution supporters, and on average, people of faith give more than 50% more money each year to non-church social welfare organizations than secularists do.
(2) Secularists who believe fervently in government welfare-state programs give far less to charity. They want everyone’s tax dollars to support charitable causes and are reluctant to write checks to those causes, even when governments don’t provide them with enough money.
(3) By every measure of well-being, people who are religious and attend church regularly are more happy, healthy, sociable, caring, charitable, constructive, and involved.
(4) The working poor give far more than the middle class and those who receive welfare.
“Eye-opening Statistics from WHO REALLY CARES?”
“Charity’s Political Divide,” by Ben Gose (Chronicle of Philanthropy)
WHO REALLY CARES?, by Arthur Brooks
THE VOLUNTARY CITY: Choice, Community, and Civil Society
Edited by David T. Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok
Foreword by Paul Johnson
3. Next meeting of the C.S. Lewis Society’s Bay Area Book Club:
Film Showing and Discussion:
C. S. LEWIS: DREAMER OF NARNIA
Wednesday, July 25th, 7:30 p.m.
This new 75-minute film about C.S. Lewis is an excellent and entertaining documentary on the man behind the enormously popular book series, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA. Produced by Walden Media and Walt Disney Productions, the film features interviews with Lewis’s stepson Douglas Gresham; actor Sir Ben Kingsley; science fiction writer Ray Bradbury; Lewis experts Paul Ford, Stan Mattson and Colin Duriez; and many others who either knew Lewis or have had their lives touched in a special way by him. Sections of the CHRONICLES are read by English schoolchildren or portrayed with animation cleverly devised from the Pauline Baynes illustrations. The score is first-rate, and the narration by “Lewis,” in the form of a letter written to children, is marvelous.
The meeting will be held at:
11990 Skyline Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94619 (atop the Oakland hills)
510-482-2906 phone
wine, soft drinks and other refreshments served
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA book series
THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE (4 DVD extended disc set, including “Lewis: Dreamer of Narnia”; 150 min. for extended director’s cut version of film)
Here also is the schedule of future Lewis Society book club meetings:
http://www.lewissociety.org/bookclub.php
Here also is information on C.S. Lewis:
http://www.lewissociety.org/aboutlewis.php
We hope that you and/or others you know will be joining with us! (Please feel free to forward this update to others.)
4. Other Upcoming Events:
http://www.lewissociety.org/events.php
The 38th Annual Mythopoeic Conference (Mythcon XXXVIII), “Becoming Adept: The Journey to Mastery”
Sponsored by the Mythopoeic Society
University of California, Berkeley, CA
August 3-6, 2007http://www.mythsoc.org/mythcon38.html
“The Crisis of the University: Freedom, Tolerance and the Pursuit of Truth”
Sponsored by the C.S. Lewis Foundation
University of Colorado, Boulder, CO
October 5-6, 2007http://www.cslewis.org/programs/ff/2007/index.html
“C.S. Lewis: Man and His Work: A 21st Century Legacy”
Sponsored by L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture
Southeastern College at Wake Forest, Wake Forest, NC
October 26-27, 2007http://www.sebts.edu/CSLewis/
J. R. R. Tolkien enjoys renewed popularity these days, thanks to the power of Hollywood — the Oscar-nominated film version of his trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.”
But without another power — C. S. Lewis’ friendship — Tolkien might never have found the encouragement to finish his massive, complex fantasy of hobbits, orcs and elves.
Likewise, without Tolkien’s diligent prodding, Lewis might never have converted to Christianity nor become the great communicator of popular theology who is still read avidly today.
For both men — two of the foremost English writers of the 20th century — the gift of friendship proved invaluable.
That gift is the focus of “Tolkien and C. S. Lewis,” an accessible, imaginative retelling of the vital creative link between the two men.
Given Tolkien’s newfound celebrity, Colin Duriez understandably concentrates on Tolkien’s and Lewis’ shared interest in symbolic fiction — the worlds of Middle-Earth and Narnia. But whether Lewis’ fiction is his more lasting achievement remains a matter of debate.
In any case, it’s clear that in their 40-year, on-again, off-again relationship, Tolkien wielded the greater influence.
His passion throughout his lifetime was remarkably single-minded: integrating myth and truth through storytelling. And he tended to be unyielding in other ways as well.
He disdained Lewis’ popularizing of Christian thought, for instance, and he never reconciled to Lewis’ marrying Joy Davidson late in life (which Lewis initially kept secret from him).
Although Duriez reveals little that is new about his subjects, “Tolkien and C. S. Lewis” provides a solid introduction to the legacy of two men whose writings and imaginative prowess continue to hold sway over the 21st century.
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