As I noted in my previous post, my re-reading of C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces has brought me face-to-face—so to speak—with the value of the book in ways I hadn’t fully appreciated in my first two readings of it. This novel based on the Greek tale of Cupid and Psyche didn’t attract me at first. One reason probably was due to my lack of interest in pagan myths. The other reason was that I had no knowledge of… Read more »
C. S. Lewis’s Till We Have Faces, for many years, was kind of a mystery to me. All of my Lewis reading prior to tackling this book was centered on his apologetics and fantasy. I loved the logic of Mere Christianity and Miracles and basked in the delights of the Ransom Trilogy, The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, and of course, the Narnia tales. The first time I read Till We Have Faces, I came away from it disappointed. This… Read more »
Reading the letters of famous people gives researchers like me greater insight into how their minds work. What’s even better is to find letters between superb thinkers and writers that illuminate how they think and what is going on inside them. A great example of this are the letters between C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers. They are lively and fascinating. When Lewis and Sayers corresponded in 1946 about the value of one’s labors—in this case, their writing endeavors—Lewis… Read more »
I mentioned in a previous post my research into the educational philosophies of C. S. Lewis and Dorothy L. Sayers and the quest to determine how closely they may have aligned. There are many facets of education to consider when doing such research. One quite evident agreement between these two friends/colleagues is the significance of studying history. This is naturally interesting to me, as I have been a historian and professor of history for more than thirty years. If you… Read more »
Whenever I finish one writing project, a new one seems to pop up in my mind. Now that my recently published book, Many Times & Many Places: C. S. Lewis & the Value of History, has been introduced to the public (and many thanks to those who have dipped their literary toes into it), I am now researching something else related to Lewis that interests me. It has to do with a comparison of Lewis with Dorothy L. Sayers, who… Read more »
I recently spoke at a C. S. Lewis conference about the significance of The Screwtape Letters. This is obviously one of the best-known works by Lewis and continues to hold a strong fascination in the minds of those who have read it. Americans have loved it ever since it was first published. In my presentation, I thought I would begin with what ostensibly could be called a “catchy” title. Catchy, yes, but also quite accurate. I did provide a general… Read more »
I’ve often commented that the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College is nearly a second home for me. Surrounded by all things C. S. Lewis (his writings, his personal library, books and dissertations about him), I have found the Wade to be an invaluable resource for my research and writing. It was at the Wade in 2014 where my research confirmed that a niche in Lewis scholarship could be found for a historian who focuses on American history. Thus,… Read more »