The Inklings and Friends
Oxford, C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien and Friends
Pitiful Caliban and Gollum
J.R.R.Tolkien was famously antipathetic towards Shakespeare, and there is no suggestion that the beastly Caliban inspired Middle Earth’s little monster, nevertheless, Caliban and Gollum are interesting parallel studies in evil. The figure of the [...]
Eliot’s Long Lent
T.S.Eliot’s secret baptism in 1927 marked one of the most remarkable literary conversions of the modern age. The enfant terrible of the decadent and atheistic Bloomsbury set, stunned everyone by turning to the Catholic [...]
Distorted Desires and the Weight of Glory
Visiting in prison not long ago, one of the inmates observed that most of the men were inside because drug related crime. I replied that they were not so different than most Americans. “Most [...]
Robust and Rumbustious Defenders
G.K.Chesterton and C.S.Lewis - Joyful Apologists C.S.Lewis, who someone described as looking like “a jolly butcher” may not have had the all the heft of G.K.Chesterton, but he certainly had the hearty spirit. Both [...]
Prophetic Pointers from Narnia and Middle Earth
Any visitor to Narnia will recall the presence of the pagans in that fair land. Bacchus dances with Silenus, centaurs gallop and fauns trip through forests alive with naiads and dryads. Meanwhile, over in [...]
American Literature and the Inklings
It is impossible to trace the influence of the Inklings in American literature and culture not because the influence is so slight, but because it is so vast. J.R.R.Tolkien, C.S.Lewis and Charles Williams wrote [...]