Critical writings on C. S. Lewis

I picked up a volume from the library of critical writing (both positive and negative) on C. S. Lewis. It's the first in Scolar Press' Critical Thought Series, which includes such postmodern icons as Foucault. The series editor, George Watson, a former colleague of Lewis, makes a provocative case in the introductory essay that Lewis was much more modern - or postmodern, rather - in his critical thinking than most people recognize or appreciate (and he notes that Lewis certainly would not appreciate such a categorization). Watson suggests that Lewis was perhaps twenty years ahead of his time in certain aspects in his critical theory, such as de-emphasizing authorial intent and taking a formalist approach to fantasy. Though Watson admits that Lewis could never be lumped together with the likes of Derrida, he stresses that Lewis was still well ahead of his time with certain ideas and made very important and often unacknowledged contributions to intellectual history and critical theory. He surmises that the reason a school of thought did not develop around Lewis is primarily due to his contrarian nature and his efforts to play the devil's advocate to modern thinkers. In the collection, Lewis comes in for high praise from such esteemed historians as A.J.P. Taylor and E.M.W. Tillyard. Quite incredible given the current mainstream scholarly opinion of Lewis. I think his contributions to intellectual history are due for a reconsideration.

[Note: I originally emailed this to a professor and thought afterwards that it might make a nice post.]

Lewis on the reading of old books

Here begins a new series of provocative quotations from various readings.

"It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old in between. If that is too much for you, you should at least read one old one to every three new ones. Every age has its own outlook. It is specially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period."

- C. S. Lewis, "On the Reading of Old Books," God in the Dock

So long, Pauline Baynes

The Eerdmans August newsletter reports:

Children’s book illustrator Pauline Baynes passed away on August 1, 2008, at the age of 85. Baynes drew the original line illustrations for J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings and C. S. Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Her portrayals of Middle-earth and Narnia helped transform the books into towering classics which, in 2000, were voted Book of the Millennium and Children’s Book of the Millennium respectively by the Library Association in Great Britain. Baynes was also awarded a Kate Greenaway Medal for the Dictionary of Chivalry.

I first encountered Pauline Baynes when I first noticed the Narnia Chronicles sitting on Pastor Wine's (yes, funny name for a Baptist, but Stewart Wine is a funny guy) desk in the study of our wonderfully creepy nineteenth-century English church building - a great setting for an introduction to Ms. Baynes. Her work possesses a style that struck me as peculiar even as a third-grader - otherworldly, yet quite welcoming; playful, yet most serious (not unlike the effect of medieval art). Perhaps I'm making too much weather out of her work. Regardless, her illustrations are infinitely superior to the melodramatic teen-romance schlock, completely lacking in mythic quality, that currently disgrace the covers of Lewis' classic series.

Read Baynes' obituaries in The Guardian, The Independent, and The Telegraph. You can spy samples of her classic work at the Tolkien Library. I wonder if Ms. Baynes may have provided some inspiration for Tolkien's exultant short story "Leaf by Niggle."

EXTRA: Be sure to check out Brian Sibley's post on Pauline Baynes, complete with cool photo.

Mythopoeic Society

I am still writing my full review/analysis of Prince Caspian (movie vs. book). Yes, it is taking a long time. I spent much of this past month writing an article for the Pensacola News Journal, arranging an academic lecture in the fall for the history department, working on my final graduate paper, and of course serving up confectionary coffee concoctions and generally being a nuisance at Starbucks.

So I should post my voluminous thoughts on Prince Caspian soon. In fact, I plan to break the whole thing down into multiple posts.

In the meantime, considering much of my reading revolves around C. S. Lewis and the Inklings, readers of this blog may find the Mythopoeic Society of great interest. The Mythopoeic Society "is a non-profit organization promoting the study, discussion, and enjoyment of fantastic and mythic literature through books and periodicals, annual conferences, discussion groups, awards, and more," with a special interest in the Inklings.