Christ in Literature: Symbolism (pt. 4)
In my last post of this series, I looked at two ways that the Lord wrote Christ in the Old Testament: historically and symbolically. As for finding Christ historically in literature, it’s fairly simple. It’s Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ or any other historical fiction that treats Christ’s personal works in history. Today,…
Read MoreThat Hideous Strength 2: Development
Previous Posts: Introduction Part One: Setup Almost all the main characters have been introduced and the potential conflicts are in place. Now development: that phase of a novel that builds tension and raises the stakes. All the major plot elements will be rounded up and herded in one direction, although the reader should feel that…
Read MoreThe Abolition of Man, Part One
(Beginning a three-part study intended to accompany our reading of That Hideous Strength this month.) In February of 1943 Lewis delivered three evening lectures at King’s College in Newcastle. Later that year the lectures were published in book form under the title of the third: The Abolition of Man. Over time Lewis came to regard…
Read MoreThat Hideous Strength 1: the Setup
Beginning our first-ever Readalong: here’s the Introduction. The action takes place at three fictional locations: Edgetow, a university town similar to Cambridge, but smaller; St. Anne’s-on-the-Hill, a nearby village; and Belbury, a village in the opposite direction, currently undergoing a process of modernization. Much of it, especially at the beginning, concerns University politics, so it helps…
Read MoreThat Hideous Strength: An Introduction
In the summer of 1945, George Orwell wrote a review for the Manchester Evening News, beginning, “On the whole, novels are better when there are no miracles in them.” That said, he was ready to give a grudging thumbs-up to C. S. Lewis’s latest, which completed the cycle begun with Out of the Silent Planet…
Read MoreEmily’s Top Ten
Finally getting around to this post. I had hoped to post it during our six-month birthday celebration, but I ran out of room. So…here are my top ten posts since we started the blog in February. Sort of a summary of the scope of my writing and what you guys have found most helpful. (One quick…
Read MoreShakespeare on Record
A few years ago, my grandmother passed on to me a set of children’s records from the 1950s and 60s. Many of them were filled with odd arrangements of classical music or marching bands, but a few turned out to be really special. In particular, one which included train adventures–Train to the Zoo and Train…
Read MoreGrowing Up Shakespearean
Shakespeare and Story Bibles As I was searching recently for Shakespeare resources for my kids–who are 3 and 5–I harbored a nagging, undefined feeling that what I was doing was…not normal…and perhaps taking the homeschool prejudice for “great books” a little too far. Do kids who are still in diapers really need Macbeth? Do we…
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Shakespeare R Us
Dallas, 1970: Storm clouds gather over the Texas prairie, where the students of a small junior college are presenting A Midsummer Night’s Dream in an outdoor courtyard. With a student body of only 200, the talent pool is tiny; half the actors have never performed for an audience in their lives. But this play, often…
Read MoreMake Your Own Book
We’re talking about Shakespeare this week, and one of the difficulties of introducing him to kids is finding books that aren’t too dark or perverse in the hands of professional illustrators. I’ve sifted through a lot of the books for you and found a few jewels. But another approach would be to make your own!…
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