That Hideous Strength, Chs. 14-17

I don’t know what it is but I always like the darker stuff of trilogies. For me, Empire was the best of the original Star Wars movies. I prefer Inferno to the rest of the Divine Comedy. Hamlet gets top spot over The Taming of the Shrew. And the third of [...]

Read Full Post »

That Hideous Strength, Chs. 10-13

“I mean this,” said Dimble in answer to the question she had not asked. “If you dip ainto any college, or schoool, or parish, or family–anything you like–at a given point in its history, you always find that there was a time before that point when there was more elbow room and contrasts weren’t [...]

Read Full Post »

That Hideous Strength, Chs. 5-9

Come heck or high water, Anna delivers this week. If she’s not gone into labor by Thursday 6:00 a.m., she will be induced. So, it may very well be the case that I will not post a Lewis blog for next time. We’ll see. Your prayers for the safety and health [...]

Read Full Post »

That Hideous Strength, Preface-Ch. 4

Obligatory Disclaimer till my wife delivers our first child: This may well be my last post on Lewis for a week or two. We’ll see what the baby does. I’ll stay up with the reading, so that when I can post, I’ll be up with the schedule.
Oh the many things I love [...]

Read Full Post »

Perelandra, Chs. 14-17

My apologies to my fellow Lewis bloggers for another tardy post. It’s all that baby anticipation, coupled with a honey-do list built by the nesting instinct and which begins “page one of three.” This may well be my last post on Lewis for a week or two. We’ll see what the baby [...]

Read Full Post »

Perelandra, Chs. 9-13

The battles between the Bent One (Satan) and Maleldil (God) reaches high gear, though not yet the climax, in this week’s chapters.
The first battle is not a physical encounter, but the encounter between seduction and purity. The Bent One would tempt the Green Lady to a romantic role of tragedy: she’s is a victim [...]

Read Full Post »

Perelandra, Chs. 5-8

Last week, we began Perelandra with Life as freedom and grace. This week’s reading reveals a contrast of life as determinism and force. One is the Life received from Maleldil and which proceeds from each good to another good; or, as the Gospel writer John says, from grace to grace. The other [...]

Read Full Post »

Perelandra, Chs. 1-4

I apologize to my fellow Lewis bloggers for my day’s tardiness. Yesterday was a bit rough. We found out some distressing news about a couple of Anna’s family members. Her brother, Delane, who’s been in critically ill health for the last two years will be going to Pittsburgh today for surgery on [...]

Read Full Post »

Out of the Silent Planet, Chs. 18-Postscript

It was actually semi-sweet to say goodbye to Out of the Silent Planet this week. In the final denouement we were treated to the foundational theology that will undergird Perelandra and That Hideous Strength. Each planet is ruled by a particular eldil, or angel. In the case of Malacandra (Mars), on which [...]

Read Full Post »

Out of the Silent Planet, Chs. 12-17

This week’s installment was rich. Much good commentary on language, work and productivity, knowledge, and, mostly, angelology.
But what I found most intriguing was Hyoi’s account of pleasure and memory. In a passage worthy of consideration alongside Aristotle’s De Anima, Bk Gamma, Lewis writes of a conversation between Ransom and Hyoi. Ransom begins:
‘If [...]

Read Full Post »