Outside Reading #1

It is interesting that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were friends. I think you can draw strong comparisons between their works, though they are very different.

First, they were both writing, at least someone, as a reaction to WWII. How could any human--or writer--make sense of a world in which genocide of that scale existed? Lewis created a world of beauty--but also evil--and he sent innocent children into it. Tolkien did the same in Lord of the Rings--and sent childlike innocents (hobbit) on his mythological journey.

They both created worlds of infinite beauty--but also terrifying evil and seduction. Both created worlds in which the choice to join the forces of good against the gathering forces of evil is a central element.

I think fantasy affords us such a deep look at the battle of good versus evil. And quite frankly, I find it a lot easier to think there is a world in which elves exist or a lion can speak, than a world in which an entire country could be complicit and also actively involved in incinerating MILLIONS of humans. Which is harder to imagine?

In any case, I think both authors wrote of worlds that could thematically depict that gathering storm of evil--but also both shone a light. They both seemed to have an optimism that ultimately good will triumph over evil

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