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

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heidegger (I Guess)

In "The Origin of the Work of Art," Martin Heidegger characterizes the essence of art as work which contributes to the unconcealment ( aletheia ) of reality, i.e. the literal (or perhaps literary, given his emphasis on poetry) construction of truth. This philosophy/ontology seems quite compatible with Lewis's bit in "Myth Became Fact," wherein he describes myth as reality. Heidegger describes unconcealing as the existential project of the Dasein, i.e. the human being, and artistic manifestation of the aesthetic impulse is a prime way of doing this: realizing and bringing-forth qualities of Being, facilitating the dialectical relationship between world and earth. Poetry is a privileged art form for Heidegger, given the profound intertwining of language with the human condition (the Dasein ). "Language is the house of the truth of Being," says Heidegger. Thus, Lewis's proclamation that myth, i.e. narrative, i.e. a particular manifestation of poetic a...
Read more

The Liberal Arts Experience

When I was applying for colleges, I was for more concerned about getting accepted to any  school rather than any particular kind of college. So when it fell to a choice between CNU and Radford after my other 5 choices rejected me outright, it was an easy choice. But that choice was really between two liberal arts institutions. I always thought of those liberal arts classes as some sort of natural phenomena. Most people don't question why the sun has the appearance of rising every day, it's just a part of their lives. Something they accept and live with. So it was also with the fulfillment of my liberal learning classes. I didn't choose them any more than I chose to go to CNU. And with an attitude like that, I can't help but wonder if I was putting in enough effort to get any qualitative experiences out of them. An old English teacher of mine once said that we'll become real scholars when we start taking charge of our own education, and that idea has sort of stuck wi...
Read more

Inklings About Inklings

It seems quite strange to be reading a more autobiographical work about Lewis after spending all this last semester studying his fiction. Being empirically minded it feels like I've done things in reverse - perhaps I should have known the man before I came to know his myth. A poet might say they're one and the same, and perhaps so, but understanding the man can make the myth deeper. Of course, having thought about that concept for one moment longer, it can probably go both ways. I just recalled a band, as well as a series of t.v. shows that were made worse for me by having a greater understanding of the people behind them. So it may be just as well. Regardless, I was interested to learn that Lewis had an early fascination with Norse fiction, and was an avid reader his whole life. Many of his professors would go on to remark that they had never met a man more well-read in the classics. Also I found it quite interesting that after getting a degree in Philosophy, he could not find...
Read more