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C. S. Lewis’s scholarly works

Narnian78
(@narnian78)
NarniaWeb Guru

Has anyone here read Lewis’s more scholarly books such as The Discarded Image, The Allegory of Love, English Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Experiment in Criticism, and The Four Loves? I remember that The Four Loves was once offered as a class in my church.  The others were mentioned in the college course on Lewis and at least two of them were required reading in that class I took decades ago.  They were intended to help students to better understand medieval and Renaissance literature. I am not sure how often they are read today, but they are excellent books. I think that Lewis had a much better knowledge of the classics of literature than most people living today, and that was one of his talents. Although I have read only parts of them (except for those I used in the C. S. Lewis class) I would recommend all of them highly to people who want to study medieval and Renaissance prose and poetry. 🙂

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Topic starter Posted : June 20, 2022 6:47 am
Courtenay liked
coracle
(@coracle)
NarniaWeb's Auntie Moderator

I've read only The Four Loves, but I'd like to read more of his serious work. Access here in New Zealand often puts me off, as we have few useful book dealers who have to suit the middle of the road reader to stay in business. Buying from overseas costs money of course, but there is a nice little shop crammed full of used Christian books, and they can search their shelves for them.

Four Loves is based on some of his radio talks, isn't it?  So it ought to be easy reading. Time to take it off the shelf and read!

There, shining in the sunrise, larger than they had seen him before, shaking his mane (for it had apparently grown again) stood Aslan himself.
"...when a willing victim who had committed no treachery was killed in a traitor's stead, the Table would crack and Death itself would start working backwards."

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Posted : June 23, 2022 3:08 pm
Narnian78
(@narnian78)
NarniaWeb Guru

@coracle

The Four Loves radio talks were used in a class taught by the minister of my church many years ago. I remember that there were actual recordings of C.S. Lewis’ voice, among the few that still survive. The other books are probably still used in literature courses.  They are still in print or they will be reprinted. I recently bought The Discarded Image and The Allegory of Love and they were quite easy to find. I would encourage reading them to know what influenced Lewis’s writing.

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Topic starter Posted : June 24, 2022 4:29 am
Courtenay and coracle liked
Narnian78
(@narnian78)
NarniaWeb Guru

English Literature in the Sixteenth Century Excluding Drama will be released in a new edition in a few weeks. I decided to purchase my own copy since it is available to preorder at Amazon.  The book will probably be used in English classes in colleges and universities, but you may want to own or borrow from a library a copy for yourself if you are curious about C. S. Lewis’s views about literature of that time. I think some libraries may still have some old copies of the book. 🙂

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Topic starter Posted : July 20, 2022 4:51 am
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