So I had finished The Screwtape Letters not long ago (it was hard to put down) and it was.... wow. I do agree with how Lewis described it as both an exhausting story to write as it would be for his readers to read, because the perspective was definitely twisted. And again, some of the relevancy in that book never ceases to amaze me. All I have left to read is a bonus short story that is related to it that is at the back of the book, which I am sure will be equally as interesting. Truly a unique and intriguing read! 

Now I have started on a nonfiction, "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. I'm about halfway through the book and have really enjoyed it so far. I love how it's written and all the interviews have been most informative. 

Posted by: @kokoro-hane

Now I have started on a nonfiction, "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. I'm about halfway through the book and have really enjoyed it so far. I love how it's written and all the interviews have been most informative.

I have actually watched the movie, "The Case for Christ". It is actually an interesting movie. I think a lot of religious movies have been based on books, like The Case for Christ, The Robe, and Ben-Hur.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

Posted by: @kokoro-hane

Now I have started on a nonfiction, "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel. I'm about halfway through the book and have really enjoyed it so far. I love how it's written and all the interviews have been most informative.

I have actually watched the movie, "The Case for Christ". It is actually an interesting movie. I think a lot of religious movies have been based on books, like The Case for Christ, The Robe, and Ben-Hur.

Mm, I plan to watch the movie version once I am done with the book ^^

Movies tend to take liberties even when they are based on a true story, so I am looking forward to comparing the two!

Posted by: @mel

@snowangel I liked the blurb for Fawkes but was not impressed at all by the execution. Romanov would have to be significantly better to make me try again, though it's good to hear there's improvement. Maybe if the next book sounds interesting.  

I remember seeing your posts about Fawkes when I was almost finished reading it myself and wishing I had seen them before I started it. It was certainly underwhelming. I am cautiously optimistic about Wishtress, Nadine Brandes' upcoming release. 

Last week I read The Long Trail Home (Fortunes of the Black Hills #3) by Stephen Bly, one of my all time favorite books and one that I have been wanting to read again for years. I always get a little nervous reading long time favorites again. I can safely say Sam Fortunes' story is still one of my favorites.  

And speaking of favorites, I am now reading through 100 Cupboards series by N.D. Wilson before I let a sibling borrow them. It's been almost 6 years since I first read them. I really should have read them again before now, and I am very glad I have set aside the library books for while to read some of my own collection.  

SnowAngel

I wonder if anyone has recently read The Railway Children? I think I read it once, as an adult. More than that, I have seen two or three film/tv versions. The new movie The Railway Children Return, looks to be a good stand-alone film, but would be better if watched after seeing one of the productions where Jenny Agutter plays oldest sister Roberta 'Bobbie'. (1968 TV serial on You Tube; 1970 film)[she played the mother in 2000] The actress reprises this role in the new film.

It should be even more interesting to lovers of the Narnia books, due to the influence of the book's writer Edith Nesbit on C.S.Lewis's writings.

Posted by: @coracle

I wonder if anyone has recently read The Railway Children? I think I read it once, as an adult.

Quite regularly.  And cry, every time I read the ending.  Ever try reading something like that out loud?  Devastating!  When my mom was going blind at the end of her life, I read to her a lot.  The only one worse (for that) was The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford.  It got me twice; I apologized to Mom, but she was crying, too. So that was all right.

@aileth I think it was one of many children's books I was introduced to through BBC television and radio serials. 

@coracle I haven't read The Railway Children recently, but dipped into it just the other day and realised it is well overdue for a re-read! I first encountered it when I was probably 9 or 10, reading together with Mum (as we did every night from before I started school until I was 11), and just loved it — despite the fact that Mum got overexcited and blurted out a spoiler for what happened to the children's father, well before the book itself reveals that!!! Which meant that part wasn't nearly as gut-wrenching for me as it should have been, but it didn't diminish the emotional impact of the ending. Anyone who can read that or watch it (preferably in the legendary film version with Jenny Agutter) without crying... obviously has no heart.

I've also seen it twice as a stage production — two different versions. One was at King's Cross Station in London (yes, the actual King's Cross Station, and no, NOT on Platform 9 3/4 ), with the staging area incorporating a section of railway track that brought in a real steam train for a couple of scenes. The other was a more stripped-down version (i.e. relying more on smoke and sound effects and the audience's imagination ) at the open-air Minack Theatre in Cornwall. That one wasn't as brilliantly done as the one in London, but was still worth going to. I haven't managed to see the new film sequel yet, but I'd like to!

It always gives me a slightly awed feeling, too, to reflect on the fact that young C.S. Lewis was reading Edith Nesbit's books, and indeed Beatrix Potter's, when they were newly published — he was among the original audience for what would turn out to be absolute classics, still in print and still in the must-read lists for children (and adults) well over 100 years later. And I hope he'd be deeply moved to know that his own Narnia books (especially LWW) are now firmly in that same category alongside those books and authors he himself loved as a child!

@courtenay I must look for a copy in the second hand shops.

And I'll treat myself to a trip to the cinema this week.

I'm watching my two versions of the story this weekend. 

It's showing me that a story that's written as a series of adventures CAN make a good film.  (*ahem VDT)

Posted by: @kokoro-hane

So I had finished The Screwtape Letters not long ago (it was hard to put down) and it was.... wow. [snip] Some of the relevancy in that book never ceases to amaze me.

Yea, verily. "To undermine a soul's faith, convince them that some marginal matter is part of the faith. Then, convince them that it is the entirety of the faith." Basically, to make an idol of the matter, and then that soul will marginalize anyone who does not bow to the idol.

Since there are some children's classics in the thread this week, here's one on its 55th anniversary: From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, by Elaine Lobl Konigsburg. If you enjoyed the recent films and tales of the secret life of nights at museums, this is the founder.

Some of the tech has changed, and there must be two billion children in poverty who would love to trade places with the characters and have their First World problems, but the novel survives because it's a "safe" adventure about growing up.

I am now reading Star Trek Lives! by Jacqueline Lichtenberg, Sondra Marshak and Joan Winston. This is an old paperback book from the 1970’s which tells of the efforts to return Star Trek to television and the movies. There are interviews with the original series cast and others who made the show. It is generally a well written book since the writing is lively and interesting. Unfortunately, many of the people involved in making the series have died since the book was written decades ago.  But you can relive those days with nostalgia, and the book is a great experience for fans of the 1960’s series.

I have been wanting to read John Cooper's book, Awake & Alive To Truth, since it's release in 2020 and after trying multiple times to get it from the public library... I caved and bought a copy. I'm over halfway through the book and so far it's good. I was definitely nervous about finally reading it because I have been waiting to read it since before it was released, thus far I have agreed with much of what is in the book. Theologically it has been solid.  

I so enjoyed reading the 100 Cupboards series again. Seriously, why didn't I reread them sooner? However since it has been years, it's almost like reading them for the first time again. I love the story even more reading it for the second time, I forgot it had so many great characters.   

SnowAngel

By all means read C. S. Lewis’s Letters to Children.  It shows what a great communicator Lewis was and there were no restrictions on his reaching people of all ages. It is remarkable that we can read his personal letters, although I am not sure if he would have wanted them published. I don’t know what he would thought of having his letters available for public reading when it may not have been his intention for everyone else to see them.

@narnian78 I love Letters to Children — it gives such beautiful insights into how much Lewis cared about his young readers and how he encouraged them to use the Narnia stories as springboards for their own imagination. It's often very moving to read his answers to children's questions about different aspects of Narnia, and to see how often young fans sent him their own stories and artwork and what friendly comments and advice he gave in response. Some of his ideas for improving one's writing ought to be taught to all budding authors, I reckon!! (Especially the list in his letter to Joan of 26 June, 1956.)

I don't know whether Lewis — or his young correspondents! — would have been happy to have these letters published, but as none of them reveal any sensitive details of his or their private lives, and they were written so many decades ago, I don't feel it's doing any harm in this instance. I expect Douglas Gresham, as manager of Lewis's estate, must have given permission for them to be published, and he knew (and still knows!) better than most people what his stepfather would have wanted.