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Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien and the Shadow of Evil
The battle between good and evil―in both the seen and unseen worlds―was as clearly at play in the era of C. S. Lewis and his friends in the Oxford literary group, the Inklings, as in our own era. Some of the members of the Inklings carried physical and psychological scars from World War I which led them to deeply consider the problem of evil during the dark era of World War II. Were they alive today, their view of a spiritual conflict behind physical battles would undoubtedly be reinforced. Among the Inklings, Lewis was at the forefront of writing on human pain, suffering, devilry, miracles and the supernatural, with books like The Screwtape Letters and more. It is no surprise, then, that he provides the main focus of this book by expert Inklings writer Colin Duriez. J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings trilogy offers another rich resource with much to say to the World War II era and beyond. Other Inklings writings and conversations come into play as well as Duriez explores the writers' considerations of evil and spiritual warfare, particularly focused in the context of wartime. Delving into the interplay between good and evil, these pages enlighten us to the way of goodness and the promise of a far country as we explore the way out of the shadow of evil.
235 pages, Paperback
First published March 25, 2015
11 people are currently reading
126 people want to read
About the author
Colin Duriez
38 books53 followersColin Duriez is an English writer and scholar best known for his work on the Inklings, the literary circle that included C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams. Born in Derbyshire in 1947, he moved to Leicester in 1983 to work as a commissioning editor for the publisher IVP. Over the years he has combined editorial work with teaching, and in 2002 he established his own business, InWriting, in Keswick, Cumbria, providing writing and editorial services as well as book acquisition for publishers.
Winner of the Clyde S. Kilby Award in 1994 for his research on the Inklings, Duriez has been praised as one of the most valuable contemporary scholars on Lewis. His numerous books explore the lives, friendships, and imaginative worlds of Lewis and Tolkien, including Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Shadow of Evil, The Oxford Inklings, and Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship. His work has been lauded for accessibility, scholarly insight, and fresh perspectives.
Duriez has also appeared in television documentaries such as A Quest for Meaning – Myth, Imagination & Faith in the Literature of J. R. R. Tolkien & C. S. Lewis. He lives in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
Winner of the Clyde S. Kilby Award in 1994 for his research on the Inklings, Duriez has been praised as one of the most valuable contemporary scholars on Lewis. His numerous books explore the lives, friendships, and imaginative worlds of Lewis and Tolkien, including Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Shadow of Evil, The Oxford Inklings, and Tolkien and C. S. Lewis: The Gift of Friendship. His work has been lauded for accessibility, scholarly insight, and fresh perspectives.
Duriez has also appeared in television documentaries such as A Quest for Meaning – Myth, Imagination & Faith in the Literature of J. R. R. Tolkien & C. S. Lewis. He lives in Wallingford, Oxfordshire.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 19, 2016
Summary: An exploration of the conflict of good and evil in the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and how two World Wars influenced their thinking.
This is the second of two books that look at the intersection of war experience and the works of Lewis and Tolkien. The difference, I would say, between Joseph Loconte's A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War (reviewed here) and this book is that in Loconte's book, war is foregrounded to a greater degree; in Duriez's book, the nature of evil, the evil powers, and the conflict with the good running through their works.
The book opens at the beginning of World War II as Lewis puzzles over the attraction of Hitler. Duriez writes:
"As planned, they tuned in and listened on the radio to a speech by Hitler. The BBC provided a simultaneous translation. A possible answer to a puzzle occurred to Lewis as he listened—how was the German leader so convincing to so many? Though Lewis rarely read the daily newspapers, he of course knew Hitler’s claims were grossly untrue. Making what he blatantly called his 'final appeal to common sense,' Hitler boasted, 'It never has been my intention to wage war, but rather to build up a State with a new social order and the finest possible standard of culture.'
Hitler’s emotive speech may have still tugged at Lewis’s mind in the quietness of his church that Sunday. England faced the very real danger of invasion by Hitler’s forces, driven and maintained like a machine....During the church liturgy and bad hymns (as Lewis regarded them) he found his thoughts turning to the master of evil, Satan. Somehow, the arrogant dictator resembled him—not least in the size of his ego and self-centeredness. In the jumble of thoughts jostling with words of a great tradition, it struck Lewis that a war-orientated bureaucracy was a more appropriate image of hell for people ignorant of the past than a traditional one. Here was Hitler bent on taking over and ruling European countries, including England. There was the devil, who had designs to exert his will systematically over all parts of human life, his ultimate aim being dehumanization—the “abolition of man,” as Lewis later called it." (pp. 21-22).
Duriez proceeds to show how the "war-oriented bureaucracy" that aim to dehumanize was at the heart of Lewis's portrayal of hell and the work of the tempters in The Screwtape Letters. Chapter 3 then shows how much of the work of Lewis and Tolkien during the Second World War focused around devilry, from the decision of Tolkien to begin writing The Lord of the Rings (a new Hobbit book) to Lewis's publication of The Problem of Pain, The Abolition of Man, The Great Divorce, and the Space Trilogy. In addition, there were the BBC broadcasts that formed the core of Mere Christianity, in which Lewis argues for our sense of right and wrong as basic to our search for meaning, and from this to a Christian understanding of God and his work in Christ. In fiction, he explores the same themes in the Space Trilogy as Ransom understands the nature of our fallen planet in Out of the Silent Planet, fights evil in the character of Weston in Edenic Perelandra, and faces the banal but de-humanizing character of evil, so present in Hitlers prison camps, in That Hideous Strength, where technology is de-coupled from human values.
This last idea is one both Loconte and Duriez explore, how a tendency of evil is to pour one's power into objects which are then used to dominate, such as the Ring (or Voldemort's horcruxes in Harry Potter lore). When technology is severed from transcendent values seeking human flourishing, it may then be used to dominate the very humans it was meant to serve. [I sometimes wonder about our smartphones, and the connected world they represent, and how much power we have poured into these devices, and how in turn, they shape, and even dominate our engagement with the world. Is this our culture's "one Ring to rule them all?"]
While the first part of the book explores the problem of evil, particularly laid bare by war, the latter part of the book focuses more on the intersection of good and evil, exploring progress and regress in Lewis's Pilgrim's Regress, the divide between good and evil in Tolkien's "Leaf, by Niggle" and Lewis's The Great Divorce, the power for change, whether good or ill, portrayed throughout the Chronicles of Narnia, and the experiences we have of pain and love in A Grief Observed, The Four Loves, and Till We Have Faces (this last exploring the evil of loving inordinately and possessively, and the hope even here, for redemption).
The final two chapters consider how we become free of the tyranny of self to become who we are truly, and the images of future hope in both Lewis's and Tolkien's writing. The book then concludes with two appendices which return to themes explored throughout the book: "War in Heaven" being concerned with devilry, and "The Spirit of the Age" with subjectivism, the detaching of morality from any transcendent sense of meaning, anticipating both scientism and our post-modern turn.
I found Duriez's exploration of the forms evil can take in modern society chilling--the machine, the soulless bureaucracy, the big lie that they state can make us safe, secure, and usher in a new order of greatness. Against this is the challenge of goodness, that makes no dramatic or inordinate claims, that recognizes that the small choices matter the most and may lead us "imperceptibly toward good or evil, heaven or hell" (p. 145). We see in Lewis and Tolkien, the heroism of the ordinary person, with no pretensions, acting in faith and trusting obedience in the face of threatening evil, and the final victory of the good. They wrote to encourage those facing the great conflict of World War II, and in their words, we might also find the kind of bracing comfort we need to face the challenges of our own day.
This is the second of two books that look at the intersection of war experience and the works of Lewis and Tolkien. The difference, I would say, between Joseph Loconte's A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War (reviewed here) and this book is that in Loconte's book, war is foregrounded to a greater degree; in Duriez's book, the nature of evil, the evil powers, and the conflict with the good running through their works.
The book opens at the beginning of World War II as Lewis puzzles over the attraction of Hitler. Duriez writes:
"As planned, they tuned in and listened on the radio to a speech by Hitler. The BBC provided a simultaneous translation. A possible answer to a puzzle occurred to Lewis as he listened—how was the German leader so convincing to so many? Though Lewis rarely read the daily newspapers, he of course knew Hitler’s claims were grossly untrue. Making what he blatantly called his 'final appeal to common sense,' Hitler boasted, 'It never has been my intention to wage war, but rather to build up a State with a new social order and the finest possible standard of culture.'
Hitler’s emotive speech may have still tugged at Lewis’s mind in the quietness of his church that Sunday. England faced the very real danger of invasion by Hitler’s forces, driven and maintained like a machine....During the church liturgy and bad hymns (as Lewis regarded them) he found his thoughts turning to the master of evil, Satan. Somehow, the arrogant dictator resembled him—not least in the size of his ego and self-centeredness. In the jumble of thoughts jostling with words of a great tradition, it struck Lewis that a war-orientated bureaucracy was a more appropriate image of hell for people ignorant of the past than a traditional one. Here was Hitler bent on taking over and ruling European countries, including England. There was the devil, who had designs to exert his will systematically over all parts of human life, his ultimate aim being dehumanization—the “abolition of man,” as Lewis later called it." (pp. 21-22).
Duriez proceeds to show how the "war-oriented bureaucracy" that aim to dehumanize was at the heart of Lewis's portrayal of hell and the work of the tempters in The Screwtape Letters. Chapter 3 then shows how much of the work of Lewis and Tolkien during the Second World War focused around devilry, from the decision of Tolkien to begin writing The Lord of the Rings (a new Hobbit book) to Lewis's publication of The Problem of Pain, The Abolition of Man, The Great Divorce, and the Space Trilogy. In addition, there were the BBC broadcasts that formed the core of Mere Christianity, in which Lewis argues for our sense of right and wrong as basic to our search for meaning, and from this to a Christian understanding of God and his work in Christ. In fiction, he explores the same themes in the Space Trilogy as Ransom understands the nature of our fallen planet in Out of the Silent Planet, fights evil in the character of Weston in Edenic Perelandra, and faces the banal but de-humanizing character of evil, so present in Hitlers prison camps, in That Hideous Strength, where technology is de-coupled from human values.
This last idea is one both Loconte and Duriez explore, how a tendency of evil is to pour one's power into objects which are then used to dominate, such as the Ring (or Voldemort's horcruxes in Harry Potter lore). When technology is severed from transcendent values seeking human flourishing, it may then be used to dominate the very humans it was meant to serve. [I sometimes wonder about our smartphones, and the connected world they represent, and how much power we have poured into these devices, and how in turn, they shape, and even dominate our engagement with the world. Is this our culture's "one Ring to rule them all?"]
While the first part of the book explores the problem of evil, particularly laid bare by war, the latter part of the book focuses more on the intersection of good and evil, exploring progress and regress in Lewis's Pilgrim's Regress, the divide between good and evil in Tolkien's "Leaf, by Niggle" and Lewis's The Great Divorce, the power for change, whether good or ill, portrayed throughout the Chronicles of Narnia, and the experiences we have of pain and love in A Grief Observed, The Four Loves, and Till We Have Faces (this last exploring the evil of loving inordinately and possessively, and the hope even here, for redemption).
The final two chapters consider how we become free of the tyranny of self to become who we are truly, and the images of future hope in both Lewis's and Tolkien's writing. The book then concludes with two appendices which return to themes explored throughout the book: "War in Heaven" being concerned with devilry, and "The Spirit of the Age" with subjectivism, the detaching of morality from any transcendent sense of meaning, anticipating both scientism and our post-modern turn.
I found Duriez's exploration of the forms evil can take in modern society chilling--the machine, the soulless bureaucracy, the big lie that they state can make us safe, secure, and usher in a new order of greatness. Against this is the challenge of goodness, that makes no dramatic or inordinate claims, that recognizes that the small choices matter the most and may lead us "imperceptibly toward good or evil, heaven or hell" (p. 145). We see in Lewis and Tolkien, the heroism of the ordinary person, with no pretensions, acting in faith and trusting obedience in the face of threatening evil, and the final victory of the good. They wrote to encourage those facing the great conflict of World War II, and in their words, we might also find the kind of bracing comfort we need to face the challenges of our own day.
Want to read
May 14, 2015I wrote a senior thesis paper on this topic in college. Can't wait to read this.
June 28, 2022
With everything happening in the world, and the mass shooting at an elementary school in Ulvalde, TX especially on my mind, I got to thinking about evil. What is evil? Why is there evil? Is there even such a thing as evil in this modern day? Was there ever such a thing?
Truth be told, I like make-believe evil: dragons and necromancers and werewolves and liches. All in good fun. But real evil? No, thanks. I'll pass.
Being raised as a Catholic, I was taught that evil is real, and that it is personified in the person of Satan. Satan is the great tempter: he couldn't force us to do a thing, but instead could encourage us with lies and flattery and appeals to what is dark in all of us (a tendency toward the bad courtesy of Adam and Even and Original Sin). Evil was a force, like gravity, that could pull you down if you let it get a grip on you. Virtue is the shield against this sort of seduction. Evil shall take no root in the heart that is pure!
As I aged, I started to learn about, and see with my own eyes, structures of sin: systems of oppression and malice that good people found themselves caught up in. This was the sort of 'banality of evil' the philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote and thought about. Social sin, I guess.
I learned about mental illness, the effect of poverty and abuse and trauma on human behavior, and the power of dehumanization. As I got older, evil seemed to be less about religion and more about human's either choosing to be cruel and indifferent, or being unaware of the suffering around them. People made choices, sure, but those choices were made in contexts often times beyond the control of an individual. Likewise, for many, it is each to 'other' and ignore, or hurt, those who we deem different or inferior from us. Nothing supernatural about that. Good old human nature.
So what, then, is evil? The White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Morgoth and Sauron from The Silmarillion? Tolkien and Lewis--two of my favorite authors--followed the lead of St. Augustine of Hippo and believed that evil had no substance in and of itself. Evil could only be some kind of corrupted good (as opposed to a separate force as the Manichaeans believed, like good and evil were two sides of the same coin). We live in a fallen world, and there is a good and loving God who wants us to come to Him, but we have to choose it with our free will...and there are forces that try to knock us off of our path. Every day we battle against the low, throbbing, dull pull toward compromise and short cuts; indifference instead of compassion. Selfishness instead of generosity. Hate instead of love.
I don't know if I found any answers in this book, but I enjoyed reading it very much. I read quite a bit of (and quite a bit about...) both Lewis and Tolkien. They were wise men who saw the world at its darkest yet still had hope in the Light: joy, friendship, creativity. I will try to as well.
Truth be told, I like make-believe evil: dragons and necromancers and werewolves and liches. All in good fun. But real evil? No, thanks. I'll pass.
Being raised as a Catholic, I was taught that evil is real, and that it is personified in the person of Satan. Satan is the great tempter: he couldn't force us to do a thing, but instead could encourage us with lies and flattery and appeals to what is dark in all of us (a tendency toward the bad courtesy of Adam and Even and Original Sin). Evil was a force, like gravity, that could pull you down if you let it get a grip on you. Virtue is the shield against this sort of seduction. Evil shall take no root in the heart that is pure!
As I aged, I started to learn about, and see with my own eyes, structures of sin: systems of oppression and malice that good people found themselves caught up in. This was the sort of 'banality of evil' the philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote and thought about. Social sin, I guess.
I learned about mental illness, the effect of poverty and abuse and trauma on human behavior, and the power of dehumanization. As I got older, evil seemed to be less about religion and more about human's either choosing to be cruel and indifferent, or being unaware of the suffering around them. People made choices, sure, but those choices were made in contexts often times beyond the control of an individual. Likewise, for many, it is each to 'other' and ignore, or hurt, those who we deem different or inferior from us. Nothing supernatural about that. Good old human nature.
So what, then, is evil? The White Witch from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? Morgoth and Sauron from The Silmarillion? Tolkien and Lewis--two of my favorite authors--followed the lead of St. Augustine of Hippo and believed that evil had no substance in and of itself. Evil could only be some kind of corrupted good (as opposed to a separate force as the Manichaeans believed, like good and evil were two sides of the same coin). We live in a fallen world, and there is a good and loving God who wants us to come to Him, but we have to choose it with our free will...and there are forces that try to knock us off of our path. Every day we battle against the low, throbbing, dull pull toward compromise and short cuts; indifference instead of compassion. Selfishness instead of generosity. Hate instead of love.
I don't know if I found any answers in this book, but I enjoyed reading it very much. I read quite a bit of (and quite a bit about...) both Lewis and Tolkien. They were wise men who saw the world at its darkest yet still had hope in the Light: joy, friendship, creativity. I will try to as well.
May 27, 2020
This work follows some of the major themes in the works of the Inklings. The author focuses on it being war time writing with lots of thematic writing on good vs. evil and the works that are "bedeviled." It often takes for many readers having a companion and writers like Colin Duriez to get a fuller grasp of the the imagery in the writings of brilliant writers like C.S. Lewis. You must embrace the idea of dualism to really understand many of the writings of the Inklings, especially Lewis. I was enlightened some about the Perelandra work from the Space Trilogies and the many points of truth being shown in this fiction work. The power of friendship in their writings was also a key reminder and makes me appreciate the Inklings so much more!
August 12, 2017
It was well-written, insightful, and I found much with which I agreed. Nevertheless, I found the reading slow going at times. It seemed that this was a thesis or research paper that had been fleshed out and expanded over many years. Of course, that could just be one of Screwtapes contemporaries working on me.
October 28, 2022
A very insightful book.
June 23, 2016
Source: Self-purchase
Rating: 5 stars for excellent
Summary:
Bedeviled is a study of the literary works primarily of C. S. Lewis, and followed by J. R. R. Tolkien. Smaller studies of Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, Owen Barfield, and Warren Lewis are explored. Dorothy Sayers was not a member of the Inklings group; however, she was a friend and fellow author.
The study focuses on several key features and themes in the Inklings writings: dark forces, magic arts, spiritual conflict and warfare, hell, good versus evil, and the supernatural world.
Brief biographies are given on the writers but not lengthy bios. The emphasis is on their writings, and the motivations and examinations of their works.
My Thoughts:
I know you will be shocked but I have just began reading The Chronicles of Narnia. This is the first time to read the fantasy fiction stories by Lewis. I have read a few of C.S. Lewis's nonfiction books. I have read a few of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy fiction books.
The Inklings group wrestled with meaningful themes of "modern evil in literature."
Lewis's development from atheist to Christian, and his growth in Christianity, is shown in his writings. Duriez examines Lewis's transformation as a writer.
Books are examined, looking for the theme and purpose. For example:
The correspondence between devils in The Screwtape Letters, which we explored in chapter two, focuses on the individual human soul, whereas the Narnian Chronicles are somewhat more concerned with the nature of human and Christian society and the meaning of history in its peaceful and dark periods." Page 136.
Tolkien believes that joy in the story marks the presence of grace from the primary world...Tolkien gives more consideration to the quality of joy, linking it to the Gospel narratives, which have all the qualities of an other-worldly fairy story, while at the same time being primary world history...Dominating the entire cycle of Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth is a longing to obtain the Undying Lands of the uttermost west." Page 178
Being acquainted with Lewis and Tolkien's books help.
I'm aware not all people are interested in dissecting the background and reasons for an author's work. Some people want to read and not really understand any symbolism in the story.
Bedeviled is for an audience of readers who want a full examination of Lewis and Tolkien's writing style and books.
Both men were in combat during World War I. Their experiences deeply affected them. The battles in a war, and the battles in life, are interwoven in their belief of "the very real powers of light and darkness."
Rating: 5 stars for excellent
Summary:
Bedeviled is a study of the literary works primarily of C. S. Lewis, and followed by J. R. R. Tolkien. Smaller studies of Charles Williams, Dorothy Sayers, Owen Barfield, and Warren Lewis are explored. Dorothy Sayers was not a member of the Inklings group; however, she was a friend and fellow author.
The study focuses on several key features and themes in the Inklings writings: dark forces, magic arts, spiritual conflict and warfare, hell, good versus evil, and the supernatural world.
Brief biographies are given on the writers but not lengthy bios. The emphasis is on their writings, and the motivations and examinations of their works.
My Thoughts:
I know you will be shocked but I have just began reading The Chronicles of Narnia. This is the first time to read the fantasy fiction stories by Lewis. I have read a few of C.S. Lewis's nonfiction books. I have read a few of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy fiction books.
The Inklings group wrestled with meaningful themes of "modern evil in literature."
Lewis's development from atheist to Christian, and his growth in Christianity, is shown in his writings. Duriez examines Lewis's transformation as a writer.
Books are examined, looking for the theme and purpose. For example:
The correspondence between devils in The Screwtape Letters, which we explored in chapter two, focuses on the individual human soul, whereas the Narnian Chronicles are somewhat more concerned with the nature of human and Christian society and the meaning of history in its peaceful and dark periods." Page 136.
Tolkien believes that joy in the story marks the presence of grace from the primary world...Tolkien gives more consideration to the quality of joy, linking it to the Gospel narratives, which have all the qualities of an other-worldly fairy story, while at the same time being primary world history...Dominating the entire cycle of Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth is a longing to obtain the Undying Lands of the uttermost west." Page 178
Being acquainted with Lewis and Tolkien's books help.
I'm aware not all people are interested in dissecting the background and reasons for an author's work. Some people want to read and not really understand any symbolism in the story.
Bedeviled is for an audience of readers who want a full examination of Lewis and Tolkien's writing style and books.
Both men were in combat during World War I. Their experiences deeply affected them. The battles in a war, and the battles in life, are interwoven in their belief of "the very real powers of light and darkness."
March 14, 2016
Colin Duriez is a well-renowned expert on the writings of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their friendship. Therefore, when I saw he had a recent book out (Bedeviled: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Shadow of Evil) about the two of them and their writing, I knew I had to make time to read this book. The book begins by discussing World War I and World War II; how it affected C.S. Lewis, his family, and his friends. We learn about his time in service, the injuries he suffered, and the people close to him that died in war. This leads us to Chapter Two, which focuses solely on The Screwtape Letters. This work of Lewis was obviously the one that tackled the problem of devils most directly. It was also the book that troubled him the most when he was writing it. If you have ever read it, this is understandable, because he had to think like a demon which has to be one of the most unpleasant experiences ever.
Chapter Three of this book shifts the focus away from just C.S. Lewis to all of the Inklings. It begins with a list of all the publications and broadcasts of Inklings members who attended meetings during World War II. This list shows us how preoccupied they were with the war and the problem of evil. An interesting tidbit one reads in this chapter is that it actual refers to this time as the "golden age" for the Inklings. The reason for this was two-fold - Charles Williams joined the group and the war provided a type of "magic" that inspired their literary genius. Chapter Four speaks mainly about The Lord of the Rings, but it also touches briefly on horcruxes in the Harry Potter series. The rest of the book focuses primarily on C.S. Lewis works, with a brief reference to Tolkien's Leaf by Niggle. We see The Problem of Pain, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Cosmic Trilogy.
This was an interesting book for me, because it dealt with two of my favorite authors. I was hoping for a more even distribution between the two authors, but the book favors Lewis at a ratio of about 4:1. That complaint aside, it was a good read because it gave background and perspective on the two authors and and many of their works. Reading through this book, you can also tell that the author not only has a great knowledge of the two authors, but a great love for them as well. If you are a fan of either or both of these authors, this is a book that would be worth checking out.
Chapter Three of this book shifts the focus away from just C.S. Lewis to all of the Inklings. It begins with a list of all the publications and broadcasts of Inklings members who attended meetings during World War II. This list shows us how preoccupied they were with the war and the problem of evil. An interesting tidbit one reads in this chapter is that it actual refers to this time as the "golden age" for the Inklings. The reason for this was two-fold - Charles Williams joined the group and the war provided a type of "magic" that inspired their literary genius. Chapter Four speaks mainly about The Lord of the Rings, but it also touches briefly on horcruxes in the Harry Potter series. The rest of the book focuses primarily on C.S. Lewis works, with a brief reference to Tolkien's Leaf by Niggle. We see The Problem of Pain, The Great Divorce, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Cosmic Trilogy.
This was an interesting book for me, because it dealt with two of my favorite authors. I was hoping for a more even distribution between the two authors, but the book favors Lewis at a ratio of about 4:1. That complaint aside, it was a good read because it gave background and perspective on the two authors and and many of their works. Reading through this book, you can also tell that the author not only has a great knowledge of the two authors, but a great love for them as well. If you are a fan of either or both of these authors, this is a book that would be worth checking out.
January 1, 2016
For affecianadoes of Lewis and Tolkien this will be familiar territory. For those of us who have a great appreciation for them, but lack knowledge of the background, context, literary influences and literary themes within their writings, this is a very worthwhile read. Each of Lewis's books--fiction and non-fiction-- and Tolkien's mythology of Middle Earth are treated through the lens of evil, devilry and darkness. But the telling goes beyond this to give great background on the chronology of writings (especially Lewis) and how each phase of their lives produced their works. While I enjoyed the book, the weakness of it lies in the editing. There are repetitions amongst chapters that make it read as a series of talks or articles rather than a coherent explanation. And the continual references to other chapters within the book as subjects are alluded to was frustrating. I lay that fault with the editors at NavPress as much as the writer.
Certainly for me the best reading of the book came last in the second appendix. There Duriez explains Lewis's analysis of "subjectivism" and its implications for not only individuals or cultures but for the entire human race. Reading this reminded me of how prescient Lewis was in observing cultural trends and demonstrating through reason where they would leave. We live in a Western culture very much in his long-range view of where the subjectivism, scientism and materialism of his day would lead. Should it not turn around, expect a general enslavement of humanity to the not-so-distant do-gooders of tomorrow.
Certainly for me the best reading of the book came last in the second appendix. There Duriez explains Lewis's analysis of "subjectivism" and its implications for not only individuals or cultures but for the entire human race. Reading this reminded me of how prescient Lewis was in observing cultural trends and demonstrating through reason where they would leave. We live in a Western culture very much in his long-range view of where the subjectivism, scientism and materialism of his day would lead. Should it not turn around, expect a general enslavement of humanity to the not-so-distant do-gooders of tomorrow.
June 8, 2016
I highly enjoyed this book as it recounted most of the writings from Lewis and Tolkien. In particular, the main theme -- the good vs. evil -- is amply explored in all the major works by these two authors. The writing style is clear, crisp, and competent. I consider this book a useful reference for the avid readers of Lewis (more emphasized) and Tolkien (mostly the LOTR only).
March 28, 2016
An incredible scholarly work by Colin Dureiz on the impact C.S.Lewis, J.R.R.Tolkien, and Charles Williams has had on many lives and culture, and the virtutes of hope, faith and love that were at the heart of their theology.
June 23, 2015
I did enjoy this. Exploring the theme of war in the lives of Tolkien and Lewis and then spiritual conflict in their books.
November 24, 2015
Battle between good and evil as seen through the eyes of a literary group including C.S. Lewis in the mid 30's and early 40's. Hard to follow if you had not read Lewis' works.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews