The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams

by Philip Zaleski, Carol Zaleski

C. S. Lewis is the 20th century's most widely read Christian writer and J.R.R. Tolkien its most beloved mythmaker. For three decades, they and their closest associates formed a literary club known as the Inklings, which met every week in Lewis's Oxford rooms and in nearby pubs. They discussed literature, religion, and ideas; read aloud from works in progress; took philosophical rambles in woods and fields; gave one another companionship and criticism; and, in the process, rewrote the cultural history of modern times. In The Fellowship, Philip and Carol Zaleski offer the first complete rendering of the Inklings' lives and works. The result is an extraordinary account of the ideas, affections and vexations that drove the group's most significant members. C. S. Lewis accepts Jesus Christ while riding in the sidecar of his brother's motorcycle, maps the medieval and Renaissance mind, becomes a world-famous evangelist and moral satirist, and creates new forms of religiously attuned fiction while wrestling with personal crises. J.R.R. Tolkien transmutes an invented mythology into gripping story in The Lord of the Rings, while conducting groundbreaking Old English scholarship and elucidating, for family and friends, the Catholic teachings at the heart of his vision. Owen Barfield, a philosopher for whom language is the key to all mysteries, becomes Lewis's favorite sparring partner, and, for a time, Saul Bellow's chosen guru. And Charles Williams, poet, author of "supernatural shockers," and strange acolyte of romantic love, turns his everyday life into a mystical pageant. Romantics who scorned rebellion, fantasists who prized reality, wartime writers who believed in hope, Christians with cosmic reach, the Inklings sought to revitalize literature and faith in the twentieth century's darkest years-and did so in dazzling style.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, History, Literature, Books About Books, Biography Memoir, Literary Criticism

657 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2015

About the author

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Z...

Excerpts from The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams available here:

http://chronicle.com/article/Oxfords-...

http://us.macmillan.com/excerpt?isbn=...

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, this was a disappointment. A disappointment that took me a little over six weeks to read, and I'm really none the wiser for it. But it involves Tolkien, I hear you cry! It is, and it also involves C.S. Lewis, oh, and I almost forgot, two other guys that quite honestly, are barely mentioned at all. This book was really about Tolkien and Lewis, so in a way, the title is misleading.

The Zaleski's have written this book in such a negative way, and therefore the Inklings may be seen in a bad light, and they have done this with very little evidence to back these claims up. It's like they thrived on criticism and throwing their negative opinions in whenever they could. It's like they felt the need to analyse every piece of work the Inklings produced, and quite honestly, I didn't care about what they thought at all.

I found I had to skim read a few pages here and there, purely because these pointless opinions drove me slightly mad.

The section on Tolkien I enjoyed parts of, but again, I knew most of the information given already, and when criticism of him is contained too, it's hard to enjoy reading about one's most loved author, from people that really don't matter. There are better books available about the Inklings, and I intend to seek them out.

[Cindy Rollins · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Lewis and Tolkien and the idea of The Inklings, then this is the book for you. I especially enjoyed learning the timeline and content of most of their published works. We see their works being published in the context of their relationships and it is fascinating.
Turns out Charles Williams is weirder than I thought and Owen Barfield more interesting. I love Lewis with a greater love than I did before, in fact, I cried when he died, as I always do. My friend, my friend! It is why I always keep a conversation going with him through his works. This time I think I will read his book on the Psalms.

The Fellowship is a long book and not always easy to read but it in the end it satisfies.

[Book Riot Community]

For decades, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their group of merry literary men met every week in Oxford to eat, drink, debate, and critique each other’s work, and they called the group The Inklings. This new biography of four of the most famous of its members (Lewis, Tolkien, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams) does more than pull the reader through the lives of these men (and yeah, they’re all men)- it follows their intellectual evolution and the importance and impact their thoughts had on literature, philosophy, and culture in the pre-and post-war era. C.S. Lewis and Tolkien changed the course of children’s and adult literature, but why? What were they trying to accomplish? Where did their obsessions with fairy stories come from? What was the contemporary critical backlash like? Why are modern readers still so loyal to their stories? This isn’t just a biography of four literary greats- it’s a biography of the life of their minds, one that reveals just how genius (though certainly not flawless) The Inklings were, and it’s one I couldn’t put down. — Amanda Nelson



From The Best Books We Read In March: https://bookriot.com/2015/04/01/riot-...

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

About 1/2 C.S. Lewis, 1/3 Tolkien, most of the rest Owen Barfield & Charles Williams.

Quite a lot of time and space devoted to their religious views, from Barfield's Anthroposophy and Williams' Rosicrucianism to Tolkien's Catholicism and Lewis' "mere Christianity."

From the vast amount of time spent on Lewis, a bizarre (but I think accurate) picture is built of an extremely bright man, a good scholar and devoted friend, who was also the sometime academic bully, misogynist, and casual anti-Semite.

Tolkien is as I would have expected (I learned little, as I have read a good bit about JRRT). Barfield and Williams were a pair of very odd ducks, but interesting ones.

[Neil R. Coulter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve had this book on my shelf almost since it was first released, and I’ve saved it all this time with the assumption that it would be like dessert. How could it not be, as it’s all about some of my favorite authors?

It’s not dessert.

Part of the problem with The Fellowship is that it covers all the same information I’ve already read elsewhere. Not only does it bring no new facts to the conversation, but it doesn’t present the existing information in any kind of new angle. There’s nothing here except a retread of the biographies of Lewis and Tolkien. (Oh—and the other two guys, who make brief appearances.) (And some other guys, who weren't significant enough to include on the cover.) (And Dorothy L. Sayers, who was, through no fault of her own, a woman.)

The subtitle promises a book about “the literary lives of the Inklings,” and that sounds like the start of an interesting narrative theme. But Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski are unfocused in their writing, giddy about including absolutely every detail they can find about the Inklings. There are a lot of details presented that, to me, do nothing to forward a look at their literary lives. Often the authors seem to almost wallow in awful details. I’m at a point where I don’t really need to read about Lewis’s relationship with Mrs. Moore again, especially given that we’re never going to know anything more about it than what we do, which isn’t much. And in what way does it help me understand Middle-Earth to learn that Tolkien had his teeth removed and was fitted for a full set of dentures. That detail is mentioned in two places! May I never be so famous that people in the next century care about my dental hygiene.

What I find more troubling about The Fellowship is that Zaleski and Zaleski bring up some rather horrific details about the relationships some of the Inklings had (Charles Williams in particular), but then decline to comment on what it means for the enduring legacy. I feel unease at some of the details of these authors’ private lives, and I don’t always know whether it’s relevant for me to know any of that information, or if it should affect my reading of any or all of their works. Zaleski and Zaleski model an attitude of reverence, even in the hard details, which feels inappropriate. Maybe the reason Tolkien was cooler toward Williams than some of the other Inklings were is that he sensed the abuse Williams was leveraging against his admirers, and he wasn’t comfortable looking the other way. If so, then the question for us is whether we should look the other way (continue reading Williams’s books for the good books they are), or whether we should turn away altogether and not give our time and interest to a man who was so deeply troubled. I don’t know the answer—and it’s a real challenge for me, because I do love Williams’s novels—but that’s certainly a worthwhile question to ponder and discuss, and it connects to our current age of “cancel culture” and all of the questions it confronts us with.

The other aspect of the book that bothered me is that Zaleski and Zaleski insert their opinions almost constantly. And since I don’t know these writers, I wonder why I should care which of the Inklings’ books they think are most and least interesting. Their opinions were always intrusive and always annoying. In addition, I don’t need pages-long summaries of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Who did they think was going to be reading this book that wouldn’t already know at least those two books?

By the end of this long, long book I wondered if it even makes sense to think of “The Inklings” as a distinct group that is worth studying as-a-group. We all like to imagine that the meetings of the Inklings were magical events. But I’m not sure anymore. It was a group of good friends who enjoyed each other’s company, and eventually, as people do, moved on to other phases of life. Is there much more to say than that? Books I’ve read that try to cover “The Inklings” generally end up being mini-biographies of Tolkien and Lewis, with some mention of some of the others. I wonder if future Inklings studies will benefit more from just looking at each member of the group, rather than trying to make the group into a legend that, even if true in some ways, is not helpful for our learning from their example.

What The Fellowship does well—and I wish this had been the theme selected for the book, because it would have been more intriguing and unified—is show pictures of many different ways people can be Christians. Spirituality, faith, and story creation are dominant and useful themes throughout The Fellowship, and I found it fascinating how much you get to see of different ways of navigating and integrating all of that, in one’s own life and with close friends who are following slightly different paths. Building this book around that theme would likely have produced a much stronger book.

Overall, I was very surprised at how tedious I found The Fellowship, when I was expecting something delightful. I look forward to moving on to other books about Tolkien and Lewis—and, of course, always returning to their own books, which I love more and more every time I read them.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read enough about Tolkien, Lewis, and the Inklings that I resisted this behemoth of a book until now. What hooked me was that the authors delve into both their faith and their literary works more deeply than the other things I've read. It was a very slow read, just picking it up here and there, but oh so satisfying.

One of the things I especially liked was that it humanized and made likable some of the characters who came off as one dimensional in other biographies. For example, Lewis's father always seemed an unfeeling fellow who continually made Lewis miserable. In this book we see excerpts of letters between the father and Warnie, Lewis's much loved brother, where both are worried about some activity of Lewis. So we get another angle. The same goes for Edith Tolkien who I've simply seen written about as miserable and unfulfilled as a person. That angle is not ignored, but we also see the Tolkien couple's devotion to each other and the good things she got from her marriage to J.R.R. Lewis's wife Joy and their relationship get similarly balanced treatment.

I'd say that this is the only book you need if you are interested in biographies of Tolkien and Lewis, or simply interested in the Inklings. It is superb and superior to any other books I've read on these subjects.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary: This traces the literary lives of the four principle Inklings (Lewis, Tolkien, Barfield, and Williams) the literary club they formed and its impact on literature, faith, and culture.

This is a magnificent book for any Inklings lover! It serves at one and the same time as a quadruple biography of the four principle Inklings and traces the formation, life and impact of this literary gathering of scholars (all men) and their wider impact on many others, including women like Dorothy L. Sayers.

As biography, it brings to life these four figures as well as biographies I’ve read on any individual Inkling. Lewis has been written on the most, and yet I thought the Zaleskis teased out more about his relationship with Warnie (who submerged his own career to a certain degree for that of his brother, and who in turn was cared for by Lewis as he struggled with alcoholism), as well as Lewis’s relationship with Mrs. Moore. We see Tolkien as a deeply devout Catholic often concerned over the spiritual lives of his sons, and his lifelong struggle to bring forth the tale of Middle Earth. We learn of Owen Barfield’s obsession with anthroposophy, and the often affectionate, sometimes not relationship with Lewis as his most significant sparring partner (he later, for a time, had an influence on the American writer, Saul Bellow). And last, we learn of the mystical romantic Charles Williams, the Oxford University Press editor who wrote “supernatural shockers” and had “interesting” though chaste relationships with a number of women attracted to his romantic vision, and whose early death in 1945 was deeply grieved by Lewis.

We also learn of the formation and inner life of this all-male discussion group. Serious discussions occurred on Thursday evenings, usually in Lewis’s rooms in Oxford. Often these consisted of the reading and critique of works in progress. It was here that Barfield’s works on language, Lewis’s Space Trilogy and Tolkien’s Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring first made the light of day. If it weren’t for the encouragement of this group, as well as Tolkien’s publisher, this latter work may never have been published during Tolkien’s lifetime. More informal conversations took place on Tuesday mornings at the Eagle and Child (the “Bird and Baby” as it was known) and was marked by rollicking male laughter and repartee. It was also fascinating to see the critical role Williams, one of the later to join, had on the vitality of this group. When he died, something died among them as well and the gatherings began to dwindle.

We also have briefer portraits of other Inkling members: theatrical producer and Chaucer scholar Nevill Coghill, biographer Lord David Cecil, poet and scholar Adam Fox, the classicist Colin Hardie, and the scholar, who along with Tolkien labored for Lewis’s return to Christian faith, Hugo Dyson. There are others as well, like novelist John Wain, and those not in the circle, but who contributed and were inspired as well, like Dorothy L. Sayers and Sister Penelope Lawson.

The Zaleskis also explore key episodes in the lives of these different figures. Perhaps most striking was Lewis’s debate with Elizabeth Anscombe. The Zaleskis are more nuanced than some, seeing this both as a serious challenge to Lewis’s ideas on Miracles (he later re-wrote portions in response) and yet not as the utterly devastating setback to his apologetics that turned him to writing children’s stories. They observe that he continued to publish numerous articles on apologetic themes and that the greater concern for Lewis was the effect of apologetic argument on the soul of the apologist.

What was most significant to me was the tale of how this informal gathering sparked literary scholarship, literature in a variety of genre, and for Lewis to a greater extent, and others to a lesser, a Christian intellectual presence at Oxford. This did not so much seem by design, but rather the recognition of these men in each other a vision for such things that they fueled and refined through their weekly discussions. I think of other such groups, like the “Clapham Sect” who gathered around William Wilberforce and brought about both religious renewal and social reforms including the abolition of slavery in early nineteenth century England. What particularly marked the Inklings, it seems to me, was a combination of intellectual rigor and personal affection (sometimes tried and tested) that contributed both significant scholarly work (such as Lewis’s preface to Paradise Lost, or Barfield’s work on language and poetic diction) and works of great popular impact.

This is a book to be savored both by Inklings lovers and a newer generation that may wonder about the world that gave us the likes of Lewis and Tolkien. It is sympathetic without indulging in hagiography. It is real about the shortcomings of the principle Inklings without descending into a hatchet job on their lives. In it we see mere humans (and some mere Christians) whose fellowship birthed an ethos and enduring works that have touched the lives of many.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this book knowing a huge amount of information about Lewis, quite a bit about Tolkien, barely anything about Barfield, and zilch about Williams (other than I had heard he was "kind of weird"). This book weaved together a big picture of all four authors' lives using a combination of facts, documents, and straight-up conjecture. I found its sliding in and out of speculation a little unsettling and wished the authors would have separated or red-flagged their opinions from their supported details (of which they had many). In one instance of their summarizing Lewis's Narnia books, either by typo or ignorance, I encountered a factual error when the book said Eustace (and not Diggory) was the nephew of Uncle Andrew in The Magician's Nephew. The book was chock-full of details, such as names, dates, medical diagnoses, and the book is LONG so it's probably forgivable that neither the authors nor the publishing company caught every little issue. But the opinions-presented-as-facts irked me. Towards the end, it was stated matter of factly that without The Lord of the Rings there could never have been Harry Potter. That statement, to me, is overreaching as both LOTR and HP both pull from a similar tradition of fantasy and literary motifs. Maybe a person THINKS there could be no HP without LOTR, but that needs to be stated as opinion and not weaved into factual statements with no indicator. My takeaways from the book are that I learned only incidental details about Lewis' life (bc I knew a lot already), I learned many incidental details about Tolkien (like, the date he had to have all of his teeth removed for dentures), I learned enough about Barfield to be very leary of reading his ideas, and I learned enough about Williams to be very intrigued with his Arthurian writings and completely creeped out by the rest. However, I'm attempting to consider my opinion is from only this one source. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't trust everything I read here, but I'll take it into consideration.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, this book is a must read. I already knew a good bit of their stories, having read biographies of both as well as many of their works. This book covers a lot of ground, covering the stories of Charles Williams and Owen Barfield as well, with mentions of other Inklings. I appreciated learning about Williams, since I knew he was in the Inklings but I've never read any of his works. Honestly though, I can't say this book has made me want to read any of his works. He appears last and exits first and his greatest impact was on Lewis.

Lewis and Tolkien tower over this story. Rather than wanting to read Williams, I want to read more Lewis (On Stories, his Letters, reread the Space Trilogy) and Tolkien (his Beowulf and Sir Gawain and Green Knight translations). There were also lots of interesting things I never knew. Apparently Orwell was not a fan of Lewis' fiction. I did not realize TS Eliot was a borderline member of the Inklings, never attending meetings but knowing many members. Same with Dorothy Sayers. Heck, this book even reminded me of the impact Chesterton and George MacDonald had on the Inklings and now I want to read more of them.

That's not a knock at Williams. Just based on the title I thought I'd come away wanting to read his work and I don't. Then there's Barfield. He was the first Inkling and the last to die. I read his book Saving the Appearances and loved it, finding it challenging and wanting to reread it. I was surprised that Barfield lived in the shadow of the others and his lasting fame mostly came after Tolkien and Lewis died. It was in America where his star took off, which was also surprising. I may not be interested in Williams, but I want to read more Barfield.

Overall, if you like Lewis and Tolkien, read this book. They are two authors whose thought has shaped me more than almost any other and this is a book that sheds further light into their circle of friends. Highly recommended.

[Kailey (Luminous Libro) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book by listening to the audiobook, and really enjoyed the voice of the narrator and the structure of the book. Following a chronological and sometimes topical format, this book covers the lives of four of the most famous members of the Inklings. Starting from their childhoods and following them through both World Wars, their academic careers, and their writing, this book also includes details of their family lives and personal friendships right up until their deaths.

I already know a lot about these men, because Tolkien and Lewis are my two favorite authors, and I've already read other biographies about the Inklings. But I was really impressed with the depth of information and careful research in this book. There are some really wonderful details and anecdotes that bring these historical figures close to the reader.

And the author doesn't shy away from the less than pleasant aspects of these men's lives, their bad behavior at times, their poor choices, or their bad habits; but instead includes those things as a larger picture of who these people became, and how their lives developed, and how God worked in them and through them.

I have never liked Charles Williams or Owen Barfield. They were both "Christians" who believed some really weird things, like reincarnation and alchemy, and I never understood why Lewis and Tolkien were friends with them. This book helped me understand some of Williams and Barfield's better points, and how their intellectual prowess would attract friends like Lewis. I still don't like them, but I feel like I know a little more about the overall dynamic of the Inklings group, and why those friendships flourished despite religious differences.

The writing is excellent! Concise and forceful, each word serves a purpose, weaving a story of these imaginative writers and their little Oxford world.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an absolutely fascinating, exceptionally detailed examination of the lives of 4 famous Inklings, covering not only their Inkling activities but also their complete life stories. This work is heavily weighted towards C.S. Lewis and to a slightly lesser extent Tolkien, but this makes sense given their popularity and—especially for Lewis—the sheer volume of works they put out.

The amount of detail and research that went into this book is impressive—though at times a bit overwhelming, rambling or disconnected. However, this thorough approach served to create a well-rounded presentation of Lewis, Tolkien, Barfield and Williams and their relationship and dynamics with each other, their families, the rest of the Inklings and their larger social circles.

I appreciated this book’s coverage of the development and content of these author’s works as well. It was fascinating not only learning about quantity of works each Inkling published, but also seeing the context surrounding each book’s development, the authors’ times of inspiration vs. creative drought, and the critical success or lack thereof for each published work. However, at times this book got a little too deep into describing the Inklings’ works, at times presenting an overly in-depth summary of a work rather than a brief synopsis. The lengthier summaries often made sense for works of non-fiction, since that allowed the authors to analyze the work and provide their historical, cultural or religious contexts. However, there were a few works of fiction that were overly summarized (to the point of including spoilers) rather than summarized enough to provide context.

[Laurel Hicks · Rating 4 out of 5]

My cup of tea, brewed nearly to perfection.

[Karol E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough and brilliant. One feels as if he has walked, laughed and cried through the lives of each of these men, right alongside them. I come away loving them harder than ever.

[Pristine · Rating 5 out of 5]

REALLY loved getting to read about Inklings other than Lewis and Tolkien, but also in a narrative that wove all of them together cohesively. So in depth and masterfully done, well worth the read. This definitely did not take me an embarassingly long time to finish.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first heard about this book, I thought, "Is there anything new to be said about these guys?" Apparently the answer is yes. As well as investigating their interactions with one another, and the genesis and development of their literary works, the Zaleskis do a great job placing these four in the intellectual context of their times. Their thesis is twofold. First that this group were some of the most influential writers of the 20th century, on a par with TS Eliot (who appears briefly in the book). Second, that their interest in what's now called "fantasy" (a genre that JRRT, CSL, and CW basically invented), to a large degree came out of the experience of the First World War. In this, they resembled the modernists; unlike the modernists, they wanted to re-enchant the world--or at least the imagination. This book reminded me a little of _The Triumph of the Moon_, which is also about an intellectual and literary movement reacting against modernity, and which overlaps with the Inklings. (CW belonged to an esoteric group called the Fellowship of the Rosy Cross.)

There's also a lot about the Inklings personal lives, their interactions with each other, and their various professional successes and setbacks. The Zaleskis' lively writing keeps it interesting. CSL, JRRT, and OB are all flawed but sympathetic in their eyes. CW comes across like somebody from another planet, and the authors have less use for him. (CSL loved him, JRRT quietly disapproved, and the authors clearly are on Tolkien's side.) CSL probably had the broadest intellectual interests (he was a formally-trained philosopher before he switched to Renaissance literature) and he was by far the most successful getting his writings into print. He read and read and read and wrote and wrote and wrote. I didn't really realize that he was an international celebrity even before the Narnia books appeared. (I've heard that some people feel CSL is trying to sneak Christianity in through the back door of children's lit with these books, but anyone who bought a CSL book in 1950 knew exactly what they were getting.) He made quite a lot of money and gave most of it away.

JRRT, meanwhile, never met a deadline in his life. One scholarly work gets published over twenty years after it was commissioned! The _Lord of the Rings_, in this sense, is classic Tolkien: his publisher wants "another book about hobbits" in 1938; Tolkien promises them something in a year or two. Sixteen years later, he hands them over a thousand pages.

[Rachel E. Meyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm finally finished this tome. It took me over a month of steady reading an basically getting no other books done, but I finished it.

I liked it. I knew a lot about Tolkien, but I didn't realize how little I knew about Lewis. And I've never heard of Barfield or Williams. The book did feel a little Tolkien and Lewis heavy, but since they're the two most influential members, I understand why. It was interesting to learn more about these men's lives, their writing, and how they managed to shape modern literature.

It was a bit verbose at times and included a lot of quotes. A few areas could have been trimmed down. But not being a non-fiction writing, I don't know a lot about that kind of thing. If you're looking for a pretty comprehensive book on the subject, this is a good one.

[Matt Pitts · Rating 5 out of 5]

As delightful as it is long (which is to say, very). Anyone interested enough in the Inklings to read 500 pages about them will not be disappointed. I certainly wasn't.

[Roxana Chirilă · Rating 4 out of 5]

I used to wonder what it would have been like had I been at Oxford at around the time J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis were around. Ah, to be in their group of friends! To be an Inkling! To be motivated to write fantasy and to study all sorts of fascinating, mythological topics!

After a while, the dream faded, and with this book, it vanished entirely. While I still have great respect for those involved, it's become quite clear to me the Inklings and I would Not Have Gotten Along as people. Their Christian ethos, Lewis's passion for debate and argument, as well as the ban against women, well. Perhaps not the best fit.

"The Fellowship" follows the lives of five Inklings, more or less. C.S. Lewis seems to me to feature the most prominently, and his brother Warren Lewis is never far behind (although he's not on the cover). Tolkien is the second to be explored. Behind them lag Charles Williams and Owen Barfield, who are afterthoughts rather than main topics.

The book focuses on their spiritual beliefs, ranging from the "mere" Christian, C.S. Lewis, Anglican by birth, agnostic until his 30s, then a convert returning to Christianity; the Roman Catholic Tolkien, who believed in propriety; the freemason Charles Williams who founded the Christian mystic Fellowship of the Rosy Cross; and the Anthroposophist Owen Barfield. Together, they wanted to bring the spiritual back into the world, and their literature reflected that.

As I hadn't read a lot about the lives of the Inklings, there was much to find out here - most surprising of which, to me, was C.S. Lewis's odd life. In World War I, he made a pact with a friend that, should either of them not return from the front, the other would take care of their family. His friend died, and C.S. Lewis kept his promise, moving in with his friend's mother and living with her for decades, spawning the eternal question of whether C.S. Lewis and Mrs. Moore were having an affair or not.

He was also a much hotter debater than I had expected, and a Christian apologist after his conversion, holding sermons in church and discussing Christianity on the BBC radio, to Tolkien's dismay.

Charles Williams seemed like... a character. He enjoyed giving people fantasy names and appeared to be the sort of man others enjoyed being around and felt inspired by.

Tolkien was the sort of perfectionist who took his commitments so seriously that he had trouble ending things.

Owen Barfield lived a somewhat depressing life as a solicitor, his literary attempts largely unsuccessful until his old age, when he found unexpected recognition first because of his friendship with C.S. Lewis, and later on his own account.

A fascinating read about the people who brought mythical, epic storytelling into the modern world. At times I felt it was perhaps a bit depressing, though I can't quite put my finger on it - perhaps it was the focus on their lives, failures, pains and eventual bad health, as well as the way in which spirituality influenced their works, rather than the actual poetic creeds and creative processes, which might have been more optimistic. But I'm uncertain. Maybe it was simply my own ill mood coloring my reading.

[Nate Bauers · Rating 4 out of 5]

To love a book does not mean you love every part of it. This book gave me such a deeper love of reading, literature, fantasy, the gospel, and the amazing men whom this book centers on. But, it was easily 100 pages too long and could have been shorter. It took many meanderings down literary rabbit holes that seemed to detract from the flow of the book.

But, I now love Lewis and Tolkien even more. If you want to know more of their origins stories, and things such as where the Wardrobe or the Elves came from, or if you want an amazing background on the Christian and Catholic imagery that deeply permeate LOTR, then this book is for you.

Yes, it was long at times. But it did bring much Joy.

[Tommy Kraemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good. My favorite part was how he provided a history behind some of the Inklings' best works. It was really interesting hearing how their books were received by critics and the general populous––there is definitely a disparity there. I would only recommend if you are interested in Lewis or Tolkien, otherwise this would be a major snooze-fest.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought this was going to be about the books the Inklings read - and how they were formed by them. (This was my favorite aspect of the second volume of C.S. Lewis' letters and also of his autiobiography.) But this 500 page volume bareley mentions what they were reading. Instead it gives copious details of their private lives and the books that they were writing at each stage.

I was particularly interested in the details of Charles Williams' life because of C.S. Lewis' glowing accounts of him in his letters. The Zaleski's paint quite a different picture of him (as a very strange man).

This was my bedtime book for several months. Just fascinating enough to keep me interested, but not exciting enough to keep me awake. I really enjoyed it.

[Briana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings gives readers an in-depth look at the four men generally considered the most influential and successful of the writers’ group known as the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams. The book, at a hearty 644 pages (about 100 which are bibliographic references) combines biography, religious studies, and literary studies to look at the lives of these four men and explain how their academic training and their Christian (though not always orthodox) faith influenced their writing, from poetry to novels to straight apologetics. Expect more than four overlapping biographies; Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski give a full overview of all of the men’s writing, from the influential to the unknown, summarizing it and explaining how it fit into their ever-evolving worldviews.

Despite the promise of four Inklings, the focus is truly on Lewis and Tolkien. Charles Williams does not even appear in the book until after page 200, and 100 pages later, he’s dead. (Not his fault he died fist, though, I suppose.) Owen Barfield is a little more present, but he never gets as much attention as the two other authors. This spotlight on Lewis and Tolkien is, on one hand, understandable; they’re the two most famous Inklings, and readers who pick up the book are likely to have the greatest interest in them. However, one would assume part of the appeal of a book about “the Inklings” more generally would be that it would tell readers about the Inklings they don’t already know much about. (As a bonus, readers do get to learn a lot about Lewis’s brother Warnie, also an Inkling and a respected academic in his own right, but perhaps doomed to be always known as “C.S. Lewis’s brother.”)

My real frustration with the book, however, is that the authors consistently impose their personal opinions and interpretations. There are numerous offhand comments about people’s characters, without much backing evidence, as well as blithe declarations that, for example, a certain work is obviously the author’s weakest novel. There could be reasonable explanation for these judgments. Perhaps literary scholars in general think x is author y’s weakest novel. However, the Zaleskis’ failure to back up many of their claims is a recurring issue in the book.

I also think it worth mentioning that the book could be a bit of a slog for readers without some knowledge of literary theory, religion, and philosophy. It is, admittedly, unclear who the target audience of this book might be. It seems to be marketed to a general audience, but one assumes anyone who actually picks up a 600+ page tome classified as “biography/religion/literary criticism” is going to have some background knowledge on the subject matter and not be a complete novice. However, the authors frequently refer to theories, scholars, and other movements in various academic fields without any explanation of what they are or why they are important. I did alright reading the book, but I credit that with having a graduate degree in English literature; I admit to being somewhat lost when it came to some of the religious studies references. The book is not impossible to read, but some readers may do well to have Google handy.

These flaws aside, the book does offer an immensely thorough look at how these four men influenced each other’s writing and how their faith and their scholarly interests pervade all of their writing. Readers may already be aware that Tolkien was an active Roman Catholic or that Lewis became known for his Christian apologetics work. However, what the Zaleskis clearly show is how each of the four men’s faith changed over time and how certain movements, beliefs, and struggles might have colored their work over their entire lifetime—how Lewis moved from essentially pagan views in his early poetry to become the Christian voice of a nation, for instance.

I would warn off readers who feel the need to idolize their authors. Personally, I think Tolkien’s private life is the only one that comes across as admirable here, even though he himself felt he may never have devoted as much time to his family as he would have wished. However, the contradictions add a layer of interest to the work, as readers must ponder how Lewis could espouse Christian teaching while living with an older, married woman for the majority of his life (critics are unclear whether the relationship was sexual), or how Williams could justify his ideas of pure love leading to virtue while engaging in multiple affairs (never sexual, as though that excused them). But the point is that these were all real men, all struggling to refine their beliefs and their own behavior, even as they sought to illuminate some type of truth through their writing. They were never perfect, but they all thought deeply about what perfection might look like.

Despite my issues with The Fellowship, I did find it a worthwhile read. I learned a number of new things about all four of the authors, and the intersections drawn between them were immensely helpful. I recommend it to Inklings fans serious about learning more about their lives and work.

[Nicole]

Finished at last! A true and unrateable journey. Maybe FICTION is theology??

[Esther Alvarado · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an inspiring book to me as I love to write!

[Abigail Burdett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible!! Definitely one of the best books I have read. Loved it!! Can I give more that five stars?🤣

[Lekeshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed learning about the Inklings and I felt the book was well written to a point. The things I wish weren’t present are not giving each Inkling their due time. This book ended up being CS Lewis heavy. The other concern that continued to raise its head in this book is author’s opinion being inserted. At times it distracted me from learning a particular Inkling. After reading this book you can make an assumption of who the author’s favorite Inkling is.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Zaleski's have done a very good job on this. There a few nice touches such as paralleling the liberal, modernist Bloomsbury Group with the conservative fantasist Inklings, although one does get the feeling that this is very much the CS Lewis and Tolkien show.

Poor Charles Williams is introduced at around the 200 page mark only to die within a further 100 pages and Barfield gets a few brief mentions.

But of course, I am forgetting myself. For the uninitiated, the Inklings were a group of academics based in and around Oxford united by a common literary interest. Lewis wrote the "Narnia" books and Tolkien "The Lord of the Rings", Williams some scholcky horror and Barfield the odd novel. All of them had a rather conservative outlook and liked to meet up at their local pub "The Eagle and Child" to discuss literature and religion. No women were allowed, but there was beer, lots of it in fact. From Lewis' famous boom which influenced the voice of Treebeard to an Charles Williams' ritual magic, lots of interesting anecdotes came out of the Inklings.

In terms of what this book offers beyond a sort of combined Tolkien-Lewis biography, I think a difference is the focus on religion. Both the authors are from Christian backgrounds and choose to focus on a common Christian theme. I think this is rather a mistake- some one like Charles Williams who practiced ritual magic is a very different kettle of fish to Lewis or Tolkien and linking their beliefs in can only be done at best tenuously. This also leads to long discussions about Barfield's views on Steiner's Anthroposophy. No one who is not a semi-serious philosopher will be able to make head or tale of Anthroposophy and a serious philosopher would realize what utter bunk it is. Ploughing through those pages was a chore. The book would read much better without Barfield as a focus- indeed, Lewis' brother Warnie, who seems to be a favourite of the authors, would have made an excellent focus replacement.

The work is meticulously researched with over 100 pages of notes, and is also very readable. This book will not tell you what happened to the Entwives, but if you want to know how Lewis was surprised by Joy (twice), where Tolkien got his inspiration for Luthien from and how the creepy Williams exerted a hypnotic influence over his acolytes, it will provide answers.

[Brian Eshleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors are extremely adept at choosing passages from the voluminous writings of these figures that yield insight into their times and themselves. Even more remarkably, they are able to interpose themselves in this formidable circle without an anachronism. Their running commentary as they chronicle these lives adds to the reader's appreciation, whether they are connecting the insights of one to the other or boldly critiquing some revered work.

I would recommend this work to anyone, whether or not a reader is more than vaguely familiar with all the figures involved in this literary gathering. I have some familiarity with CS Lewis, enough to revere him, and an introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien, but my interest never waned when this pair was talking about the other figures.

[Melora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! I enjoyed this greatly. I started it early this summer, had to set it aside at around page 130 due to life things, and just got back to it a few days ago, at which point I devoured it. I came to this knowing practically nothing of Williams or Barfield, but found them very interesting, if also very strange. I've read other books on Tolkien and Lewis, but there was still much here that was new to me, and that deepened my appreciation of their work (and added several things to my "to read" list!).

[Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great biography of the Inklings and its most notable members. Although I’ve read better books specifically about CS Lewis’ thought and writings (eg Rigney, McGrath, Wilson, Ward), here the Zaleskis expand the story of the Inklings by examining the literary lives of Tolkien, Barfield, and Williams, and show how their sharing of ideas may have influenced one another. I kept feeling a deep longing to have been at just one of their gatherings at Lewis’ Oxford quarters or at the Eagle & Child (or as they called it, the Bird & Baby) while these remarkable men discussed theology, philosophy, and literature with a pint in hand.


Here is Lewis, in “The Four Loves,” describing the value of friendship. I think it wonderfully captures a part of what must have been so cherished in each of the Inklings meetings:

“Those are the golden sessions...when our slippers are on, our feet spread out towards the blaze and our drinks at our elbows; when the whole world, and something beyond the world, opens itself to our minds as we talk; and... all are freeman and equals as if we had first met an hour ago, while at the same time an Affection mellowed by the years enfolds us. Life — natural life — has no better gift to give. Who could have deserved it?”


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