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Bandersnatch: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings
C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and the other members of the Inklings met each week to read and discuss each other’s work-in-progress, offering both encouragement and blistering critique. How did these conversations shape the books they were writing? How does creative collaboration enhance individual talent? And what can we learn from their example?Beautifully illustrated by James A. Owen, Bandersnatch offers an inside look at the Inklings of Oxford—and a seat at their table at The Eagle and Child pub. It shows how encouragement and criticism made all the difference in The Lord of the Rings, the Chronicles of Narnia, and dozens of other books written by the members of this literary circle. You’ll learn what made these writers tick and more: inspired by their example, you’ll discover how collaboration can help your own creative process and lead to genius breakthroughs in whatever work you do.
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 4, 2016
161 people are currently reading
7770 people want to read
About the author
Diana Pavlac Glyer
21 books191 followersDiana Pavlac Glyer thinks that studying faded pencil marks on dusty manuscripts is more fun than going to Disneyland. That's why she has spent more than 40 years combing through archives and lurking in libraries. She is a leading expert on C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Inklings. Her book "The Company They Keep" changed the way we talk about these writers. Read more of her work on the Inklings in "BANDERSNATCH: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings." Bandersnatch is practical and really inspiring. Her scholarship, her teaching, and her work as an artist all circle back to one common theme: creativity thrives in community.
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June 25, 2023
Delightful on every level. Not only a treatise on the collaboration of The Inklings, but also a look into how human ideas grow and change within communities. Excellent book.
I did go on to read and love The Company they Kerp by the author.
Reread June 2023
#20for2020reads A Book about Books-1
I did go on to read and love The Company they Kerp by the author.
Reread June 2023
#20for2020reads A Book about Books-1
Read
December 18, 2015Copy provided by Kent State University Press.
In The Company They Keep, Diana Pavlac Glyer established herself among the foremost Inklings scholars. It’s one of those rarities, a deeply academic book that is also immensely readable.
That book proved that the Inklings really were a collaborative group, and not a bunch of lone geniuses who got together regularly to read bits then retreated to their man caves for more solitary labor.
In Bandersnatch, she shows how they did it. To do so, Glyer uses that clear, accessible style to begin with her own search for the Inklings' process, and how long it took before she cracked the case. She then develops an overview of the Inklings’ various backgrounds, and how they came together to form the group. Next she explores—with an eye to writers today who may be looking for ways to form and run a successful writers’ group—how the Inklings worked, and what eventually broke the group.
What bound them together for so long was the question they all faced on arrival, “Well, has nobody got anything to read to us?” Everybody got their innings, whether the work was abstruse poetry, a linguistic paper, a history, or fiction.
Everyone was free to criticize, and according to Warren Lewis, it might have sounded like a battleground as all these articulate, trenchantly intellectual and rigorously trained men picked apart ideas, but there was no rancor nor striving to force others to one’s POV. They did get picky about who could join, sometimes getting irritated if a member brought a guest without consulting the rest. Though one or two of these guests eventually fit right in.
They despised the idea of a “mere butter bath”—nothing but praise, and Glyer makes it clear in a succession of chapters who influenced various famous works, and how. (And not always for the best: at least, I liked the ending for LOTR that Tolkien wanted better than the one we have, but he bowed to what he perceived as universal disapprobation for his own wishes.)
When JRRT began writing what became LOTR (it was called “the new Hobbit” for years) C.S. Lewis was excited by the idea, but he said the beginning bogged down in a lot of hobbit talk. This grieved Tolkien, as he loved his hobbits, and his idea of a good hobbit book included lots of hobbits gossiping, eating, gardening, and pottering about the Shire.
But JRRT got stuck early on—and couldn’t move on the book for several years, until he had lunch with Lewis, who pointed out that “hobbits are only amusing in unhobbit-like situations.”
Bang. That was exactly what Tolkien needed, and the book took off.
In another discussion, Glyer illustrates how Lewis was convinced that no good book can be good for kids unless it is also good for adults: “This is a children’s book only in the sense that the first of many readings can be undertaken in the nursery . . .Only years later, at a tenth or a twentieth read, will they begin to realize what deft scholarship and profound reflection have gone to make everything in it so ripe, so friendly, and in its own way so true.”
He plainly tried to put that to work in his Narnia series—which Tolkien loathed. Lewis gave up the idea until he got encouragement from Roger Lancelyn Green, who adored the first book—and Lewis went back to it. Narnia’s mishmash of mythologies and the overt religious symbolism were never going to appeal to Tolkien, whose religious convictions resonated tectonically in his work, the fictional landscape above shaped by a painstakingly consistent mythology. But Tolkien reined in his general objection, and either gave specific feedback or else just listened without comment.
Glyer also uses the Inklings to illustrate what can kill a group. Some of the Inklings, including Owen Barfield, didn’t care for Lord of the Rings, but kept silent when it was Tolkien’s turn to read. But Hugo Dyson, a man they all liked and respected, loathed LOTR so much he would complain loudly if Tolkien showed up with papers—now they were in for another load of elves.
His complaints were so loud and consistent that Tolkien stopped reading when Dyson showed up—and though none of them knew it at the time, that was the breaking point of the Inklings. Glyer illustrates the fundamental difference between keeping silence, and silencing someone.
At the end of each chapter is a concise set of suggestions for the writer either on process or as part of a writers’ group, and it ends with a terrific meditation on collaboration in the wider sense.
There’s an excellent quote from Dorothy Sayers: “Poets do not merely pass on the torch in a relay race; they toss the ball to one another, to and fro, across the centuries. Dante would have been different if Virgil had never been, but if Dante had never been, we should know Virgil differently; across both their heads Ezekiel calls to Blake, and Milton to Homer.”
The book ends with a list of sensible—and workable—suggestions for putting together a writers’ group.
I think this book would be ideal for any writer with sympathy or interest in at least one of the Inklings. It would also be an excellent text for a writers’ class, especially within the framework of Christian schools, as the Inklings were Christians, so there is necessarily discussion of Christian viewpoints. But I think there is a great deal of insight and practical suggestion for anybody here, unless you happen to be one of those who has to stick fingers in ears and shout La La La! when a discussion veers toward sympathy with religion.
The book is also handsomely illustrated by James A. Owen.
In The Company They Keep, Diana Pavlac Glyer established herself among the foremost Inklings scholars. It’s one of those rarities, a deeply academic book that is also immensely readable.
That book proved that the Inklings really were a collaborative group, and not a bunch of lone geniuses who got together regularly to read bits then retreated to their man caves for more solitary labor.
In Bandersnatch, she shows how they did it. To do so, Glyer uses that clear, accessible style to begin with her own search for the Inklings' process, and how long it took before she cracked the case. She then develops an overview of the Inklings’ various backgrounds, and how they came together to form the group. Next she explores—with an eye to writers today who may be looking for ways to form and run a successful writers’ group—how the Inklings worked, and what eventually broke the group.
What bound them together for so long was the question they all faced on arrival, “Well, has nobody got anything to read to us?” Everybody got their innings, whether the work was abstruse poetry, a linguistic paper, a history, or fiction.
Everyone was free to criticize, and according to Warren Lewis, it might have sounded like a battleground as all these articulate, trenchantly intellectual and rigorously trained men picked apart ideas, but there was no rancor nor striving to force others to one’s POV. They did get picky about who could join, sometimes getting irritated if a member brought a guest without consulting the rest. Though one or two of these guests eventually fit right in.
They despised the idea of a “mere butter bath”—nothing but praise, and Glyer makes it clear in a succession of chapters who influenced various famous works, and how. (And not always for the best: at least, I liked the ending for LOTR that Tolkien wanted better than the one we have, but he bowed to what he perceived as universal disapprobation for his own wishes.)
When JRRT began writing what became LOTR (it was called “the new Hobbit” for years) C.S. Lewis was excited by the idea, but he said the beginning bogged down in a lot of hobbit talk. This grieved Tolkien, as he loved his hobbits, and his idea of a good hobbit book included lots of hobbits gossiping, eating, gardening, and pottering about the Shire.
But JRRT got stuck early on—and couldn’t move on the book for several years, until he had lunch with Lewis, who pointed out that “hobbits are only amusing in unhobbit-like situations.”
Bang. That was exactly what Tolkien needed, and the book took off.
In another discussion, Glyer illustrates how Lewis was convinced that no good book can be good for kids unless it is also good for adults: “This is a children’s book only in the sense that the first of many readings can be undertaken in the nursery . . .Only years later, at a tenth or a twentieth read, will they begin to realize what deft scholarship and profound reflection have gone to make everything in it so ripe, so friendly, and in its own way so true.”
He plainly tried to put that to work in his Narnia series—which Tolkien loathed. Lewis gave up the idea until he got encouragement from Roger Lancelyn Green, who adored the first book—and Lewis went back to it. Narnia’s mishmash of mythologies and the overt religious symbolism were never going to appeal to Tolkien, whose religious convictions resonated tectonically in his work, the fictional landscape above shaped by a painstakingly consistent mythology. But Tolkien reined in his general objection, and either gave specific feedback or else just listened without comment.
Glyer also uses the Inklings to illustrate what can kill a group. Some of the Inklings, including Owen Barfield, didn’t care for Lord of the Rings, but kept silent when it was Tolkien’s turn to read. But Hugo Dyson, a man they all liked and respected, loathed LOTR so much he would complain loudly if Tolkien showed up with papers—now they were in for another load of elves.
His complaints were so loud and consistent that Tolkien stopped reading when Dyson showed up—and though none of them knew it at the time, that was the breaking point of the Inklings. Glyer illustrates the fundamental difference between keeping silence, and silencing someone.
At the end of each chapter is a concise set of suggestions for the writer either on process or as part of a writers’ group, and it ends with a terrific meditation on collaboration in the wider sense.
There’s an excellent quote from Dorothy Sayers: “Poets do not merely pass on the torch in a relay race; they toss the ball to one another, to and fro, across the centuries. Dante would have been different if Virgil had never been, but if Dante had never been, we should know Virgil differently; across both their heads Ezekiel calls to Blake, and Milton to Homer.”
The book ends with a list of sensible—and workable—suggestions for putting together a writers’ group.
I think this book would be ideal for any writer with sympathy or interest in at least one of the Inklings. It would also be an excellent text for a writers’ class, especially within the framework of Christian schools, as the Inklings were Christians, so there is necessarily discussion of Christian viewpoints. But I think there is a great deal of insight and practical suggestion for anybody here, unless you happen to be one of those who has to stick fingers in ears and shout La La La! when a discussion veers toward sympathy with religion.
The book is also handsomely illustrated by James A. Owen.
November 25, 2015
This is much more than just a popular version of Glyers' great Scholarly work on the Inkings -The Company They Keep- this is a book that encourages new writers just as much as it tells the story of great writers in the past -its a call to collaboration full of inspiring stories and practical tips, so that we not only admire the Inklings as a writers group, we are given every opportunity and encouragement to learn from them
Want to read
November 7, 2015"Community" is all the rage these days: There's the atheist community and the art community, the scrapbooking community and the UFO community, the homeless community and the homeschool community. But having a common interest or grievance does not forge a set of disconnected individuals into a genuinely connected union. Churches, too, if you're into that kind of thing, have started using the term "community" a lot, though we pretty much just mean the same thing as when we talked about our "membership." Diana Glyer's new book, "Bandersnatch," is not just, as New York Times book reviewer Mark Oppenheimer said in a different context, "another way to finger (C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien's) shroud," not simply another book about the beer-and-pipe group of what Malcolm Guite has called "tweed-covered Oxford dons." Glyer studies the Inklings to find the genius that allowed this boisterous group of strong personalities to form a true "community" that provided the encouragement, opposition, praise, criticism, and fun that sustained what is now being understood as perhaps the only truly counter-cultural, revolutionary writer's group of the mid twentieth-century. "Bandersnatch" could be read alongside the Rule of St. Benedict as a handbook for forming true community. For churches wishing to form genuinely dynamic "small groups," for pastors feeling the isolation of their calling and seeking a new wind in their sails, for Christian students striving courageously on the campuses of hostile secular universities, this is not an entertaining diversion but a field manual for the battle.
December 30, 2025
Fascinating book on how the Inklings shaped each other's writing. It left me with a lot of valuable insights on how to form these kinds of strong creative communities.
December 6, 2018
My only complaint is the lack of chronology. Everything else was incredible. I expected the book to be a biography on the Inklings group (and it is that, as the author had the context to understand the members and their writings).
But more than the WHO, the book addresses the HOW of the group. How did the Inklings impact one another? How did the group operate and for so long?
The most impactful part for me was the WHY. Why did they have a group at all? And why on earth did it become the writing group of the 21st century?
Bandersnatch explores the very nature of community and how the Inklings achieved a proper balance for such a long while. It's more than a biography--it's a study of creativity and community. As a writer, it's an invaluable insight into one of the most influential groups of modern times and a highly practical inspiration.
But more than the WHO, the book addresses the HOW of the group. How did the Inklings impact one another? How did the group operate and for so long?
The most impactful part for me was the WHY. Why did they have a group at all? And why on earth did it become the writing group of the 21st century?
Bandersnatch explores the very nature of community and how the Inklings achieved a proper balance for such a long while. It's more than a biography--it's a study of creativity and community. As a writer, it's an invaluable insight into one of the most influential groups of modern times and a highly practical inspiration.
November 24, 2017
Rating: 3.5* of five, rounded up for the scrummy illustrations
It's #Booksgiving! Start getting your bookish friends their read on...this book is perfect for your LotR-obsessed friend who's read every word Tolkien wrote already.
Diana Pavlac Glyer, author of the also-excellent The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community, gives us a combination of cautionary tale for writers' groups, a group biography of the Inklings, and a meditation on what creativity, in the end, costs, means, and does. I love the illustrations. My full review is at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud.
It's #Booksgiving! Start getting your bookish friends their read on...this book is perfect for your LotR-obsessed friend who's read every word Tolkien wrote already.
Diana Pavlac Glyer, author of the also-excellent The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community, gives us a combination of cautionary tale for writers' groups, a group biography of the Inklings, and a meditation on what creativity, in the end, costs, means, and does. I love the illustrations. My full review is at Expendable Mudge Muses Aloud.
November 25, 2015
I enjoyed this book for many reasons--for its stories of the workings of the Inklings, for its insights into the creative process, and for its practical suggestions for writers and other creative people.
For those who love the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, could anything be more inspiring than to enter into the creative relationship of these two friends to see how they influenced one another? This book opens a door to that friendship and to the relationships among the other members of the Inklings to show what a creative difference these writers made to one another.
Bandersnatch is fascinating not only as literary history, but it will also show you ways to transform your own creative life by inviting others into it.
For those who love the works of J. R. R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, could anything be more inspiring than to enter into the creative relationship of these two friends to see how they influenced one another? This book opens a door to that friendship and to the relationships among the other members of the Inklings to show what a creative difference these writers made to one another.
Bandersnatch is fascinating not only as literary history, but it will also show you ways to transform your own creative life by inviting others into it.
March 6, 2017
Multitudes of readers and movie-goers are familiar with the names and writings of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. Many are also aware that the two literary giants were part of a ‘club’ called The Inklings, though they may not know anything about the group. Fewer realize that there were well over a dozen more Inklings, although some have heard of Christopher Tolkien, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfield. Hardly anyone can name all nineteen, and perhaps nobody has read every single thing ever published by every single one of them – except Dr. Diana Glyer.
From the treasure houses of knowledge accumulated over twenty-plus years of meticulous research, Dr. Glyer presents in Bandersnatch a well-balanced blend of trustworthy factual information and thoughtful insight regarding the individuals who were the Inklings, their personal interactions with one another, and both the public and private workings of the group as a corporate body.
The dual nature of this book makes it particularly helpful: it is not only a genuinely good, accessible biography of the Inklings; it is also an excellent, encouraging guidebook for those who wish to follow their example. Each chapter concludes with a succinct “Doing What They Did” summary, and the final section of the book is an epilogue outlining specific steps for starting a writing group.
Bandersnatch is both a significant contribution to Inklings scholarship and a valuable resource on collaborative creativity. I highly recommend it to Inklings lovers as well as writers and other artists seeking to live and create in community.
From the treasure houses of knowledge accumulated over twenty-plus years of meticulous research, Dr. Glyer presents in Bandersnatch a well-balanced blend of trustworthy factual information and thoughtful insight regarding the individuals who were the Inklings, their personal interactions with one another, and both the public and private workings of the group as a corporate body.
The dual nature of this book makes it particularly helpful: it is not only a genuinely good, accessible biography of the Inklings; it is also an excellent, encouraging guidebook for those who wish to follow their example. Each chapter concludes with a succinct “Doing What They Did” summary, and the final section of the book is an epilogue outlining specific steps for starting a writing group.
Bandersnatch is both a significant contribution to Inklings scholarship and a valuable resource on collaborative creativity. I highly recommend it to Inklings lovers as well as writers and other artists seeking to live and create in community.
March 7, 2017
A glory upon glory. If Diana Pavlac Glyer's monumental The Company They Keep weren't enough to establish her in the echelon of the very best thinkers and writers on the Inklings, along comes Bandersnatch to cinch the deal for scholars and general readers alike, mapping out a collaborative model that cannot help but enrich every life lucky enough to delve into its pages. A MUST-HAVE, for many re-reads, for years to come!
December 6, 2023
This book analyzes the inner workings of the writing group, The Inklings, showing specific examples of how they encouraged and influenced each other's writing. We learn about Lewis' and Tolkien's individual writing styles, and how their group read aloud portions of their writing. The process of writing, revising, and editing was intimately connected with the influence of the Inklings, despite Lewis famously saying that it was impossible to influence Tolkien: "...you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch." This book proves Lewis wrong, giving specific examples of times when Tolkien took criticism from the Inklings very seriously and altered major sections of his writing accordingly.
I really loved that this book gives specific examples of how the Inklings influenced each other, sometimes even showing the manuscript before and after revision, with little notes from their fellow authors in the margins.
Tolkien said that he loved "hobbit talk", but Lewis urged him to cut down on the silly hobbit dialogue since it slowed down the plot. Tolkien listened, and his earlier manuscripts of the Lord of the Rings show a lot more hobbit dialogue and a slower pace. Although there might be readers who would enjoy a little more silly "hobbit talk", all of that was cut down for the final version of the book. It was fascinated to read an early scene from Fellowship of the Ring as the hobbits are trekking across the Shire happily chatting amongst themselves, but in the end, only a handful of those lines were kept.
Another interesting section of the book was about how the Inklings would collaborate on humorous poems, composed on the spot during walking tours, never written down, but just recited or reeled off for their own amusement in the moment. They would also play a game of round-robin storytelling, inventing part of a story and then the next person would have to concoct the next leg of the tale. For these creative geniuses, imagination was like breathing.
But their close friendship did not mean that they always agreed. There is a whole chapter about how the Inklings often argued and butted heads. Most famously, Tolkien didn't like the Narnia books. Although Tolkien had a deep respect for Lewis, both as a writer and as a scholar, he admitted that the style of the Narnia books was just not his cup of tea, mainly because he disliked allegory so vehemently. But when Tolkien saw how popular Narnia was becoming, he acknowledged that they "are deservedly very popular".
There are also sections about Charles Williams, with his enigmatic personality and his deep influence on each of the Inklings; and about Owen Barfield, and his delightful intellectual skirmishes with Lewis (apparently they loved to argue good-naturedly over everything). There is also a focus on Warren Lewis and his scholarly writings about French history. We really get to know the intimate details of how these people talked and worked and interacted.
You can tell that this book is extremely well-researched. In fact, the author has published another similar book with a more scholarly tone, and they wrote this book to be more geared towards the fans, rather than scholars. We have some fun anecdotes, and the writing style is engaging.
There is one thing that makes this book stand out from all other books about the Inklings: the application. At the end of each chapter there is a section that talks about applying lessons we can learn from the Inklings group to your own creative group. No creative journey should be attempted alone, and we can learn from the example of the Inklings to see what works and what doesn't work, and what practices allow creativity to thrive and what kills creativity.
I enjoyed this book so much! It really got me inspired to take on some creative projects, and look about me for like-minded people to encourage me on my writing journey.
If you are looking for a creative breakthrough, this book is wonderfully insightful and helpful. Or if you are just wanting to learn more about the Inklings and their work, you will definitely discover something new in these pages!
I really loved that this book gives specific examples of how the Inklings influenced each other, sometimes even showing the manuscript before and after revision, with little notes from their fellow authors in the margins.
Tolkien said that he loved "hobbit talk", but Lewis urged him to cut down on the silly hobbit dialogue since it slowed down the plot. Tolkien listened, and his earlier manuscripts of the Lord of the Rings show a lot more hobbit dialogue and a slower pace. Although there might be readers who would enjoy a little more silly "hobbit talk", all of that was cut down for the final version of the book. It was fascinated to read an early scene from Fellowship of the Ring as the hobbits are trekking across the Shire happily chatting amongst themselves, but in the end, only a handful of those lines were kept.
Another interesting section of the book was about how the Inklings would collaborate on humorous poems, composed on the spot during walking tours, never written down, but just recited or reeled off for their own amusement in the moment. They would also play a game of round-robin storytelling, inventing part of a story and then the next person would have to concoct the next leg of the tale. For these creative geniuses, imagination was like breathing.
But their close friendship did not mean that they always agreed. There is a whole chapter about how the Inklings often argued and butted heads. Most famously, Tolkien didn't like the Narnia books. Although Tolkien had a deep respect for Lewis, both as a writer and as a scholar, he admitted that the style of the Narnia books was just not his cup of tea, mainly because he disliked allegory so vehemently. But when Tolkien saw how popular Narnia was becoming, he acknowledged that they "are deservedly very popular".
There are also sections about Charles Williams, with his enigmatic personality and his deep influence on each of the Inklings; and about Owen Barfield, and his delightful intellectual skirmishes with Lewis (apparently they loved to argue good-naturedly over everything). There is also a focus on Warren Lewis and his scholarly writings about French history. We really get to know the intimate details of how these people talked and worked and interacted.
You can tell that this book is extremely well-researched. In fact, the author has published another similar book with a more scholarly tone, and they wrote this book to be more geared towards the fans, rather than scholars. We have some fun anecdotes, and the writing style is engaging.
There is one thing that makes this book stand out from all other books about the Inklings: the application. At the end of each chapter there is a section that talks about applying lessons we can learn from the Inklings group to your own creative group. No creative journey should be attempted alone, and we can learn from the example of the Inklings to see what works and what doesn't work, and what practices allow creativity to thrive and what kills creativity.
I enjoyed this book so much! It really got me inspired to take on some creative projects, and look about me for like-minded people to encourage me on my writing journey.
If you are looking for a creative breakthrough, this book is wonderfully insightful and helpful. Or if you are just wanting to learn more about the Inklings and their work, you will definitely discover something new in these pages!
December 12, 2015
There is something wonderful about good literature. The words, the phrases, the characters, the exciting plot twists – a good story of an amalgamation of many things working together. When we find a story that captures us, that plants its roots firmly in our imaginations, we quickly develop a deep and lasting appreciation for that work.
Have you ever had that feeling? The sensation of being transported to another time, another place? It is nothing short of magical. But how does an author achieve this? How does he or she take bare symbols on the page and create something that blossoms so beautifully in our minds?
Talent and hard work. That is the short, expected answer. However, writing is a difficult and soul-bearing process. There are times when the glorious worlds that an author envisions are not what sweeps across the page. Writers get discouraged; they wrestle with self-doubt. They also need a strong and trustworthy voice to give advice and constructive criticism. Most of our greatest writers had this including two ever-popular fantasy staples, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
Tolkien and Lewis were friends and lecturers at Oxford. First they discovered a mutual love for “northerness” – Norse mythology. They began to write and challenge one another, meeting in Lewis’s room at Oxford on Thursday evening. More people joined, and out of this casual gathering came one of the most influential writing groups in history – The Inklings. Here drafts of The Lord of the Rings and certain books from The Chronicles of Narnia (along with many other manuscripts) were read and given critical feedback. This shaped the drafts into stronger pieces, and later into cherished and much-loved classics. The fascinating journey of this writing group, along with beautiful illustrations, is presented in the newest work by scholar Diana Glyer, Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings.
This book, wonderfully illustrated by James A. Owen, traces the journey of the Inklings from its infancy to its full maturation. This included men from a variety of backgrounds – scholars, a doctor, an attorney, a publisher – that met twice a week, once to share drafts and another to engage is rowdy and boisterous conversation at The Eagle and Child Pub. Glyer carefully details how Lewis provided feedback to sharpen sections of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien gave feedback to Lewis on The Chronicles of Narnia (spoiler: he wasn’t a fan). Both men gave substantial criticism which made the manuscripts much better. For example, what were some of the original hobbit names? Glyer tells you, along with how Lewis’s suggestions were incorporated to make the characters better (another spoiler: the first names were kinda hideous).
Additionally, Glyer explains how creative collaboration makes a draft better. This is not “slavish imitation or thinly veiled plagiarism,” she writes. Instead, it is the encouragement of other artists contributing to a wider body of art. Many times, we look to our favorite authors or painters or musicians to lend us inspiration. Why not surround ourselves with artists whom we admire to catalyze our creativity? Glyer writes, “More and more, normal creativity starts to look a lot less like a lone genius stuck with a single breathtaking insight and a whole lot more like a series of sparks coming from different directions, each spark inspiring something new” (149). She has worked for over 40 years in Inklings scholarship, reading all of the works of each Inkling. The fruit of her labor was her award-winning dissertation, The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community.
Glyer’s book is a significant contribution to Inklings Studies. If you are not a Tolkien or Lewis fan, there are still lots of great lessons and stories in the book to pique your interest. Glyer discusses how to create collaborative groups in her epilogue; it is a helpful guide for anyone who wants to create in community, using a wealth of examples from her research on the Inklings.
This book is a MUST HAVE!!! I urge you to add it to your library.
from Legendariummedia.com
Have you ever had that feeling? The sensation of being transported to another time, another place? It is nothing short of magical. But how does an author achieve this? How does he or she take bare symbols on the page and create something that blossoms so beautifully in our minds?
Talent and hard work. That is the short, expected answer. However, writing is a difficult and soul-bearing process. There are times when the glorious worlds that an author envisions are not what sweeps across the page. Writers get discouraged; they wrestle with self-doubt. They also need a strong and trustworthy voice to give advice and constructive criticism. Most of our greatest writers had this including two ever-popular fantasy staples, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
Tolkien and Lewis were friends and lecturers at Oxford. First they discovered a mutual love for “northerness” – Norse mythology. They began to write and challenge one another, meeting in Lewis’s room at Oxford on Thursday evening. More people joined, and out of this casual gathering came one of the most influential writing groups in history – The Inklings. Here drafts of The Lord of the Rings and certain books from The Chronicles of Narnia (along with many other manuscripts) were read and given critical feedback. This shaped the drafts into stronger pieces, and later into cherished and much-loved classics. The fascinating journey of this writing group, along with beautiful illustrations, is presented in the newest work by scholar Diana Glyer, Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings.
This book, wonderfully illustrated by James A. Owen, traces the journey of the Inklings from its infancy to its full maturation. This included men from a variety of backgrounds – scholars, a doctor, an attorney, a publisher – that met twice a week, once to share drafts and another to engage is rowdy and boisterous conversation at The Eagle and Child Pub. Glyer carefully details how Lewis provided feedback to sharpen sections of The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien gave feedback to Lewis on The Chronicles of Narnia (spoiler: he wasn’t a fan). Both men gave substantial criticism which made the manuscripts much better. For example, what were some of the original hobbit names? Glyer tells you, along with how Lewis’s suggestions were incorporated to make the characters better (another spoiler: the first names were kinda hideous).
Additionally, Glyer explains how creative collaboration makes a draft better. This is not “slavish imitation or thinly veiled plagiarism,” she writes. Instead, it is the encouragement of other artists contributing to a wider body of art. Many times, we look to our favorite authors or painters or musicians to lend us inspiration. Why not surround ourselves with artists whom we admire to catalyze our creativity? Glyer writes, “More and more, normal creativity starts to look a lot less like a lone genius stuck with a single breathtaking insight and a whole lot more like a series of sparks coming from different directions, each spark inspiring something new” (149). She has worked for over 40 years in Inklings scholarship, reading all of the works of each Inkling. The fruit of her labor was her award-winning dissertation, The Company They Keep: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien as Writers in Community.
Glyer’s book is a significant contribution to Inklings Studies. If you are not a Tolkien or Lewis fan, there are still lots of great lessons and stories in the book to pique your interest. Glyer discusses how to create collaborative groups in her epilogue; it is a helpful guide for anyone who wants to create in community, using a wealth of examples from her research on the Inklings.
This book is a MUST HAVE!!! I urge you to add it to your library.
from Legendariummedia.com
November 25, 2015
Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings is a remarkable account of the relationships of Lewis, Tolkien, and the Inklings as they were interwoven in friendship, faith, and work. Dr. Glyer, the world's leading expert on the influence of the Inklings has written magnificently about this set of relationships in her extraordinary book -The Company They Keep. The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community However, while general topic range is similar between these two works, the treatment of the material and the purpose of each is quite distinct. The Company They Keep is a scholars book - a book brilliantly and beautifully written for those who study the Inklings and their work. It is a pivotal work challenging existing notions about the influence and effects the Inklings has on each other and in it Glyer bravely and boldly advances a concept about how creative work is produced in context of community rather than in isolation. The Company They Keep is THE best book written on the nature of collaboration of the Inklings and nothing compares to it. There are some tremendous works done by fellow Inklings scholars including Colin Duriez, Michael Ward, Malcolm Guite, Bruce Edwards, Jerry Root, Judith and Brendan Wolfe, Philip and Carol Zaleski, and Devin Brown. However, no work of scholarship in existence today compares to The Company They Keep for the specific nature of the material that is addressed in it.
Bandersnatch is a book emerging from this illustrious foundation but it is written for a wider audience and for a different purpose. It is designed to have wider application of critical ideas applicable to creatives in many fields - but especially for writers. This is a book using the beautifully told story of Lewis and Tolkien's long friendship and out of each chapter key ideas are drawn with insightful suggestions, aptly titled "Doing What They Did", on how those same practices can be recreated in our own lives as creatives. And a luscious bonus to all this are the illustrations by James A. Owen, fabulous illustrator and author of the Chronicles of Imaginarium Geographica series. The cover illustration is a delight and there is an illustration of Lewis outside Magdalen College that is just riveting! The illustrations have a unique quality of lending a sense of imaginative mystery to the text and serve as portals into the ideas themselves.
Overall, this book is not only not to be missed, it is a book to be followed. There are exciting additions planned in the course of the next year that will continue the legacy of insight into collaboration and creating in community and I believe this is just the beginning of something marvelous!
Bandersnatch is a book emerging from this illustrious foundation but it is written for a wider audience and for a different purpose. It is designed to have wider application of critical ideas applicable to creatives in many fields - but especially for writers. This is a book using the beautifully told story of Lewis and Tolkien's long friendship and out of each chapter key ideas are drawn with insightful suggestions, aptly titled "Doing What They Did", on how those same practices can be recreated in our own lives as creatives. And a luscious bonus to all this are the illustrations by James A. Owen, fabulous illustrator and author of the Chronicles of Imaginarium Geographica series. The cover illustration is a delight and there is an illustration of Lewis outside Magdalen College that is just riveting! The illustrations have a unique quality of lending a sense of imaginative mystery to the text and serve as portals into the ideas themselves.
Overall, this book is not only not to be missed, it is a book to be followed. There are exciting additions planned in the course of the next year that will continue the legacy of insight into collaboration and creating in community and I believe this is just the beginning of something marvelous!
July 4, 2016
Bandersnatch
Any writer, no matter how talented, can benefit from the creative collaboration of a writing group, in giving honest advice and encouragement. Demonstrating this, Diana Glyer provides a unique, inspiring and captivating resource for the writer-in-group (even a small group) She draws richly upon the experience of the Inklings, one of literature's most well-known groups: their art of collaboration that can still mentor and sustain writers today.
Any writer, no matter how talented, can benefit from the creative collaboration of a writing group, in giving honest advice and encouragement. Demonstrating this, Diana Glyer provides a unique, inspiring and captivating resource for the writer-in-group (even a small group) She draws richly upon the experience of the Inklings, one of literature's most well-known groups: their art of collaboration that can still mentor and sustain writers today.
July 23, 2021
Good little book on how the Inklings worked together. We’ll researched, even a bit academic at times. The last two chapter were helpful in learning how to apply the lessons learned from the study. Micheal Ward is not only an Lewis academic in his own right but also an excellent narrator for this book.
November 6, 2020
A delightful addition to scholarship on the Inklings. I really enjoyed this particular contribution because it is as much an analysis of the mechanics of the wildly successful writing group as it is about the individual members as writers. It left me longing for a group of friends who are all committed in heart and time to producing quality writing and who happen to thoroughly enjoy each other's company.
Glyer focuses on Charles Williams more than other books I've read on the group, and I am so glad she does. Williams is my new favorite Inkling. Though I don't know his body of work well, if he was anything like Glyer presents him than he was a rather remarkable friend and person. These are character goals for sure:
From his biographer, Alice Mary Hadfield: "C.W. could make each one [strangers and friends alike] seem important and interesting, a vital gift to most of us, but even more than that, he could make life important and interesting, not some life removed from us by money, opportunity or gifts, but the very life we had to lead and should probably go on leading for years."
From Gerard Hopkins: "He found the gold in all of us and made it shine."
Glyer also describes a principle of his life as being "Everyone, all the time, owes his life to others. It is not only in war that this is true. We cannot eat breakfast without being nourished by some life that has been laid down. If our breakfast is cereal or toast, then it is the life of grains of wheat that have gone into the ground and died that we might have food. If it is bacon, then the blood of some pig has been shed for the sake of my nourishment." Such a beautiful way to appreciate the world and those who participate in it with, for, and because of us.
So yeah, this book has started my little obsessions with Charles Williams and writing groups.
Also, the sketches are delightful and somehow Sehnsucht-inducing.
Glyer focuses on Charles Williams more than other books I've read on the group, and I am so glad she does. Williams is my new favorite Inkling. Though I don't know his body of work well, if he was anything like Glyer presents him than he was a rather remarkable friend and person. These are character goals for sure:
From his biographer, Alice Mary Hadfield: "C.W. could make each one [strangers and friends alike] seem important and interesting, a vital gift to most of us, but even more than that, he could make life important and interesting, not some life removed from us by money, opportunity or gifts, but the very life we had to lead and should probably go on leading for years."
From Gerard Hopkins: "He found the gold in all of us and made it shine."
Glyer also describes a principle of his life as being "Everyone, all the time, owes his life to others. It is not only in war that this is true. We cannot eat breakfast without being nourished by some life that has been laid down. If our breakfast is cereal or toast, then it is the life of grains of wheat that have gone into the ground and died that we might have food. If it is bacon, then the blood of some pig has been shed for the sake of my nourishment." Such a beautiful way to appreciate the world and those who participate in it with, for, and because of us.
So yeah, this book has started my little obsessions with Charles Williams and writing groups.
Also, the sketches are delightful and somehow Sehnsucht-inducing.
December 2, 2015
Bandersnatch -
Wow, this book is a treasure. For a non-academic lover of Lewis and Tolkien, and now the other Inklings, like me, this is a great find. As a practical working person who also has a passion to create and express through design, invention and story, this work brings new direction and hope. Its practical direction and inspiring hope changed my view of my own writing from a little hobby into something that I now know, in community, can grow into something of real significance.
Bandersnatch is no selfish dragon. Because of its very nature, you will be compelled to share this book with friends. Its treasures may be contained between two covers, in its intricate illustrations, its wealth of valuable information and many inspiring stories, so full of interesting character(s), but its full value will be realize as it changes lives through its many practical, usable nuggets of advice. I know my life will be enriched as I share, explore and follow the examples it contains, within my group of like-minded friends.
Wow, this book is a treasure. For a non-academic lover of Lewis and Tolkien, and now the other Inklings, like me, this is a great find. As a practical working person who also has a passion to create and express through design, invention and story, this work brings new direction and hope. Its practical direction and inspiring hope changed my view of my own writing from a little hobby into something that I now know, in community, can grow into something of real significance.
Bandersnatch is no selfish dragon. Because of its very nature, you will be compelled to share this book with friends. Its treasures may be contained between two covers, in its intricate illustrations, its wealth of valuable information and many inspiring stories, so full of interesting character(s), but its full value will be realize as it changes lives through its many practical, usable nuggets of advice. I know my life will be enriched as I share, explore and follow the examples it contains, within my group of like-minded friends.
September 1, 2024
If you read any two books about the Inklings, you’ll know pretty much all we’ll ever know about them. Any new facts or insights seem unlikely; it’s not an unlimited stream of research. But I always find it interesting and comforting to pick up another book that retells the same story. I appreciate Diana Pavlac Glyer’s down-to-earth consideration of Tolkien, the Lewises, Williams, Barfield, Dyson, and the others who participated in this Thursday night/Tuesday lunch group in the 1930s and ’40s. She looks at these individuals not as legends but as real people, who found a community that generally pushed each person to be better, especially in their writing. Glyer gives a balanced perspective on how influential discussions among the Inklings’ members were and how much comments from the group might have influenced a member’s writing and revising. She also details some of the ways members of the Inklings showed up in one another’s work, from dedications to fictionalized versions of Inklings in stories. I like her idea of "resonators," and I'll use that in my own teaching and mentoring. I was surprised Glyer never brought her topics into conversation with Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, whose writing about creativity and flow might be helpful here.
A somewhat lite purpose of Bandersnatch is to suggest ways readers might draw on lessons from the Inklings in their own lives. It’s not a how-to book, but Glyer does suggest practical applications at the end of each chapter and in a concluding chapter of tips.
I read Bandersnatch this weekend in preparation for a class session next week about the Inklings and Lewis’s thoughts on friendship. I enjoyed the quick review of very familiar and beloved material. I look forward to reading Glyer’s longer version, The Company They Keep.
A somewhat lite purpose of Bandersnatch is to suggest ways readers might draw on lessons from the Inklings in their own lives. It’s not a how-to book, but Glyer does suggest practical applications at the end of each chapter and in a concluding chapter of tips.
I read Bandersnatch this weekend in preparation for a class session next week about the Inklings and Lewis’s thoughts on friendship. I enjoyed the quick review of very familiar and beloved material. I look forward to reading Glyer’s longer version, The Company They Keep.
September 6, 2025
It surprised me how much I loved this book. I have a whole different view of some of the most influential writers of all time. I always thought that you did your best writing in solitude when in fact, a lot of it is done collaboratively in one form or another. The Inklings were an inspiring group and I hope to one day have what they had.
January 6, 2017
My initial impression of this book was that it would be a specific and somewhat thorough examination of the kinds of conversations surrounding Tolkein and Lewis and their seminal texts (i.e. how their conversations with each other and The Inklings influenced the works), but the examination never felt developed; it remained at a very superficial level of discourse. This may be because the author wrote this book for the layman after realizing that her initial text might be too academic. Had I known that, though, I probably would have chosen to read her original publication, because this version was filled with, what I thought to be, universals and vague generalizations that tried -- unsuccessfully -- to negotiate the space between academia and the layman's understanding. More frustrating for me was the author's disjointed jump from an account of something like one of the group's meetings and peer review sessions to a kind of unsolicited advice section on how to apply the principles of peer review to the reader's own work. This assumes that the reader is also an aspiring author; of course there's nothing wrong with that, but, again, I'd assumed that this text would focus on the creation and development of LOTR and Narnia rather than attempt to function as both a very general account of The Inklings and a kind of author's self-help book. My final criticism is the lack of organization throughout; this book was choppy, choppy, choppy. Wait, my final, FINAL criticism is that the book was self-referential: it's only 200 pages and not difficult to understand, so I find that kind of "We'll cover this is chapter four" attitude to be a little displaced in this particular project. For all of my harping, though, this was a good book, and I did learn more about Tolkein and Lewis as both authors and individuals. Just don't expect a detailed account of either of their works and you'll be pleased; this is simply a general introduction to The Inklings (so, like, it actually talks a fair bit about the others members of the group; whomp whomp) and what they did.
March 15, 2016
I was so looking forward to the release of this book and it was WELL WORTH THE WAIT! I am a huge fan of Glyer's The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community, so much so that it never occurred to me the book is "scholarly" and therefore "over the heads of" some readers (I personally question that - Diana Glyer writes with such accessibility and her footnotes are full of wonderful information; I wonder if some people are just intimidated by the idea of a book with footnotes or an author who talks about doing a lot of research into the subject matter...?) - but BANDERSNATCH covers much the same ground in a very reader-friendly way, focusing on the power of collaboration with a lot of "how to do what the Inklings did" details for modern writers, artists, and musicians.
I think Bandersnatch is very accessible and highly engaging and encouraging - I cannot imagine a creative person coming away without being greatly inspired and stimulated.
I think Bandersnatch is very accessible and highly engaging and encouraging - I cannot imagine a creative person coming away without being greatly inspired and stimulated.
November 25, 2015
This is an incredible book that I enjoyed more with every new inside look at the collaboration of the Inklings, and every new insight into how such collaborative friendship can bolster creativity today. The author shows that timeless works like The Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia were not solo acts, but impacted and formed by honest critique, witty conversations, and deep friendships. It was fascinating as a reader to enter into the world of these creative masters and follow along in their collaborative processes.
Each story in Bandersnatch about the Inklings is masterfully told in rich detail. This plus the added insights into creativity today inspired me in my own friendships and creative pursuits. Anyone pursuing imagination and creativity--whether in writing, art, music, academia, the business world, or literally anywhere else--will discover through this book how collaboration can transform whatever work they are doing.
Each story in Bandersnatch about the Inklings is masterfully told in rich detail. This plus the added insights into creativity today inspired me in my own friendships and creative pursuits. Anyone pursuing imagination and creativity--whether in writing, art, music, academia, the business world, or literally anywhere else--will discover through this book how collaboration can transform whatever work they are doing.
January 30, 2025
Quotes:
William T. Kirkpatrick, who said of Warren Lewis,
"He is one of the nicest, best tempered, personally amiable boys I have ever met. To live in the house with him is a pleasure, and no one could sit working along with him so long as I have done without developing an affection for him."
Lewis: Such society, unless all its members happen to be of one trade, makes heavy demands on a man's versatility. And we were by no means of one trade. The talk might turn in almost any direction, and certainly skipped "from grave to gay, from lively to severe": but wherever it went, Williams was ready for it.
Tolkien recognized this essential gift, expressing thanks to C. S. Lewis: "He was for long my only audience.
Only from him did I ever get the idea that my 'stuff' could be more than a private hobby. But for his interest and unceasing eagerness for more I should never have brought [The Lord of the Rings] to a conclusion."
For Lewis, praise is not only a natural part of life, but also one of the most important traits of a healthy mind. He observes, "The humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least." He sums it up this way: "Praise almost seems to be inner health made audible."
Alice Mary Hadfield: "C. W. could make each one seem important and interesting, a vital gift to most of us, but even more than that, he could make life important and interesting, not some life removed from us by money, opportunity or gifts, but the very life we had to lead and should probably go on leading for years."
Gerard Hopkins about Charles Williams:
"He found the gold in all of us and made it shine."
There are two characteristics of strong creative groups: a passionate interest in the same things and a variety of personalities and diverse points of view. Without the first, there will be no glue to hold things together. Without the second, the participants won't have the benefit of multiple talents and perspectives and they won't get enough help to make a real difference.
But encouraging difference will mean conflict. It may seem that the most important way to protect the dynamics of a group is to strike the right balance between positive and negative, between encouragement and correction. But it is far more important to see the difference between correction that is helpful and condemnation that is dismissive and, therefore, destroys.
Lewis about Charles Williams: "Mr. Williams's manners implied a complete offer of intimacy without the slightest imposition of intimacy. He threw down all his own barriers without even implying that you should lower yours."
After Lewis lost the Professor of Poetry election
As Tolkien explains, "I remember that we had assembled soon after in our accustomed tavern and found C. S. L. sitting there, looking (and since he was no actor at all probably feeling) much at ease. 'Fill up!' he said, 'and stop looking so glum. The only distressing thing about this affair is that my friends seem to be upset."
Charles Williams observed, "Much was possible to a man in solitude....But some things were possible only to a man in companionship, and of these the most important was balance. No mind was so good that it did not need another mind to counter and equal it, and to save it from conceit and blindness and bigotry and folly."
Lewis: “No one ever influenced Tolkien— you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch. We listened to his work, but could affect it only by encouragement. He has only two reactions to criticism; either he begins the whole work over again from the beginning or else takes no notice at all.”
William T. Kirkpatrick, who said of Warren Lewis,
"He is one of the nicest, best tempered, personally amiable boys I have ever met. To live in the house with him is a pleasure, and no one could sit working along with him so long as I have done without developing an affection for him."
Lewis: Such society, unless all its members happen to be of one trade, makes heavy demands on a man's versatility. And we were by no means of one trade. The talk might turn in almost any direction, and certainly skipped "from grave to gay, from lively to severe": but wherever it went, Williams was ready for it.
Tolkien recognized this essential gift, expressing thanks to C. S. Lewis: "He was for long my only audience.
Only from him did I ever get the idea that my 'stuff' could be more than a private hobby. But for his interest and unceasing eagerness for more I should never have brought [The Lord of the Rings] to a conclusion."
For Lewis, praise is not only a natural part of life, but also one of the most important traits of a healthy mind. He observes, "The humblest, and at the same time most balanced and capacious, minds praised most, while the cranks, misfits and malcontents praised least." He sums it up this way: "Praise almost seems to be inner health made audible."
Alice Mary Hadfield: "C. W. could make each one seem important and interesting, a vital gift to most of us, but even more than that, he could make life important and interesting, not some life removed from us by money, opportunity or gifts, but the very life we had to lead and should probably go on leading for years."
Gerard Hopkins about Charles Williams:
"He found the gold in all of us and made it shine."
There are two characteristics of strong creative groups: a passionate interest in the same things and a variety of personalities and diverse points of view. Without the first, there will be no glue to hold things together. Without the second, the participants won't have the benefit of multiple talents and perspectives and they won't get enough help to make a real difference.
But encouraging difference will mean conflict. It may seem that the most important way to protect the dynamics of a group is to strike the right balance between positive and negative, between encouragement and correction. But it is far more important to see the difference between correction that is helpful and condemnation that is dismissive and, therefore, destroys.
Lewis about Charles Williams: "Mr. Williams's manners implied a complete offer of intimacy without the slightest imposition of intimacy. He threw down all his own barriers without even implying that you should lower yours."
After Lewis lost the Professor of Poetry election
As Tolkien explains, "I remember that we had assembled soon after in our accustomed tavern and found C. S. L. sitting there, looking (and since he was no actor at all probably feeling) much at ease. 'Fill up!' he said, 'and stop looking so glum. The only distressing thing about this affair is that my friends seem to be upset."
Charles Williams observed, "Much was possible to a man in solitude....But some things were possible only to a man in companionship, and of these the most important was balance. No mind was so good that it did not need another mind to counter and equal it, and to save it from conceit and blindness and bigotry and folly."
Lewis: “No one ever influenced Tolkien— you might as well try to influence a bandersnatch. We listened to his work, but could affect it only by encouragement. He has only two reactions to criticism; either he begins the whole work over again from the beginning or else takes no notice at all.”
November 22, 2021
Anyone who knows me knows I love Tolkien’s works and the world that he has created. So, I have always known about the inklings and friendship of Lewis and Tolkien, but I never knew the true extent of it. As far as I knew was that they were friends and that Tolkien played a part with Lewis conversion to Christianity. I knew nothing about how they influenced each other’s writings. And even at that I had no idea the extent to how many people were in the inklings. All that said I immediately bought this book when I saw it, expecting to only learn about Tolkien and Lewis, but man was I wrong. This book showed so many intricate details about how the inklings help and influenced each other, how well they knew and cared for each other, and even how well they critiqued one another. I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Lewis, Tolkien, and the inklings writings. I am an engineer, the farthest thing from a writer, but I really learned a lot from this book about the importance of collaboration in creating.
In the early chapters I struggled a bit with how the book shares stories out of chronological order. As the book went on I realized that the author wrote each chapter with a central idea or theme about the inklings. Which really help establish ideas as the book progressed.
In the early chapters I struggled a bit with how the book shares stories out of chronological order. As the book went on I realized that the author wrote each chapter with a central idea or theme about the inklings. Which really help establish ideas as the book progressed.
April 10, 2025
This book is just great. It's chock full of entertaining anecdotes and pulls from a deep well of research. It is, also, imminently practical.
One of the thousands of meme philosophers of our day has declared that Tolkien and Lewis should be upheld as masculine role models. True or not, the commitment they demonstrated to gathering intentionally and regularly to discuss spiritual and creative things is something we would do well to learn from. Fantasy, sci-fi, theology, myth, and historical analysis owe a great deal to the Inklings' commitment to each other.
One thing I'm taking away from this book is how Glyer defined resonators: people who decide to encourage each other in creating the underrepresented good that they love.
One of the thousands of meme philosophers of our day has declared that Tolkien and Lewis should be upheld as masculine role models. True or not, the commitment they demonstrated to gathering intentionally and regularly to discuss spiritual and creative things is something we would do well to learn from. Fantasy, sci-fi, theology, myth, and historical analysis owe a great deal to the Inklings' commitment to each other.
One thing I'm taking away from this book is how Glyer defined resonators: people who decide to encourage each other in creating the underrepresented good that they love.
January 28, 2020
This is a book about the collaborative life of the Inklings. Parts of it were rather plodding but then other parts of it positively soared. It was surprising to read of the frank disagreements, the lack of graciousness at times among the group. I never realized how much the members of the group contributed to each other’s work. I definitely would like to read more about each of the Inklings.
November 29, 2025
A look at some of the basic dynamics that made the Inklings collaboration joy-filled and productive.
December 8, 2015
What new great works might arise if we were to form Inklings-type communities for our own creative projects? Diana Glyer's new book, Bandersnatch, gives aspiring artists a lively birds-eye view into the internal workings of one of the most famous literary groups of all time and provides a roadmap for the aspiring author who dreams of a new "Narnia". Her guidebook provides the impetus for creating in collaboration with others. Based on her own scholarly research over twenty years, Bandersnatch identifies what it was about the Inklings that enabled each of them, not just one, to be prodigious in their output during the years they were collaborating. And it gives the reader the necessary information to do the same.
Dr. Glyer clarifies what makes a collaboration between friends successful. Her book is an invitation to, as she puts it, "rethink the process of invention" in order to create works that stand the test of time. Within the pages of Bandersnatch, Diana defines for the reader why "resonators" are necessary in order to move forward on personal projects. She also helps the reader to identify folks to play this critical role.
And there are bonuses. Diana gives the reader a glimpse of "northernness" as Lewis and Tolkien would have understood it. She cites a portion of Lewis's first letter to Charles Williams, which could form a study on what makes Lewis' own work so compelling and she provides a snapshot of how Lewis might have imagined angels. She also gives readers (through the eyes of Lewis) a reason to read Charles Williams. Her epilogue alone, with its specific recommendations for those seeking to form a group of people with whom they can collaborate, is worth the price of the book.
Our finite minds are forever balking and bolting, like a Bandersnatch. We need others who are willing to invest in our creative endeavors, to help refine and define and keep the creative impulse alive. Diana's book enables the reader to search out and assimilate those in our larger creative circles who can help us individually reach greater productivity than we ever could alone.
Dr. Glyer clarifies what makes a collaboration between friends successful. Her book is an invitation to, as she puts it, "rethink the process of invention" in order to create works that stand the test of time. Within the pages of Bandersnatch, Diana defines for the reader why "resonators" are necessary in order to move forward on personal projects. She also helps the reader to identify folks to play this critical role.
And there are bonuses. Diana gives the reader a glimpse of "northernness" as Lewis and Tolkien would have understood it. She cites a portion of Lewis's first letter to Charles Williams, which could form a study on what makes Lewis' own work so compelling and she provides a snapshot of how Lewis might have imagined angels. She also gives readers (through the eyes of Lewis) a reason to read Charles Williams. Her epilogue alone, with its specific recommendations for those seeking to form a group of people with whom they can collaborate, is worth the price of the book.
Our finite minds are forever balking and bolting, like a Bandersnatch. We need others who are willing to invest in our creative endeavors, to help refine and define and keep the creative impulse alive. Diana's book enables the reader to search out and assimilate those in our larger creative circles who can help us individually reach greater productivity than we ever could alone.
February 4, 2016
As a teenager, Diana Pavlac Glyer became fascinated by the Inklings, and how this group of accomplished writers may have influenced each other's work. Unfortunately, she found a great deal about the Inklings generally and as individuals, and almost nothing about how the Inklings may have engaged in mutual criticism and collaboration. Reading every published work about the group and its members brought her no closer, and at last she plunged into the primary sources--the letters, journals, and other papers left behind by the Inklings.
Few writing groups become famous, and the Inklings are among the most famous. Aside from writing and residence in or around Oxford, the Inklings were a diverse group, of varied professions, backgrounds, and interests. As Glyer lays it out, this very diversity is one of the reasons for their success: They each had something to learn and something to teach; they challenged each other, and reacted to challenges from the others; they had sparked new ideas and new directions from encounters with new ideas and perspectives.
Each chapter examines one aspect of how the Inklings worked together and contributed to each other's success. Mutual encouragement, criticism, editing, collaboration, and providing mutual accountability with their weekly meetings and readings of works in progress all played a role. In addition, they met frequently outside those formal meetings, informally, in twos and threes, taking walking tours, and other activities. Tolkien's first audience was the youngest and last of the Inklings, his own son Christopher, who became a formal member of the Inklings at age twenty.
This is a fascinating look at this important literary group, aimed at reaching a popular audience and at extracting from the Inklings' experience lessons that may help nascent writers' groups become useful to and supportive of their members. For all the practical lessons to be found, though, it's also just an absorbing look at some of the most important and interesting figures in 20th century fantasy literature.
Recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Few writing groups become famous, and the Inklings are among the most famous. Aside from writing and residence in or around Oxford, the Inklings were a diverse group, of varied professions, backgrounds, and interests. As Glyer lays it out, this very diversity is one of the reasons for their success: They each had something to learn and something to teach; they challenged each other, and reacted to challenges from the others; they had sparked new ideas and new directions from encounters with new ideas and perspectives.
Each chapter examines one aspect of how the Inklings worked together and contributed to each other's success. Mutual encouragement, criticism, editing, collaboration, and providing mutual accountability with their weekly meetings and readings of works in progress all played a role. In addition, they met frequently outside those formal meetings, informally, in twos and threes, taking walking tours, and other activities. Tolkien's first audience was the youngest and last of the Inklings, his own son Christopher, who became a formal member of the Inklings at age twenty.
This is a fascinating look at this important literary group, aimed at reaching a popular audience and at extracting from the Inklings' experience lessons that may help nascent writers' groups become useful to and supportive of their members. For all the practical lessons to be found, though, it's also just an absorbing look at some of the most important and interesting figures in 20th century fantasy literature.
Recommended.
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
December 14, 2015
Like the eponymous Bandersnatch, Glyer's book is something of a chimera. In part, it is a distillation of the research on the collaborative processes that influenced many of the creative works by members of the Inklings she reports in more detail and for a scholarly audience in The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community packaged for the general reader. In part, it is a how-to book for those who wish to create or participate in similar collaborative groups with the purpose of inspiring, supporting, and guiding creative work. The latter nature of the book is facilitated by its structure, consisting of chapters illustrating the ways in which the Inklings collaborated from which material the author derives precepts (summarized in text boxes at the end of each chapter and discussed in the epilogue) to guide those wishing to replicate those collaborative processes in their own groups. In attempting to write for a popular audience, Glyer may have aimed too low. The prose style is appropriate for a middle-school reader but may strike more experienced readers as somewhat patronizing. That being said, I found the book interesting and felt that the author supported most of her conclusions well. My only quibbles involve her assertion that the members of the Inklings were very different individuals who worked well together despite their differences and benefited from differing points of view. To a certain extent this is true, but we must remember that one had to be male, Christian, and in Oxford to be a member of the Inklings and that membership was by invitation only. These restrictions must necessarily have limited the range of different views that were available to the group. Nevertheless, Glyer has demonstrated brilliant research skills and has brought fascinating information on the activities and interrelationships of the Inklings to the attention of the general public in this book. She includes a good bibliography for those wishing to know more about this important group of writers and scholars.
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