Status Updates From Into the Wardrobe: C. S. Le...

CS Lewis noted that Susan is in a phase of "false sophistication" and isn't necessarily damned. I think she's going to through an emotionally destroyed phase, damned or not

That white stag business at the the of LWW is in reference to Celtic lore

Author has just described Turkish delight as a British candy

Downing completely blows by the criticisms of the Narnia books, specifically misogyny and racism, not only denying the claims but barely examining them in two very short sections before moving on

Don't worry, everybody, he's going to defend Lewis's blatant racist ideas as well, because David C Downing is clearly the expert on what is racist and what isn't. He seems to think that because there are themes that suggest CS Lewis was against racism it means that his writing doesn't have this inherent racist bias at times reflective of his culture and era. He just wants to deny any racism or misogyny

OMG the author just goes on and on about the examples of Lewis's kindness toward specific woman in his blatant attempt to disregard the inherent misogyny in the man's writing, which makes NO SENSE

The author seems to think that by pointing out misogynistic ideas in Lewis's works this suggests that he's a woman-hating monster who punches women in the face every chance he gets as opposed to a reasonable man of his era expressing unconscious misogynistic bias in his writing

Now he's suggesting that Lewis was only echoing the teachings of the Anglican Church at the time, not himself expressing misogyny, despite the very basis of the church being steeped in misogyny and influencing in its followers

Downing's argument is the classic stupid argument that suggests the genders are starting from a level playing field

Omfg. David Downing immediately loses all my respect as he himself whines about Kath Filmers misogyny claims about Narnia and it's female characters by basically saying, "but there's evil man characters too!" completely missing the point and making me want to barf in his face

Sounds like there's an excellent book about the misogyny in Lewis's books that misogynists love crying about that I will have to read

This book suggests Jill Pole was inspired by real life WWII evacuee Jill Flewett, who evacuated to Lewis's house in Oxford, but the Internet only seems to believe she inspired Lucy along with Lucy Barfield, which seems strange

Excuse me, my full name is Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah!

Lewis didn't come up with the monopods from voyage of the dawn Treader on his own, legends of monopod creatures go back to Pliny the elder and every single legend over the ages has them not only having one leg but also laying on their backs and using their big foot to block the sun

The radiance and sweet smell of Aslan was inspired by descriptions of the holy Grail

Reepicheep is the embodiment of medieval chivalry, and his quest for Aslans Country is basically a Grail quest

Hmmm I don't like good familiarly British views on social hierarchy

I appreciate Lewis's disdain of the term the Renaissance because it overlooked all the rich culture and advancements of the medieval period

Laughing at Edmund's imaginings of being king and his determination to have anti-Beaver laws

It seems like this Aslan being the son of the emperor beyond the sea business is sort of related to the holy Trinity, and the emperor beyond the sea is like the god in the sky and Aslan the Jesus on the earth? But reading the books it just seems weird and vague, like he didn't want to think out any of that. But it was done on purpose to emphasize 'numinous-ness'

So the whole excess of 'Aslan is not a tame lion' in the Last Battle is because the phrase is supposed to emphasize his 'numinous' qualities, but it's being used in a bastardized way to support the false Aslans cruelty

I'm only a quarter of the way in and he's already described all the books, deftly avoiding any racist pitfalls and never criticizing once, so I hope we get deeper looks later on

CS Lewis is basically Digory/professor kirke, one representing his childhood and the other his adulthood

Shift the Ape is the Narnian antichrist

I do appreciate that the Silver Chair was a journey into the underworld story but it was still dull

White Witch inspired by Circe

"humanity does not pass through phases as a train passes through stations; being alive, it has the privilege of always moving yet never leaving anything behind. Whatever we have been, in some sort we still are."