Feel like your job is humdrum and wish you could be part of the movers and shakers? Mark Studdock did and regretted it.
As That Hideous Strength opens Mark Studdock is a newly married man with dreams of making it big in the academic world, if only he was a part of the “in” crowd who made the decisions. Just like Lewis’ description in his essay “The Inner Ring,” Mark is willing to compromise himself to gain membership into a group that has very questionable practices.
Highlights for the first third of January (1st – 10th) include: Two books published for the first time (one posthumously), two paperback debuts, and initial US versions of two of his books.
If you’ve been reading this series for any three month span, you likely noticed he wrote a good variety of books (some being published after his death). Sometimes I’ve noted when Lewis’s books were released in the US for the first time or when debuting in paperback editions. During this short period a total of six books became available in one of these forms or another.
It was on the 6th in 1944 that The Abolition of Man was released. This is the only book of totally new material during this third segment of January.
This Inklings member had a very profound impact on C.S. Lewis, even though he died less than ten years after they became friends.
As noted in a previous post Lewis often met with a group of friends where they frequently discussed their writings. After reading Charles Williams’ The Place of the Lion Lewis developed a friendship with him. Williams was working at the Oxford University Press at the time.
Highlights for the final third of December (21st – 31st) include: An essay about happiness, a special preview of a forthcoming book and two more installments of the eventual The Great Divorce.
Lewis had articles published in a large variety of places during his life. The final shorter work he wrote came out in The Saturday Evening Post less than a month after his death. “We Have No ‘Right to Happiness’” first appeared in their combined December 21-28, 1963 edition. The only other essay he wrote for them was the encore Screwtape piece mentioned last time. This article specifically attacks sexual happiness and was written at the invitation of the editor, Thomas Congdon. It begins with Lewis describing a comment by someone he calls “Clare” that defended the actions of others by stating “they have a right to happiness.”
he following is a revised piece from what I shared last Halloween. It was on this date (10/31) that the 25th letter from Screwtape was published in The Guardian.
