Tag: Selected Literary Essays

RETROSPECT: May 22th – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of May (22nd – 31st) include: A prize-winning essay, his first Christian book that was his only true allegory and a Pentecost sermon.

Lewis’s first book after becoming a Christian was very different in several ways than his two previous works. Those initial titles were poetry, while The Pilgrim’s Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason and Romanticism, publishedon the 25th in 1933 was his debut prose effort. Additionally, the story was pure allegory. Interestingly, it was such a difficult read that Lewis himself even admitted it and ten years after its release he wrote a preface to explain his approach to the story.

RETROSPECT: April 20th – 30th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of April (20th – 30th) include: Publication of Perelandra, a talk “On Three Ways of Writing for Children” and Lewis’s first marriage to Joy Davidman.

Before Lewis gain fame from a series of books about a place called Narnia, he had written a trilogy that had a science fiction theme. The second of those books, Perelandra, came out on the 20th in 1943. In it we take a trip to Venus with the main character, Ransom and follow his quest to save that world from impending corruption. In the U.S. it wasn’t released until a year later on the 11th. In 1953 a paperback version came out under the title Voyage to Venus. On some occasions in his life Lewis considered this novel to be his best (this was also said of Till We Have Faces). Perelandra was dedicated “To Some Ladies at Wantage,” as in Wantage,

RETROSPECT: March 22nd – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of March (22nd – 31st) include: Publication of The Four Loves, his first essay collection and republication of a landmark professional work.

During the last decade of Lewis’s life his Christian-themed titles had less to do with defending the faith and more with sharing his understanding of a variety of aspects of it. The Four Loves, released on the 28th in 1960 is one of those works where he shares his wisdom on a topic related to the faith he had gained a greater understanding of over his life. Many individuals are not aware of the fact that two years prior to the book release Lewis had given ten radio talks on this theme.

RETROSPECT: March 12th – 21st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second third of March (12th – 21st) include: First ever published book, final Narnia book and a second marriage to Joy Davidman!

Spirits in BondageTwo books by Lewis were released for the first time during this period. His debut as an author came on the 20th in 1919 with Spirits in Bondage. This was a very small volume of poems published while he was only 20 years old, but many were written when he was just sixteen or seventeen. When initially released it was under the pseudonym of Clive Hamilton. They were composed in a period of Lewis’s life when his primary goal was to be known as a poet. It is also a time when he wasn’t a Christian.

RETROSPECT: January 22nd – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of January (22nd – 31st) include: The publication of one of the last books Lewis wrote, the first meeting of a special Oxford club and the last sermon Lewis ever preached.

Lewis was working on several books before he died in 1963. The first one published posthumously was Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. It came out on the 27th in 1964. While Lewis is known for writing in a variety of styles, this book is somewhat unique in that though they are present as letters to someone, they were really letters to an imaginary person. Today we have a large collection of actual letters Lewis wrote, so those new to his writings should be careful to note this fact. This leads to the obvious question as to why he would deal with such a serious subject to a fictional person.

RETROSPECTIVE: December 11th – 20th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for the second third of December (11th – 20th) include: A follow-up piece to The Screwtape Letters, a warning about seeking to be a part of “the inner ring” and the printed version of Lewis’s final radio broadcast.

Lewis received many requests to write more material found in The Screwtape Letters but he always refused. It was almost twenty years between the time he wrote his first letter to Wormwood and something new from Screwtape would appear. However, on the 19th in 1959 readers of The Saturday Evening Post discovered the senior demon had more to say. “Screwtape Proposes a Toast” has the esteemed devil giving a speech “at the annual dinner of the Tempters’ Training College for young Devils.” After commenting on the poor quality of

Fact / Quote / Quiz: December 5th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

“Xmas and Christmas: A Lost Chapter from Herodotus” is a satirical piece by Lewis published in the December 4, 1954 issue of Time and Tide.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Unless there is something about which the author is never ironical, there can be no true irony in the work.”

A Note on Jane Austen
(Published in Selected Literary Essays; released on 12/4/1969)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Which Narnia book has the character Strawberry in it, what new name is he given and what does it mean?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Fact / Quote / Quiz: December 4th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

Selected Literary Essays, edited by Walter Hooper, was first published today in 1969.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“The Bible thus considered, for good or ill, as a single book, has been read for almost every purpose more diligently than for literary pleasure.”
The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version
(Published in Selected Literary Essays; released on 12/4/1969)
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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

(Name the source of this Lewis quote):
“There are no accidents. Our guide is Aslan.”
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

RETROSPECTIVE: December 1st – 10th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for the first third of December (1st – 10th) include: The first book in the US collecting Lewis quotes, a collection of essays related to his profession and a book edited by Lewis focused on Charles Williams.

A Mind AwakeIn today’s world it’s not difficult to find a quote attributed to C.S. Lewis. Searching online provides a wide variety of quotations, but not all are actually things Lewis said (which will be the topic of an article I’ll be publishing in 2014). In the “old days” you had to rely on a much more reliable resource known as a book. The first of these actually came out in early 1968 in the UK, but the US version wasn’t published until this month on the 3rd in 1969. A Mind Awake: An Anthology of C.S. Lewis is actually more than a collection of quotes, as some of the selections are lengthier. Also unlike the more recent The Quotable Lewis, which is arranged in alphabetical order, A Mind Awake is divided into ten major topics that has three to five subtopics each.

RETRO: October 22nd – 31st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect

Highlights for the final third of October (22nd – 31st) include: First sermon preached, three significant posthumous books and Lewis defines “the great sin.”

There are many hats that C.S. Lewis wore: children’s author, Christian apologist, and literary critic being the three most common realms people are familiar with. While similar to his role as a defender of the faith, many are not aware that he also spoke on Sunday mornings several times in his life. The very first occurred on the