Tag: The Hobbit

RETROSPECT: June 22nd – 30th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the final third of June (22nd – 30th) include: Sharing The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe with his close friends four months before it was published, being awarded an honorary Doctorate of Divinity and more talk from Screwtape about the “law of Undulation.”

As you may recall, Lewis met frequently with a group of friends called the Inklings. They gathered at a variety of places, but on the 22nd in 1950 it happened to be at the Eagle and Child. When they came together at this location it was unusual for them to actually read any of their works. Nevertheless, this was a special occasion, as Lewis brought the galley proofs of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

RETROSPECT: May 11th – 21st

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second of May (11th – 21st) include: Initial publication of Miracles, the landmark first meeting with a famous friend and securing his longest employment.

“Miracles” is among the many misused words in our vocabulary today. This was true even back in 1947 when Miracles: A Preliminary Study was released on the 12th by C.S. Lewis. Of course, Lewis was addressing more of an unbelief in the miraculous. In fact, as the inside dusk jacket of the first edition notes, the subtitle isn’t about Lewis giving his tentative thoughts on the subject, but rather the book is designed to be “a study preliminary to any historical inquiry into the actual occurrence of miracles.” That is, before any examination of specific miracles one has to believe that the miraculous can genuinely occur. Nearly thirteen years later (as mentioned in the previous column) a new edition was released containing a revised third chapter.

RETROSPECT: February 10th – 18th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the second third of February (10th – 18th) include: The concluding talk from the “What Christians Believe” BBC series, an explanation of the word “membership” in a talk to a group and the publication of a selection of Christian-themed essays.

In 1945 on the 10th Lewis gave a talk, simply called “Membership,” to the Society of St. Alban and St. Sergius in Oxford. It was also published later in the year and is now best found in The Weight of Glory. Lewis explained in his presentation that the word “membership” in the New Testament differs from the way it is used today. Instead of speaking of it in the sense of a group containing like items, the Christian meaning is close to “what we should call organs, things essentially different from, and complementary to, one another.” He also pointed out that believers are

Fact / Quote / Quiz: February 4th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

On this date (2/4) in 1933 Lewis wrote to his friend Arthur Greeves about reading a draft of The Hobbit (not published till ’37).

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Since term began I have had a delightful time reading a children’s story which Tolkien has just written.”

Letter to Arthur Greeves on 2/4/1933
(Published in The Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis, Volume II)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

Lewis had a debate in the late 1940’s with whom and what was it about?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

RETROSPECT: February 1st – 9th

William OFlaherty Jack in Retrospect, Special Feature

Highlights for the first third of February (1st – 9th) include: Two more BBC talks from the second series, “What Christians Believe,” an often misunderstood debate and the first book that made Lewis famous.

An idea that started in 1940 led to international fame for Lewis. This is before he gained fame for being the author of The Chronicles of Narnia and even before he was loved as a defender of the Christian faith. A small book containing thirty-one letters set things in motion that made Lewis gain international fame. Although The Screwtape Letters had been released weekly in 1941, it was not until a year later, on the 9th of this month that all of them could be found in one place. The first edition of 2,000 copies sold out even before the date of publication! In fact it was reprinted eight times before the end of 1942. Despite being so popular, it is well known that Lewis actually didn’t enjoy writing it.

On The Shoulders of Hobbits (Interview with Dr. Louis Markos)

William OFlaherty All About Jack

Dr. Louis Markos has written several books on C.S. Lewis and some have been highlighted here before (see list below). He is also one of the co-writers (with Darren Jacobs) of the forthcoming JACK & TOLLERS movie. Last year he released a book dealing with the fiction of J.R.R. Tolkien AND C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia. It’s called On the Shoulders of Hobbits: The Road to Virtue with Tolkien and Lewis. The following link is an interview William O’Flaherty did with him about this book.
(Click “Read More” to Listen to this Interview)

Fact / Quote / Quiz: December 16th

William OFlaherty Daily Lewis

FACT OF THE DAY:

Lewis mentioned “Tolkien’s unfinished sequel to the Hobbit” in the preface of Essays Presented to Charles Williams (a book Lewis edited)

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QUOTE OF THE DAY:

“Of all passions the passion for the Inner Ring is most skillful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things.”

The Inner Ring
(Talk given on 12/14/1944)

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QUIZ OF THE DAY:

How old was Pauline Baynes when she first began to illustrate the Narnia books?
(Click “Read More” to SEE Answer)

Podcast Recap – The Hobbit

William OFlaherty CSL Minute

I can’t image that any of you are not aware that this weekend marks the release of The Hobbit movie (part 2). So, it only seemed fitting to review some of the material I’ve previously done related to it. I believe these resources will help you better enjoy the book (and movie). In addition to what I’ve posted, I also selected a few additional places online that you should find useful. Since this post last year I had another author interview; meaning I’ve now done interviews with three different authors on this topic.