Tag Archives: Christian literature

Becoming Mrs Lewis

Posted on February 12, 2019 by smellincoffee

Becoming Mrs Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman and C.S. Lewis © 2018 Patti Callahan 415 pages Few books transfix me in the way that Becoming Mrs Lewis did; I suppose it helps to have a strong affection … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Perelandra

Posted on April 4, 2017 by smellincoffee

Perelandra © 1943 C.S. Lewis 322 pages In Out of the Silent Planet, Dr. Erwin Ransom was kidnapped by two malevolent technologists who thought to offer him as a sacrifice to the ruler of Mars, a planet they were interested … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth

Posted on April 3, 2017 by smellincoffee

Tolkien’s Sanctifying Myth:  Understanding Middle-Earth © 2002 Brad Birzer 255 pages How better to kick off Read of England than by visiting the world of Tolkien, who has enraptured readers for decade after decade now?  Tolkien is not merely an … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Gargoyle Code

Posted on February 19, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Gargoyle Code: Lenten Dispatches Between a Master Dementor and his Diabolical Trainee © 2009 Dwight Longenecker 103  pages The Gargoyle Code is a modern sequel-in-spirit  of C.S. Lewis’ much-lauded classic, The Screwtape Letters, in which a senior demon mentors … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Short rounds: explosives and Martians

Posted on October 24, 2016 by smellincoffee

Tonight I finally gave up on Hayduke Lives!, the sequel to Edward Abbey’s Monkey Wrench Gang. The plot only arrives four-fifths of the way into the book, having been preceded by lots of stream-of-consciousness rambling, pointless arguments, and enough breast … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Inferno

Posted on July 17, 2016 by smellincoffee

Inferno created 14th century Dante Alighieri translated © 2002 Anthony Esolen 528 pages If Dante’s Inferno is to be believed, Hell is mostly populated by Italians.  The first piece in the Divine Comedy, Inferno takes the reader down into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics and Literary, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Literary Converts

Posted on July 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Literary Converts: Spiritual Inspiration in an Age of Unbelief © 2000 Joseph Pearce 452 pages              Literary Converts is a historical survey of the ‘second spring’ of Anglo-Catholic literature and all that followed, covering most … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Frodo’s Journey

Posted on April 8, 2016 by smellincoffee

Frodo’s Journey: The Hidden Meaning of the Lord of the Rings © 2015 Joseph Pearce 158 pages Noting that Tolkien’s Lord of the Ring trilogy is rich with symbolism is rather akin to observing that the Pacific Ocean is big. … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Pilgrim’s Progress

Posted on March 19, 2016 by smellincoffee

Pilgrim’s Progress in Today’s English © 1678 John Bunyan,   retold 1971 James Thomas 285 pages Years ago I read Pilgrim’s Progress,  the story of one Christian’s spiritual journey made physical. The story begins when a man named Graceless, soon to be … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Week in Narnia

Posted on September 20, 2015 by smellincoffee

On last Friday I enjoyed The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, reading it for the first time since the O.J. Simpson trial. I never liked fantasy as a child; it took Redwall and Harry Potter to coax me into … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments