Tag Archives: CS Lewis

Once Upon a Wardrobe

Posted on December 1, 2021 by smellincoffee

Once Upon a Wardrobe© 2021 Patti Callahan 311 pages Once Upon a Wardrobe takes us to Oxford, 1950, where a young woman named Megs nervously approaches a tutor of English, C.S. Lewis, and asks: where did Narnia come from? She … Continue reading →

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The Reading Life

Posted on November 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Reading Life: The Joy of Seeing New Worlds through Others’ Eyes © 2019 C.S. Lewis 192 pages One of the reasons I’ve grown so fond of Jack Lewis over the years is that he and I share some of … Continue reading →

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The Screwtape Letters

Posted on December 23, 2020 by smellincoffee

In the 1940s, as war waged in Europe, another war raged in England:  a struggle for one man’s soul. Advised by his uncle Screwtape, a young demon faced with a new convert to Christianity must work overtime to stifle his … Continue reading →

Posted in Religion and Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Present Concerns and even more Lewis quotes

Posted on December 17, 2020 by smellincoffee

Although Present Concerns’ title makes it sound as though it consists of essays by Lewis written about 1940s issues,   the contents still speak to our present day.  One of the passages, quoted to me from a friend, leapt out … Continue reading →

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Diabolical fragments: selections from Screwtape

Posted on December 16, 2020 by smellincoffee

I recently re-read The Screwtape Letters for Advent, and would have posted a review but realized I rather liked the draft review I’d written in 2013 more, so now I’m trying to graft the best of one onto the other, … Continue reading →

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Wisdom Wednesday: Live despite Death

Posted on December 16, 2020 by smellincoffee

Recently a friend was kind enough to bring this article to my attention. It’s from C.S. Lewis, written in 1948 to address the growing fears of his contemporaries, who were shaken by the spectre of Hiroshima and unnerved by the … Continue reading →

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Perelandra

Posted on April 4, 2017 by smellincoffee

Perelandra© 1943 C.S. Lewis322 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 in mining … Continue reading →

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

Surprised by Joy

Posted on March 20, 2017 by smellincoffee

Surprised by Joy© 1955 C.S. Lewis252 pages “When I first read Chesterton, I did not know what I was in for. God is, if I may say it,  quite unscrupulous.” Mention the name C.S. Lewis and the image of a … Continue reading →

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Podcast of the Week: Lewis, Tolkien, and the Great War

Posted on February 1, 2017 by smellincoffee

This week I’m highlighting #272 of the Art of Manliness podcast, an interview with the author of A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War.  This book examines C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien’s role in the Great War and delves … Continue reading →

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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 →

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