The Narnian: The Life and Imagination of C. S. LewisThe White Witch, Aslan, fauns and talking beasts, centaurs and epic battles between good and evil -- all these have become a part of our collective imagination through the classic volumes of The Chronicles of Narnia. Over the past half century, children everywhere have escaped into this world and delighted in its wonders and enchantments. Yet what we do know of the man who created Narnia? This biography sheds new light on the making of the original Narnian, C. S. Lewis himself. Lewis was one of the intellectual giants of the twentieth century and arguably the most influential religious writer of his day. An Oxford don and scholar of medieval literature, he loved to debate philosophy at his local pub, and his wartime broadcasts on the basics of Christian belief made him a celebrity in his native Britain. Yet one of the most intriguing aspects of Clive Staples Lewis remains a mystery. How did this middle-aged Irish bachelor turn to the writing of stories for children -- stories that would become among the most popular and beloved ever written? Alan Jacobs masterfully tells the story of the original Narnian. From Lewis's childhood days in Ireland playing with his brother, Warnie, to his horrific experiences in the trenches during World War I, to his friendship with J. R. R. Tolkien (and other members of the "Inklings"), and his remarkable late-life marriage to Joy Davidman, Jacobs traces the events and people that shaped Lewis's philosophy, theology, and fiction. The result is much more than a conventional biography of Lewis: Jacobs tells the story of a profound and extraordinary imagination. For those who grew up with Narnia, or for those just discovering it, The Narnian tells a remarkable tale of a man who knew great loss and great delight, but who knew above all that the world holds far more richness and meaning than the average eye can see. |
From inside the book
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... father , and older brother that from that day forth he would no longer be known as Clive , but rather as " Jacksie ... father in his study in order to announce , " I have a prejudice against the French . " When his father asked him why ...
... father - who was in the shipbuilding business - moved to Dublin , and then later to Belfast . Albert was sent for his chief educa- tion to Lurgan College in County Armagh ( an Irish imitation of the English prep school ) , whose ...
... father was away in India - and you had to come and live with an Aunt and an Uncle who's mad ( how would you like ... father " appears in lower case and " Mother " in upper case — as though “ father " is just a description but " Mother ...
... father by distance and from his mother by her illness . None of these children , then , is homeless in the strictest sense of that word , but all of them are somehow disjointed , partly or wholly uprooted ; where they live is never ...
... father had died in April , and his brother Joseph would die two weeks after Flora . ) As Jack would write decades later , his father's " nerves had never been of the steadiest and his emotions had always been un- controlled . Under the ...
Contents
1 | |
19 | |
THREE Red beef and strong beer | 44 |
FOUR I never sank so low as to pray | 65 |
SEVEN Definitely believing in Christ | 136 |
EIGHT Do you think I am trying to weave a spell? | 163 |
NINE What I owe to them all is incalculable | 194 |
ELEVEN We soon learn to love what | 248 |
TWELVE Joy is the serious business of heaven | 280 |
AFTERWORD The Future of Narnia | 305 |