The Abolition of Man — The Insight of C.S. Lewis

Reading List for 2013 — Pick Eleven

We're going to be charting the 2013 year at the January 10th meeting so make a copy of this list or pick eleven that you think would be the best and come and share them with us.

Reading List for 2013 : Resources to Select From Or Suggest Others

Works by Lewis

1. 'Til We Have Faces

2. God In The Dock : select four or five essays for discussion at previous meeting

3. Dymer : Lewis's long narrative poem published in 1928

4. The Horse and His Boy : from the Chronicles of Narnia

5. A Grief Observed : a book of his reflections upon the death of his wife

Work by Joy Davidman Lewis

6. Smoke on the Mountain : subtitle an interpretation of the ten commandments

Work by Inkings

7. Saving the Appearances : by Owen Barfield -- about God, human nature, and consciousness.

8. Eager Spring : late work by Owen Barfield in his 90s, fictional environmental work

Work about Inklings

9. The Inklings : by Humphrey Carpenter

Works by Influences on Lewis

10. The Prelude : by William Wordsworth

11. Sir Gibbie : by George Macdonald

12. The Life of Samuel Johnson : James Boswell

13. Theism and Humanism : Arthur J. Balfour

Works by Writers Admired by C.S. Lewis

14. Works by Anthony Trollope :  a) The Warden, b) the Autobiography, c) Barchester Towers available on Kindle for free.

15. Works by Jane Austen : The Complete Novels of Jane Austen: Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Persuasion, and Lady Susan are available on Kindle for a total of $2.99

Works by Scholars About C.S. Lewis

16. The Magician's Twin : edited by John G. West, subtitled C.S. Lewis on Science, Scientism, and Society a volume of 13 essays in four categories.  Pick one or two from each category at the previous meeting.

January 10th 2013 Our Book Is: Between Heaven & Hell

We are reading "Between Heaven and Hell — A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley" and Peggy is our discussion leader. We will also be discussing the books we will be reading in 2013. I'll be sending the list suggested at the Christmas party and we can make adjustments at the meeting. If you have suggestions please bring them. Meanwhile here's what is on the back cover of Beyond Heaven & Hell.

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On November 22, 1963, three great men died within a few hours of each other: C.S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy, and Aldous Huxley. All three believed, in different ways, that death is not the end of human life. Suppose they were right, and suppose they met after death. How might the conversation go?

Peter Kreeft imagines their discourse as a modern Socratic dialog — a part of The Great Conversation that has been going on for centuries. Does human life have meaning? Is it possible to know about life after death? What if one could prove that Jesus Christ was God?

Combining logical argument and literary imagination, Kreeft portrays Lewis as a Christian theist, Kennedy as a modern humanist, and Huxley as an Eastern pantheist. Their interaction involves not only good thinking but good drama.

The December Party

December 14th was the December Christmas Party hosted by Elizabeth Fiero. The folks attending had a great time and generated a list of possibilities for the New Year. Our next meeting will be January 10, 2013: "Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley" by Peter Kreeft with Peggy leading.

November 8th "Descent Into Hell" By Charles Williams

This Thursday we'll be discussing Charles Williams' novel "Descent Into Hell." I don't have any discussion questions for you yet but I think some questions that I have might be in order.

1. What do you think of the novel in general?
2. How did you react to the changing realities in the neighborhood of Battle Hill?
3. How would you describe the roles of the various characters?
    a) Peter Stanhope
    b) Catherine Parry
    c) Lawrence Wentworth
    d) Adela Hunt
    e) Hugh Prescott
    f) Pauline Anstruther
    g) Myrtle Fox
    h) others
4. How to the chapter titles contribute to your understanding of the book?
5. Who descended into hell and why?
6. How does Peter Stanhope's agreement with Pauline work?
7. How did you understand the doppelgangers?
8. When all is said and done do you think Williams' novel "worked"?

Those are a few of the questions that popped into my head. If you have any of your own why don't you jot them down and bring them to the meeting. We'll also be talking about the December party which will be on the Friday December 14th at Elizabeth Fiero's house.

We'll talk about the party at the meeting. One of the things we'll do at the party is talk about the plans for next year. Currently the schedule looks like:
December 14: PARTY and Plotting the New Year
January 10, 2013: "Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley" by Peter Kreeft with Peggy leading.

So give some thought to what you'd like to see happen next year. What should the mix be between reading books by C.S. Lewis, reading books by Inklings, reading books from the secondary literature? Are there other things we should be doing? Perhaps some members would like to give talks about things relating to Lewis and the Inkling. Bring your ideas.

November 8th We'll Discuss Charles Williams' Descent Into Hell

Charles Williams was an Inkling.  Thomas Howard, himself a Lewisian, in his book "The Novels of Charles Williams" begins the chapter on "Descent Into Hell" with the words: "In Descent Into Hell Williams came closer perhaps than in any other of his tales to giving us a real novel."  Melissa will be our discussion leader when we meet on November 8th to discuss Charles Williams' book.

Lewis wrote an admiring letter to Charles Williams on March 11th, 1936 about his book Place of the Lion, and almost at the same time, Williams wrote Lewis an admiring letter about the Allegory of Love.  Lewis invited Williams to come to Inklings meetings.  On September 23rd, 1937 Lewis wrote Williams about Descent Into Hell and said of it: "I think this is much the best book you have given us yet."

During World War II Williams, who was an employee of the Oxford University Press in London, came to Oxford to be safe from the nightly German attacks on London.  He became an active member of the Inklings and a close friend of C.S. Lewis.  When Williams died on May 15th, 1945 his death cast a spell on C.S. Lewis which is reflected in many of his letters written shortly after Williams' death.  He found his belief in immortality bolstered and sensed the presence of Williams everywhere for some time.

On November 8th the C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg will meet to discuss Descent Into Hell.  The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Harrisonburg Barnes and Noble and our discussion leader will be Melissa.

Members of the society often meet for a light dinner at Panera's shortly after six p.m. on the day of the meeting.  If you drop in at Panera's you'll likely be able to tell who the Lewisians are ... and if not just ask and you'll find us.

October 11th — The Last Battle

On October 11th the C.S. Lewis Society of Harrisonburg will meet to discuss the 7th book in C.S. Lewis's popular Chronicles of Narnia series, The Last Battle.  The meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. at the Harrisonburg Barnes and Noble and our discussion leader will be Dr. Iain Maclean.

Members of the society often meet for a light dinner at Panera's shortly after six p.m. on the day of the meeting.  If you drop in at Panera's you'll likely be able to tell who the Lewisians are ... and if not just ask and you'll find us.



Discussion Questions for "The Last Battle"
1.  Do you see specific parallels between events in the LB and eschatology as described in the Christian Scriptures?
2.  Which  characters  do you relate with and why?
3.  Who are the dwarfs?
4.  Do you agree or disagree with the judgments executed upon the characters in the LB?
5.  Why does Lewis include all the CN characters in this volume (except Susan, of course)?
6.  Aslan permits Emeth into the new Narnia. What does this imply or mean?
7. Is the new Narnia attractive or not? Why or why not?
8. Puzzle and the Shift live out in an isolated place.  Would Shift have had
that degree of power if they had not been isolated?  This one is totally
out from left field---is Lewis saying anything about isolation and
community, and the dangers of each?
9. I was thinking about the ending to the Lord of the Rings and the ending to
this.  Both stories have an ending of an age/era/world but they are very
different.  Do you get the same feeling about the elves ending their
sojourn and leaving Middle Earth as you do about, basically  all the good
guys dying off in this world, as well as the loss of the old Narnia?

  

If you want to receive emails about the meetings and get the discussion questions by email just send a quick note with your email address and name to rschneid@bridgewater.edu