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I noticed that there were no (living) forum threads discussing this man on the website, and, in spite of fears that some of the senior members on the website might take offense at the number of threads I've started (three in one week), I thought I'd create one.

• Clive Staples Lewis  was born on November 29, 1898.
• I don't want this to be as long or in-depth as my little Tolkien biography on the "J.R.R. Tolkien and his works" thread, so let's just move on to his written works
• The Chronicles of Narnia (a fantasy series primarily for children):
• (Here I'll list them in the order of publication)
• The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
• Prince Caspian
• The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
• The Silver Chair
• The Horse and His Boy
• The Magician's Nephew
• The Last Battle
• The Space Trilogy (this came about when Lewis and Tolkien challenged eachother to write stories about space travel and time travel; I plan to write about it on my Tolkien thread.):
• Out of the Silent Planet
• Perelandra
• That Hideous Strength
• Christian works (He was an atheist, then an agnostic, for most of his life, but converted to Christianity and joined the Church of England later in life; I also plan to write about this on my Tolkien thread in the future.)
• The Pilgrim's Regress (his take on Bunyan's Christian allegory, The Pilgrim's Progress)
• The Screwtape Letters
• Mere Christianity
• The Problem of Pain
• Miracles
• Autobiographical works:
• Surprised by Joy

In response to a comment made by someone on the "Classic Narnia series" thread, Lewis isn't considered Tolkien's equal in writing prowess, but in academic standing.

I really didn't like the third space book as much as the first two- I thought the narrative style changed too much.  But I haven't read them in a while. . .

Also, it's interesting to note that Tolkien consistently refused people's attempts to categorize his writing as allegorical.  (considering how nearly all of Lewis's work is, if not allegory, at least based in Christian religion.)

I haven't even fished The Chronicals of Narnia yet. I want to but I have to juggle book club, reading class, NJHS, D.I., soon to be chess club, and homework. I simply can't.

Oh and Lance, don't you even say anything about me spending more time on video games than all that put together.

Well of course you don't spend more time on games than all that put together.  But you probably do spend more time in front of the GameCube and PS2 than doing any other single activity.

I am laughing right now.

Ahem- back to Lewis. . .

Lance, (or anyone else) have you any thoughts on the whole Phillip Pullman vs. C.S. Lewis issue?

i dont know about this debate. who is phil pullman?

nate

Yeah, JJJ, he wrote that His Dark Materials trilogy (or series--I can't remember which!).  You know, the series/trilogy with that book called The Golden Compass or something?  Well, he claims to have inspired negatively, you might say, by Lewis' works, and thus was motivated to write his own novels, which from what I've read are the moral antithesis of Lewis'. 

As to the question, however, I have not read Pullman's works, so I don't exactly feel qualified to answer.  In any case, I heartily disagree with Pullman's views of the Narnia series.

Which is it?  You don't feel qualified to answer, or you disagree? 

His Dark Materials is a trilogy.  Golden Compass was only called that in North America, everywhere else it's Northern Lights. 

I don't think Pullman thinks of his work as simply a rebuttal of Lewis- he did create a fantasy world in its own right and a very interesting plot.  However, the final book of the trilogy does get a little too much into Pullman's philosophy, forgetting the essential natures of the characters involved.  The Subtle Knife is my favorite of the three.

Basically, Pullman made a statement claiming that the Narnia books are "blatantly racist" and "monumentally disparaging of women."  He says that Lewis's Narnia books are propaganda for Lewis's views on the Christian religion.

Pullman himself claims to be either athiest or agnostic, depending on how you look at it.  His Dark Materials presents the idea of a church that cares more about ritual than ratinonality.  Some people say his work is anti-Christian, even Satanic, but other people, (including the Archbishop of Canterbury) say that his work should be viewed more as a thesis on the dangers of dogmatism, and the use of religion to oppress.

"good people have done good things, and bad people have done bad things
without the help of religion, but for good people to do evil things,
that takes religion"

Here's an interview with Pullman:

http://darkadamant.betterversion.org/BBC_Belief_Philip_Pullman.txt

"Which is it?  You don't feel qualified to answer, or you disagree?..."--Sethaniel

You're missing my point.  I don't feel qualified to take up a camp in this Lewis versus Pullman debate because I haven't read Pullman's works.  I do feel qualified to disagree with Pullman's expressed views of the Narnia series because my knowledge of those works is as complete as his own.  In other words, I do not believe Lewis' books are, as was said, "monumentally disparaging of women" (Lucy Pevensie is easily much more respectable than most of the males in the series), "blatantly racist" (Calormenes are negatively portayed for their religious views, their worship of Tash, not for the color of their skin!), or otherwise offensive for reading by children.

Nor do I believe that Lewis' works are religious propaganda.  Being a Christian and a writer myself (although not, of course, of Lewis' caliber), I understand how his religious beliefs find their place in his writings.  As for that little quote at the end of that last post, Sethaniel, that is a statement "monumentally disparaging" of not only the Christian community, but of every living person who believes in a god or other higher being, "blatantly" opinionated, and "propaganda" for Pullman's philosophical views.

By the way, thanks for pointing out the Golden Compass/Northern Lights thing.  I remember that now that it is mentioned.

So I guess if one takes a rather straightforward perspective of things, I stand with Lewis.  And, on what was said earlier, I did not say that Pullman's novels were only a rebuttal to Lewis'.  I am sure that they are worthy pieces of writing. 

Well, in other news, I finally have copies of Lewis' second two space books!!!!

The quote at the end of my previous post was taken from the Pullman interview (Pullman is quoting someone else), and meant as an example of his personal views and possible reasons for his beliefs regarding the Narnia series.  I apologize for failing to attribute it as such.  Also, I'm sorry you felt I was insulting your religion. 

In re your other points-- I agree with you on the Calormene issue.  Aravis (the Calormene noble girl?)  is definitely a good character (and an example of a positively portrayed female, also)

Also, Lucy is probably the most noble character in the series, except for maybe Peter.

I think the main problem most people have regarding Lewis's portrayal of women is in his treatment of Susan.  The arguement is that Lewis did not like the idea of women's sexuality or independance.  Susan's "growing up" is seen as a bad thing, as something that takes her away from the ideals of Narnia.  I think they like to use the "lipstick" quote to make this point.  At the end, Susan is not allowed to be with the rest of them because of how she's chosen to live her life.

It is a fact that Lewis chose to put this into his stories, so it must mean something to him- he must have wanted to say something about Susan turning her back on Narnia and thus not being able to return- but I think the point remains open as to exactly what he was saying.  For instance, is it really typical of most Christian beliefs to say that, should a Christian decide that he or she no longer believes in heaven, that person is now going to hell?  Most Christians I have known would say that once one accepts Christ, salvation cannot be revoked due to consequent bad behavior. I don't know Lewis's personal views on the subject.

All right!  No matter what one's personal beliefs, I do think it is true that religion (along with politics) is one of the topics that people will really fight over.  So enough about religion for now (although I'm not sure one can totally avoid discussing religion when discussing Lewis, since his beliefs pervade his work to such an extent-- note that that is not a negative comment- I would also agree that Pullman's beliefs are preeminent in his trilogy, in fact, to the detriment of the final book in the series.

Hurry up and read the space books, Lance- I'm interested in your opinion of the third one.  It's quite different in tone from the previous two.

I'm glad you aren't upset- you're fun to debate with. 

Anyway- another point to whether Lewis is racist/sexist/whatever-- he did write the books in a different era.  There are plenty of books written in other times that we don't hold accountable for their perceived prejudices.  Schools are always trying to ban Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn because they think Twain is racist.

Yes, and it irks me that this is not taken into account (and I don't mean by you or anyone on MAG.com, but some people I am acquainted with in the "real world".  Still, I live in a rather conservative community, so others on the site probably understand such efforts better than myself.

This topic is soooo boring *yawn*

Teehee just joking