C.S. Lewis & His Pipes.

[Sam Gamgee]

This AM I was reading through some of the bits in Lewis's LETTERS TO AN AMERICAN LADY. This is a great little book that's perfect for just opening up and landing on a page for some good reading. Lewis's letters are as good (and sometimes better IMO) than anything else he wrote. I thought this issue he raised in one letter from 1956 might be of interest some here:

"Problem: why are nuns nicer than monks and schoolgirls nicer than schoolboys, when women are not in general nicer than men? But perhaps you deny all three statements!"

I have never met a nun or a monk, but I did know plenty of schoolboys and girls in my time, and schoolgirls were nicer than boys (especially in our very young years), and I've also experienced in manhood that men are generally nicer than women.

Par example: not long ago at work I walked up to two women talking. They tore down every single man that walked by (who spoke politely to them each in turn, and each in turn was spoken to politely by them). I said to them, "Wow, women are really something else! You all found fault with every single man that walked by and had nothing good to say about any of them." They just laughed and agreed. I told them a man will generally find something good about any given woman, but women are not nearly as forgiving. Again, they laughed and agreed. I then walked away and was surely torn down in my turn.

 

[SBC]

This AM I was reading through some of the bits in Lewis's LETTERS TO AN AMERICAN LADY. This is a great little book that's perfect for just opening up and landing on a page for some good reading. Lewis's letters are as good (and sometimes better IMO) than anything else he wrote. I thought this issue he raised in one letter from 1956 might be of interest some here:

"Problem: why are nuns nicer than monks and schoolgirls nicer than schoolboys, when women are not in general nicer than men? But perhaps you deny all three statements!"

I have never met a nun or a monk, but I did know plenty of schoolboys and girls in my time, and schoolgirls were nicer than boys (especially in our very young years), and I've also experienced in manhood that men are generally nicer than women.

Par example: not long ago at work I walked up to two women talking. They tore down every single man that walked by (who spoke politely to them each in turn, and each in turn was spoken to politely by them). I said to them, "Wow, women are really something else! You all found fault with every single man that walked by and had nothing good to say about any of them." They just laughed and agreed. I told them a man will generally find something good about any given woman, but women are not nearly as forgiving. Again, they laughed and agreed. I then walked away and was surely torn down in my turn.

I was recently reading in Letters to Malcolm.

On this insight, though, I would just add that little girls can be nasty to each other on a level that little boy aren't.

If little boys are going to be mean, they are open about it, say what they think, wrestle, hit, and then make up and move on.

Whereas, little girls will sometimes turn up their noses at other little girls, give them the cold shoulder, tell their friends not to talk to so-and-so, or even lure a girl into feeling included -- only to humiliate her later.

 

[OSOBUCO]

Side note: GK Chesterton is another incredible writer from the same general era. A personal hero of mine and shaped a lot of my thought and reasoning.
With any of these three guys, I swear if you didn't know any better you reason they were living today with the subject mater that in all honesty is repeating itself in today's worlds going on's.

If these three were alive today they would most certainly have been canceled by now.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

Saturday morning finds me again in Lewis's letters. Here is a bit worth passing on; I hope someone will enjoy it:

"...for I'm a barbarously early riser and have usually got my breakfast and dealt with my letters before the rest of the house is astir. One result is that I often enjoy the only fine hours of the day -- at this time of year lovely, still, cool sunshine from 7 till 10, followed by rain from then on, is common. I love the empty, silent, dewy, cobwebby hours." from Sept 1958

 

[OSOBUCO]

Saturday morning finds me again in Lewis's letters. Here is a bit worth passing on; I hope someone will enjoy it:

"...for I'm a barbarously early riser and have usually got my breakfast and dealt with my letters before the rest of the house is astir. One result is that I often enjoy the only fine hours of the day -- at this time of year lovely, still, cool sunshine from 7 till 10, followed by rain from then on, is common. I love the empty, silent, dewy, cobwebby hours." from Sept 1958

This is me as well. I’m always the first up even as a kid. I savor the hours alone and all the good things that come with the darkness transitioning to dawn to daylight

 

[briarfoxx]

I’ve been a fan of Tolkien since childhood and have read The Hobbit and TLotR several times but never read the whole Narnia series until college. I think I preferred Tolkien’s fantasy because he seemed to me to write for a more mature audience (it probably didn’t help that I read the Narnia series at the age that I did).

Now that I’m much older and have read and greatly appreciated Lewis’ non-fiction, such as Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters, I have a much greater appreciation for Lewis’ fantasy as well, understanding a bit more of what’s behind it now.

This thread has inspired me to move That Hideous Strength to the top of my reading list.

 

[SBC]

This thread has inspired me to move That Hideous Strength to the top of my reading list.

I urge you to read the entire Cosmic Trilogy, of which THS is the third and final installment.
(Still, I think that THS could be read alone, and is the most "prophetic" in nature.)

 

[briarfoxx]

Side note: GK Chesterton is another incredible writer from the same general era. A personal hero of mine and shaped a lot of my thought and reasoning.
With any of these three guys, I swear if you didn't know any better you reason they were living today with the subject mater that in all honesty is repeating itself in today's worlds going on's.

I’ve heard of G.K. Chesterton but only through his quotes and never associated with Tolkien and Lewis, both of whom I’m a fan. Now you have me interested in his books. Could you suggest a book or two that might be considered representative or the best of his works?

 

[briarfoxx]

I urge you to read the entire Cosmic Trilogy, of which THS is the third and final installment.
(Still, I think that THS could be read alone, and is the most "prophetic" in nature.)

Ah, I knew there was a trilogy but did not realize it was the last book. In that case, the entire trilogy has been moved to the top of my reading list! Thank you very much!

 

[SBC]

I’ve heard of G.K. Chesterton but only through his quotes and never associated with Tolkien and Lewis, both of whom I’m a fan. Now you have me interested in his books. Could you suggest a book or two that might be considered representative or the best of his works?

Easily his most famous and important (and in most people's opinion, best) non-fiction is Orthodoxy. It is an absolute must-read for everybody.

As for his fiction, his most beloved are the Father Brown Stories. I think that there are several collections of these short mysteries, all tracing the sleuthing of an endearing priest who plays detective in his spare time.

But probably my favorite fiction of his is The Man Who Was Thursday. Insanely weird. Nobody gets it. But I'm about to read it for the third time in hopes of getting it -- it's addictive to everybody who reads it ;-)

 

[briarfoxx]

Easily his most famous and important (and in most people's opinion, best) non-fiction is Orthodoxy. It is an absolute must-read for everybody.

As for his fiction, his most beloved are the Father Brown Stories. I think that there are several collections of these short mysteries, all tracing the sleuthing of an endearing priest who plays detective in his spare time.

But probably my favorite fiction of his is The Man Who Was Thursday. Insanely weird. Nobody gets it. But I'm about to read it for the third time in hopes of getting it -- it's addictive to everybody who reads it ;-)

Thank you very much for the comprehensive overview and your personal note on his works! I will research all of these and try to start slotting them into my reading plans. I like the sound of all of them.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

FYI: Lewis says in the intro to THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH that it can be read and enjoyed on its own. I’ve prob read or three times for every one time I’ve read the others in the trilogy. It’s a truly amazing novel. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

 

[briarfoxx]

FYI: Lewis says in the intro to THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH that it can be read and enjoyed on its own. I’ve prob read or three times for every one time I’ve read the others in the trilogy. It’s a truly amazing novel. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

That’s good to know, thanks. The first time through I’ll read them all in order, but I’ll certainly be looking forward to that one.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

More from Lewis’s letters, and on a topic at the forefront here on the forum: smoking. I believe he’s focusing on cigarettes here, but all the same I thought it might be of interest. (Do let me know if these excerpts are interesting or wearisome. I personally enjoy his letters a lot).

 

[OverMountain]

This AM I was reading through some of the bits in Lewis's LETTERS TO AN AMERICAN LADY. This is a great little book that's perfect for just opening up and landing on a page for some good reading. Lewis's letters are as good (and sometimes better IMO) than anything else he wrote. I thought this issue he raised in one letter from 1956 might be of interest some here:

"Problem: why are nuns nicer than monks and schoolgirls nicer than schoolboys, when women are not in general nicer than men? But perhaps you deny all three statements!"

I have never met a nun or a monk, but I did know plenty of schoolboys and girls in my time, and schoolgirls were nicer than boys (especially in our very young years), and I've also experienced in manhood that men are generally nicer than women.

Par example: not long ago at work I walked up to two women talking. They tore down every single man that walked by (who spoke politely to them each in turn, and each in turn was spoken to politely by them). I said to them, "Wow, women are really something else! You all found fault with every single man that walked by and had nothing good to say about any of them." They just laughed and agreed. I told them a man will generally find something good about any given woman, but women are not nearly as forgiving. Again, they laughed and agreed. I then walked away and was surely torn down in my turn

CS Lewis was a good observer of human nature. Men have their negative extremes, but so do women.
Unlovable women such as you met usually end up old and alone. A spouse or friends don’t want to be around a serial $/@;? talker for the reasons you mentioned. Untrustworthy and undesirable.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

CS Lewis was a good observer of human nature.

This is hands down my favorite thing about his writing.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

Lewis on loss:

 

[beargreasediet]

Been away from the forum for a bit, what a wonderful thread to come back to. Double thumbs up on the Space Trilogy! Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra are mind blowing in their own right and shouldn’t be missed. However That Hideous Strength is the most prescient dystopian fiction I’ve ever come across.

@Sam Gamgee - are you familiar with Dr. Louis Markos? He’s a English professor and scholar in residence at Houston Baptist University. In addition to poetry and the classics , he also teaches alternating semesters on Tolkien’s LoTR, Lewis’ apologetics and Chronocles of Narnia.

He was a guest on The Naked Bible Podcast #322, I’m guessing you would thoroughly enjoy.

 

[Hillcrest]

CS Lewis was a good observer of human nature. Men have their negative extremes, but so do women.
Unlovable women such as you met usually end up old and alone. A spouse or friends don’t want to be around a serial $/@;? talker for the reasons you mentioned. Untrustworthy and undesirable.

I may have dated both of those women or their relatives !

 

[Hillcrest]

Saturday morning finds me again in Lewis's letters. Here is a bit worth passing on; I hope someone will enjoy it:

"...for I'm a barbarously early riser and have usually got my breakfast and dealt with my letters before the rest of the house is astir. One result is that I often enjoy the only fine hours of the day -- at this time of year lovely, still, cool sunshine from 7 till 10, followed by rain from then on, is common. I love the empty, silent, dewy, cobwebby hours." from Sept 1958

Apparently Tolkien was the opposite and preferred the late hours ... per his letters.