C.S Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien

[Shaybo]

I like Both C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and I didn't know that they were best friends and that they were in the same club together. Thanks for sharing that with us.
On another note I don't know if you noticed it or not, but in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe there were alot of religious conotations ie Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve and when Aslan died he rose from the dead. (Does that sound familiar?)
In my sixth grade play we did the Hobitt. I played an Ogre

[Paula]

I think CS Lewis's writing style is similar to that of Roald Dahl. It is lucid, with a certain light-handedness. But Tolkien's style is quite the opposite. Still they have come up with remarkable works of art, in written form.


I've read CS Lewis' christian writings as well and I loved the ideas he came up within the unfinished story 'The Dark Tower'' . anyone read that yet?? if not, you should!! remarkable ideas being explored there

[Sheila]

I read The Visionary Christian which had parts of The Dark Tower in it. I did find that parts very intriguing. Forgive my spelling I am very tired

[trillscott]

C.S Lewis meant for the wardrobe series to refer to christian teachings. They were supposed to be a guide for children to read because he knew the small attention span of children in church. So he expanded his ideas to capture the idea of christianity into mythology, with being blasphemous of course.

And C.S Lewis and Tolkien were not having a contest to write the better childrens book, they just influenced each other in their writings, although Tolkien was not a christian and had no belief in religion, it was just another topic to him.

[hollybear8907]

I found LOR series very difficult to read. It was tough to get into. I also found the CON difficult to get into, although I do like LWW. For children I must say that Lewis wrote the better books.

[stretch]

Lewis' Space Trilogy is a must read. But I think Tolkien is a more compelling writer. I lived on Middle-Earth for weeks when I read LOR. On the other hand I must have read The Silver Chair 5 or 6 times.

[sheaman]

CON is some pretty obvious allegory, as a kid it's a good introduction to symbolism and stuff, but it looses it's edge as one gets into more complex symbolism. It's also a little obnoxious when a writers story is a reference to another story--not that I don't love "The lion, the witch, and the wardrobe" it serves to make Christ's life a little more fun and relatable for children, but it didn't really bring anything new to us. LOTR on the other hand not only changed fantasy forever and became one of the very very few literary fantasy's, but also gave us timeless truths of human interaction while still creating a whole new world that is strange, beautiful, and intriguing to us.

[Fantasy Guy]

As I recall that group of Authors would meet at the Eagle & Child which is a small pub in England. Tolkien used to get frustrated with Lewis because of the immediate success of his Narnia books, while Tolkien was slaving away trying to write LOTR. Tolkein thought that Lewis' use of Father Christmas in his book "the lion, witch..." was a blatent crossing of a personal fantasy world with general populations "fantasy world"

[william309]

Does anybody know if Stephen King's Dark Tower series had anything to do with C.S. Lewis, or if the name is just a coincidence?

[thischarmingmanc]

wrong tolkien was a cathiolic and was inflencial to lewises conversion. there christianity was very diffierent

C.S Lewis meant for the wardrobe series to refer to christian teachings. They were supposed to be a guide for children to read because he knew the small attention span of children in church. So he expanded his ideas to capture the idea of christianity into mythology, with being blasphemous of course.

And C.S Lewis and Tolkien were not having a contest to write the better childrens book, they just influenced each other in their writings, although Tolkien was not a christian and had no belief in religion, it was just another topic to him.

[Dolphin]

I tried to get into the Chronicles of Narnia series when I was younger, and I gave it up for being too light....it was right after I had read The Lord of The Rings. I thought C.S. Lewis was a bit over-rated after that (I was in, like the 5th grade). However, then, about ten years later, I picked up a collection of his christian apologetic essays (reluctantly, because I had still been holding onto the judgements I had made back in elementary school), and he turned out to be my favorite author of all-time after that. I end up buying anything non-narnia of his that I can find... oh the irony of childhood.

[william309]

Dolphin,
A lot of the Narnia works were fairly light, but you should try reading the Magician's Nephew and the Last Battle, they are about the beginning and end of Narnia, respectively, and they are a bit darker in tone than the others. And since they're so short, you don't have much to lose!

[Dolphin]

William,

I did read The Magicians Nephew when I was younger, but never read The Last Battle (Narnia comes to an end!!!?). Would I have to read the rest, before I read the last one?

Another irony that just occurred to me as I read your post, is that as a child I never realized there were any religious parallels going on through The Magician's Nephew, and The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe, because my upbringing consisted in so little religious indoctrination (the word "God" was maybe used once a year in my household- ha!). Perhaps, if perhaps your heart just happens to be in the right place, appreciation for children's books only grows deeper, as you grow older. Vintage fairy tales...

[william309]

I really don't think you need to read the other five books to follow the gist of the last battle, although they are good books and will help you fully appreciate it. When I read Tolkien I recognized the symbolism, but I was going to Sunday school at the time.

[Moore]

i prefer Lewis more and i like his Narnia. Unfortunately, i read long ago, but the book gave so much pleasure.
I was glad to know that they were friends. But i still think that Lewis was a better writer for kids as he felt kids' inside world in a better way.