C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)

A selective list of literary criticism for the novelist, religious writer, literary critic, literary historian, poet, children's writer, and theologian, C. S. Lewis, favoring signed articles by recognized scholars and articles published in peer-reviewed sources.


main page | 20th-century literature | 20th-century British fiction | about literaryhistory.com


introduction

"C. S. Lewis." An extended and excellent biography of C. S. Lewis from the BBC, includes additional articles on his works and beliefs.

"The Question of God," A PBS special on C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud.

"In Defense of C. S. Lewis." By Gregg Easterbrook. A rebuttal of recent denunciations of the classic Chronicles of Narnia as racist, misogynist, "poisonous" works. The Atlantic October, 2001.

Schakel, Peter. A substantial introduction to C. S. Lewis in the Literary Encyclopedia [subscription service].

Schakel, Peter. Introduction to Out of the Silent Planet, (1938), in the Literary Encyclopedia, explores the themes of identity and growing up, purpose, and the meaning of human existence in the novel.

Schakel, Peter. Introduction to Perelandra, (1943), in the Literary Encyclopedia. "Here is a paradox, and it is left as such: 'Predestination and freedom were apparently identical. He could no longer see any meaning in the many arguments he had heard on this subject'. All is contained and resolved within the truth and mystery of God's sovereignty."

Schakel, Peter. Introduction to That Hideous Strength, (1945), in the Literary Encyclopedia. "The central theme of the story is a powerful warning against the dangers inherent in the union of science and the social sciences, with the political structures and powers of the state. It is much like George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four."


literary criticism

Cox, C.B. "C. S. Lewis and Conversion." A review of C. S. Lewis: A Biography by A. N. Wilson. The Hudson Review 43, 3 (Autumn, 1990), pp. 503-508 [free at jstor].

Freedman, Carl. "Thought, Imagination, and C. S. Lewis." A review of Sleuthing C. S. Lewis: More Light in the Shadowlands by Kathryn Lindskoog, and The Imaginative World of C. S. Lewis: A Way to Participate in Reality by Mineko Honda. Science Fiction Studies 30, 1 (March 2003), pp. 141-143 [free at jstor].

Poskanzer, Susan Cornell. "Thoughts on C. S. Lewis and the Chronicles of Narnia." Language Arts 53, 5 (May 1976), pp. 523-526 [free at jstor].

Tiffany, Grace. "C. S. Lewis: The Anti-Platonic Platonist." Christianity and Literature 63, 3 (Spring 2014), pp. 357-371 [free at jstor].

Watson, George. "The Art of Disagreement: C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)." The Hudson Review 48, 2 (Summer, 1995), pp. 229-239 [free at jstor].


main page | 20th-century literature | 20th-century British fiction | about literaryhistory.com


1998-2018 by Jan Pridmore