The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community | 
 enlarge | Author: Diana Pavlac Glyer
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $45.00
Buy New: $29.35
You Save: $15.65 (35%)
New (10) Used (4) from $20.95
Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 175973
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 293
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.3
ISBN: 0873388909
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.912
EAN: 9780873388900
ASIN: 0873388909
Publication Date: March 1, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: SHIPS from 5 locations based on your Zip Code and availability! (PA TN IN OR SC) *-* Gift Quality *-* Orders Processed Immediately! - We get your book to you Very Quickly! -L2355.46321
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were members of a writing group known as the Inklings, a group that also included novelist Charles Williams, historian Warren Lewis, and philosopher Owen Barfield. In this groundbreaking book, Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of their meetings, showing how encouragement, criticism, and collaboration changed The Lord of the Rings, The Chronicles of Narnia, and dozens of other important works. While this book is a must for those who read Lewis or Tolkien, it will also appeal to those who are interested in the writing process, small-group interaction, the nature of creativity, and the various ways that artists challenge, correct, and encourage one another as they work together in community.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Well-Researched and Interesting June 12, 2008
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Glyer has put together an incredibly researched study of the relationships of "The Inklings," the social gathering that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien among others. "The Company They Keep" is not a casual read for the Narnia fan; it is a scholarly exposition of the influence that the Inklings had upon one another and the way that that influence appears in their works.
Using a formula for determining influence created by another scholar, Karen Lefevre, Glyer analyzes the way the Inklings served as Resonators (encouraging voices), Opponents (thoughtful critics), Editors, and Collaborators (project teammates) for one another. She then adds her own fifth category, that they were Referents who wrote about one another and promoted one another's books to publishers and the public. Ultimately, Glyer rejects what Inkling scholarship heretofore has asserted: that the Inklings by their own admission did not largely influence each other. Glyer argues that such claims were aimed at acknowledging their independent credibility, but that in fact they had significant roles in shaping one another's works.
So the book is important on two levels. It contributes notably to biographical scholarship on the Inklings. But is also makes thoughtful contributions to literary criticism, which traces and debates the nature of influence. Glyer is immersed in the field and defends her thesis well.
It's a great book; not a "fun" read, but definitely a fascinating one for the serious reader.
James W. Miller is the author of God Scent: A Devotional
The Company They Keep April 8, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Glyer's book provides valuable insight for fans and scholars of The Inklings collective works. She has a fresh slant on material that most Tolkien and Lewis readers have seen in other formats. Her agenda, though, presents the idea of "influence" in a changing light. I think that she opens doors of critcical opportunity that will allow much more fruitful sorts of investigations of Lewis, Tolkien, and William's work.
Scholarly and Accessible January 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Company They Keep is scholarly writing at it's best. I used it with gifted high schoolers with excellent results. The students became excited about how Glyer did such extensive research and then wrote about it in such an interesting and readable way.
The literary community as a source of Tolkein's and Lewis's fantasy classics September 19, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
The fantasy literature of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkein is so imaginative and idiosyncratic that one accepts that they wrote such lasting works somewhat obstinately and mainly privately almost as a hobby with little hope they would ever be published, much less popular. The picture of J. R. Rowling writing the beginnings of the first Harry Potter book sitting along at a table in an English shop comes to mind with this image of the earlier authors. Lewis and Tolkein are known to be good friends as well as professional colleagues at Oxford University. But as professor of English at Azusa Pacific U. in California Glyer puts forward, Lewis and Tolkein were part of a circle of academics and writers who had a large, discernible, and often documented influence on their works. From diaries, memoirs, letters, and other sources, Glyer finds that this influence is most evident with Tolkein. This circle which acquired the name "The Inklings," "modeled the behavior of poets and storytellers, provided feedback on his drafts, helped him develop his own critical faculties, recommended reading material that supported and shaped his imagination, and suggested that certain pieces be started, reworked, completed, or submitted for publication." Glyer continues, "It is no small matter that all of this early influence took place within a highly interactive group setting." What the author says with respect to Tolkein applies as well to Lewis, though not quite so overtly recognizably. In their turn, Tolkein and Lewis were active participants in the group offering the same support and suggestions to its other members. Shortly after arriving at Oxford as a student, Tolkein founded the literary society named the "Apolausticks."
In an appendix by a David Bratman, relevant background on 17 members of the Inklings besides Tolkein and Lewis is given. Most became university professors of English or medieval literature or of language studies, with most doing scholarly writings on literary criticism. This work of literary criticism and author biography is obviously timely given the current interest in these authors as evidenced by widely-popular movies made from books of theirs.
A book I wish I could write April 27, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This book shows scholarly intellect, hard work, dedication, and insightful thought that I have only achieved in lofty dreams. Diana Glyer presents interesting, insiteful, and inspiring information about the Inklings that you will not find anywhere else. I have never read a book that so skillfully puts scholarship in such an accessable read. For anyone who is a fan of the Inklings, Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, or anyone remotely related to these men do yourself a favor and read this book.
|
|
|
