XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien, alt.fan.tolkien, alt.books.cs-lewis   
   XPost: rec.arts.books   
   From: hayesmstw@hotmail.com   
      
   On Sat, 21 Mar 2009 19:48:01 -0400, John W Kennedy    
   wrote:   
      
   >On 3/21/09 2:41 AM, Steve Hayes wrote:   
   >> On Fri, 20 Mar 2009 16:09:31 -0400, Steve Morrison    
   wrote:   
   >>   
   >>> For me, the problem is that I've hardly read anything by   
   >>> Inklings other than JRRT and CSL; I did read WIlliams's   
   >>> /All Hallows' Eve/ years ago, but that's it. Do you have   
   >>> any recommendations for books by the other Inklings?   
   >>   
   >> I'd recommend Williams's other novels.   
   >>   
   >> My favourites are "War in heaven", "The place of the lion" and "The greater   
   >> trumps"   
   >   
   >Might as well include "Descent into Hell" and "Many Dimensions".   
   >"Shadows of Ecstasy" is somewhat more dated than the others.   
      
   "Shadows of ecstasy" was also Williams's first novel, and while it starts off   
   OK, at the end the plot tends to dissolve into abstract philosophical   
   dialogue.   
      
   It, and "Descent into hell" have always been the ones I've liked least partly   
   for that reason, but recently I've read a couple of novels that have made me   
   want to re-read "Descent itno hell".   
      
   I found a book in the library with the title "Four Gothic novels", and I took   
   it out because I'd read about them, but hadn't read any of them and thought   
   I'd familiarise myself with the genre.   
      
   It has "The castle of Otranto" by Horace Walpole, the progenitor of the genre,   
   and "Vathek" by William Beckford - both moral tales about wicked and unjust   
   rulers who got their come-uppance.   
      
   I had just read a modern fantasy novel, "Neverwhere" by Neil Gaiman, which   
   provided a linking theme:   
      
   All Hallows Eve   
   Neverwhere   
   Vathek   
   Descent into hell   
      
   "All Hallows Eve" is about two dead girls wandering around wartime London, one   
   drifting towards damnation adn the other to wards redemption.   
      
   "Neverwhere" has a similar setting, of a "London above" and a "London below".   
      
   "Vathek" has the progression of an unjust ruler to damnation, a kind of   
   descent into hell.   
      
   And "Descent into hell" is, of course, what the title suggests.   
      
   I don't want to say too much, for fear of introducing spoilers for those who   
   haven't read them, but I was struck by the common themes that run through all   
   four novels.   
      
   And I suppose in C.S. Lewis there is "The great divorce", and in Tolkien there   
   is Gollum.   
      
      
      
   >   
   >The Arthuriad is also rewarding, though difficult: "Taliessin Through   
   >Logres" and "The Region of the Summer Stars". But you'd better have a   
   >copy of "Arthurian Torso" on hand to follow Lewis's commentary.   
   >   
   >"The English Poetic Mind" is vital. And "The Figure of Beatrice" is one   
   >of the leading books of all time on Dante.   
      
   --   
   Steve Hayes   
   Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/litmain.htm   
        http://www.librarything.com/catalog/hayesstw   
        http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)