Book Description
C. S. Lewis began his teaching career one hundred years ago at University College, Oxford in 1924, moving to Magdalen College in 1925. In the following 38 years, Lewis published eight books of literary criticism, literary history, and theory - plus dozens of literary essays. As with his fiction and popular religious writing, Lewis's scholarship is brim-full of profound insights about our common humanity, the books we enjoy, and our fascinating world. C.S. Lewis on Literature brings us closer to how Lewis's mind worked, helps us all to become better readers and, incidentally, better persons. In the centenary year marking Lewis's inauguration as an educator, this book is a fitting tribute to his monumental achievements.
Endorsements
"Marcus Paul's C. S. Lewis on Literature finally addresses a yawning gap in Lewis scholarship, that is, Lewis's own scholarship. Though others have commented on the master's literary theory and criticism, none has done so as systematically, thoroughly, and engagingly. This pioneering work is quite possibly a landmark that will show others the way further in. It certainly taught me much."
James Como, Professor Emeritus of Rhetoric, York College (CUNY)
Author (most recently) of C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford) and Mystical Perelandra (Winged Lion Press).
"Lewis's output as a literary historian, critic and theorist was astonishingly large. The number of scholars who have paid serious and sustained attention to it is astonishingly small. But these lines of work constituted his professional career as a distinguished academic first at Oxford and latterly at Cambridge and deserve to receive much more careful consideration. Marcus Paul is to be commended for this helpful and well-written survey and for highlighting Lewis's key advice to all literary people, namely that we should read to enlarge and liberate the self, not just entertain it or confirm its preconceptions. Useful, thorough, thoughtful."
Michael Ward, University of Oxford
Co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis
"Marcus Paul's introduction to C. S. Lewis's scholarly writings on literature reveals not only their astonishing scope, profound intelligence and learning, but also their accessibility to the non-specialist. Paul's arrangement of the material, working back from the twentieth century to the sixteenth, accords with Lewis's sense of historical depth, perceptible in the contemporary for those whose eyes have been helped to see it. But Paul's greatest achievement in this guide is in having seen the absolute integrity - in both senses - of Lewis's work: all, whether academic, apologist, or "creative", as we now call it (Lewis would surely have disliked the term), was one in a life lived in faith."
Jean Ward, Professor of Literature in English at the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Author of The Between-Space of Translation: Literary Sketches
"Marcus Paul's C. S. Lewis on Literature is an excellent introduction to the major professional writing of Lewis's career, namely his works of literary criticism, history, and theory. This book will help anyone trying to comprehend the interconnectedness of Lewis's literary output. As Owen Barfield once said about Lewis: 'somehow what he thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.' Paul has done his work well - he makes me want to re-read Lewis - and the questions for further study at the end of this work make it suitable for use in the classroom or even a book club."
Will Vaus, Pastor of First Congregational Church, Yarmouth, MA.
Author of 17 books, including C. S. Lewis's Top Ten: Influential Books & Authors and The Hidden Story of Narnia.
"In C. S. Lewis on Literature, readers of Lewis's fiction, theology, and apologetics will discover the delightful instruction found in his 'professional works'."
David Llewellyn Dodds
Editor of Arthurian Poets: Charles Williams (Arthurian Studies, 24)
Former Lecturer of English at Harlaxton College and former Curator of C. S. Lewis's house, The Kilns.
C. S. Lewis began his teaching career one hundred years ago at University College, Oxford in 1924, moving to Magdalen College in 1925. In the following 38 years, Lewis published eight books of literary criticism, literary history, and theory - plus dozens of literary essays. As with his fiction and popular religious writing, Lewis's scholarship is brim-full of profound insights about our common humanity, the books we enjoy, and our fascinating world. C.S. Lewis on Literature brings us closer to how Lewis's mind worked, helps us all to become better readers and, incidentally, better persons. In the centenary year marking Lewis's inauguration as an educator, this book is a fitting tribute to his monumental achievements.
Endorsements
"Marcus Paul's C. S. Lewis on Literature finally addresses a yawning gap in Lewis scholarship, that is, Lewis's own scholarship. Though others have commented on the master's literary theory and criticism, none has done so as systematically, thoroughly, and engagingly. This pioneering work is quite possibly a landmark that will show others the way further in. It certainly taught me much."
James Como, Professor Emeritus of Rhetoric, York College (CUNY)
Author (most recently) of C. S. Lewis: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford) and Mystical Perelandra (Winged Lion Press).
"Lewis's output as a literary historian, critic and theorist was astonishingly large. The number of scholars who have paid serious and sustained attention to it is astonishingly small. But these lines of work constituted his professional career as a distinguished academic first at Oxford and latterly at Cambridge and deserve to receive much more careful consideration. Marcus Paul is to be commended for this helpful and well-written survey and for highlighting Lewis's key advice to all literary people, namely that we should read to enlarge and liberate the self, not just entertain it or confirm its preconceptions. Useful, thorough, thoughtful."
Michael Ward, University of Oxford
Co-editor of The Cambridge Companion to C. S. Lewis
"Marcus Paul's introduction to C. S. Lewis's scholarly writings on literature reveals not only their astonishing scope, profound intelligence and learning, but also their accessibility to the non-specialist. Paul's arrangement of the material, working back from the twentieth century to the sixteenth, accords with Lewis's sense of historical depth, perceptible in the contemporary for those whose eyes have been helped to see it. But Paul's greatest achievement in this guide is in having seen the absolute integrity - in both senses - of Lewis's work: all, whether academic, apologist, or "creative", as we now call it (Lewis would surely have disliked the term), was one in a life lived in faith."
Jean Ward, Professor of Literature in English at the Institute of English and American Studies, University of Gdańsk, Poland
Author of The Between-Space of Translation: Literary Sketches
"Marcus Paul's C. S. Lewis on Literature is an excellent introduction to the major professional writing of Lewis's career, namely his works of literary criticism, history, and theory. This book will help anyone trying to comprehend the interconnectedness of Lewis's literary output. As Owen Barfield once said about Lewis: 'somehow what he thought about everything was secretly present in what he said about anything.' Paul has done his work well - he makes me want to re-read Lewis - and the questions for further study at the end of this work make it suitable for use in the classroom or even a book club."
Will Vaus, Pastor of First Congregational Church, Yarmouth, MA.
Author of 17 books, including C. S. Lewis's Top Ten: Influential Books & Authors and The Hidden Story of Narnia.
"In C. S. Lewis on Literature, readers of Lewis's fiction, theology, and apologetics will discover the delightful instruction found in his 'professional works'."
David Llewellyn Dodds
Editor of Arthurian Poets: Charles Williams (Arthurian Studies, 24)
Former Lecturer of English at Harlaxton College and former Curator of C. S. Lewis's house, The Kilns.
C.S. Lewis
on Literature
An Introduction to
Literary Criticism
Literary History
Literary Theory
Marcus Paul
on Literature
An Introduction to
Literary Criticism
Literary History
Literary Theory
Marcus Paul
