Book Description
With Mystical Perelandra James Como, writing as an ‘everyman’ reader of C. S. Lewis, deepens the idea of Lewis as an apostle and, more pointedly, as a true mystic. In part a response to critics who have ‘recovered’ from Lewis, he renders this 1943 space fantasy as the pinnacle of Lewis’s apostolic project, especially as a depiction of the strife, awe and hope of spiritual sculpting and as a genuine vision. Through a close reading of the story, along with mystical writings, Lewis’s own journey, and the author’s personal testimony, Como’s reader partakes in the transformations of Lewis, of the heroic Elwin Ransom and, it seems, of so many Lewis readers. Mystical Perelandra is an engaging coda to the lifelong career of a Lewis reader.
Endorsements
"With this unique blending of literary analysis and personal reminiscence, Como holds up Perelandra like a jewel, examining its many facets and explaining what makes it sparkle.”
David Downing
Author of INTO THE REGION OF AWE: MYSTICISM IN C.S. LEWIS
and Co-Director of The Wade Study Center
"There are few living lovers of Lewis who know the great man's works better than James Como. This being so, anything he writes on Lewis is worth reading. His latest book contends that the art of rhetoric and the art of storytelling meet sublimely in Perelandra. There is no doubt that Como, the professor of rhetoric and Lewis scholar, is the best person to show us how."
Joseph Pearce
author of FURTHER UP & FURTHER IN: UNDERSTANDING NARNIA
and LITERARY CONVERTS
With Mystical Perelandra James Como, writing as an ‘everyman’ reader of C. S. Lewis, deepens the idea of Lewis as an apostle and, more pointedly, as a true mystic. In part a response to critics who have ‘recovered’ from Lewis, he renders this 1943 space fantasy as the pinnacle of Lewis’s apostolic project, especially as a depiction of the strife, awe and hope of spiritual sculpting and as a genuine vision. Through a close reading of the story, along with mystical writings, Lewis’s own journey, and the author’s personal testimony, Como’s reader partakes in the transformations of Lewis, of the heroic Elwin Ransom and, it seems, of so many Lewis readers. Mystical Perelandra is an engaging coda to the lifelong career of a Lewis reader.
Endorsements
"With this unique blending of literary analysis and personal reminiscence, Como holds up Perelandra like a jewel, examining its many facets and explaining what makes it sparkle.”
David Downing
Author of INTO THE REGION OF AWE: MYSTICISM IN C.S. LEWIS
and Co-Director of The Wade Study Center
"There are few living lovers of Lewis who know the great man's works better than James Como. This being so, anything he writes on Lewis is worth reading. His latest book contends that the art of rhetoric and the art of storytelling meet sublimely in Perelandra. There is no doubt that Como, the professor of rhetoric and Lewis scholar, is the best person to show us how."
Joseph Pearce
author of FURTHER UP & FURTHER IN: UNDERSTANDING NARNIA
and LITERARY CONVERTS
Mystical
Perelandra
My Lifelong Reading
of C.S. Lewis
and His Favorite Book
James Como
release date - April 2022
Perelandra
My Lifelong Reading
of C.S. Lewis
and His Favorite Book
James Como
release date - April 2022