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(More customer reviews)"Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C. S. Lewis" is a collection of twelve essays from the Belmont University conference of the same name in November 2005. I attended that conference, and, because I attended several of the talks in the book, I have been eagerly awaiting this volume. It was well worth the wait.
Dr. Amy Sturgis, who helped host and organize the conference and who edited this collection for Mythopoeic Press, has chosen a real diversity of topics and approaches and conclusions about Lewis' faith, his works of fantasy, and his influence. Remarkably, every essay is a winner. My favorites were "Surprised but not by Joy: Political Comment in Out of the Silent Planet," by Karen Wright Hayes, "Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve: Lewisian Perspectives on the Human in The Chronicles of Narnia" by Donald Williams, and "The Elfin Mystique: Fantasy and Feminism in J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter Series" by Kathryn McDaniel. This last talk, along with Andrew Lazo's talk at the same conference on Lewis and Tolkien as "modern writers," helped reshape my thinking about not only Lewis but Rowling (as a postmodern). Revisiting it in print was a great treat; as with all the essays collected here, it forced me back into the Lewis texts and those he influenced for an appreciation of them at greater depth. This volume is a must-have for libraries with Inkling collections and for serious readers of Lewis specifically and modern and postmodern English literature in general.
The volume is attractively and professionally done. Lest I only say uncritical things, I wish the cover had been in color and that the font had been one point greater. My wife thought the print easy to read, however, and she likes large-print books! De gustibus? Perhaps. I will say the absence of glitches, typos, poor writing, and of ideas that don't work in a collection of this size and diversity speaks well of the editorial hand. Thank you, Dr. Sturgis and Mythopoeic Press, for a book I know I will return to again and again in my reflections on Lewis and the authors he has influenced.
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This volume provides a broad sample of the research presented at the "Past Watchful Dragons: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C.S. Lewis" international conference held at Belmont University on November 3-5, 2005.The contributing scholars reflect a truly interdisciplinary discussion representing the fields of literature, theology, history, and popular culture.The assembled essays offer insights on the messages of C.S. Lewis's fiction and nonfiction, the dramatic adaptations of his work, the influence of his faith, and his relevance to related fantasy literature and authors from J.R.R. Tolkien to J.K. Rowling.These diverse contributions combine to offer a better understanding and appreciation of the life and legacy of C.S. Lewis.
