David C. Downing's Blog, page 7

Here's an interesting article in the WALL STREET JOURNAL by Rowan Williams, unti...

Here's an interesting article in the WALL STREET JOURNAL by Rowan Williams, until recently the Archbishop of Canterbury, on how C. S. Lewis eludes the usual pigeon-holes of Left or Right, Liberal or Conservative.


Why You Can’t Get to Narnia By Turning Left or Right
blogs.wsj.com
Fifty years since his passing and seventy five years since the publication of his science fiction novel "Out of the Silent Planet," "Narnia" creator C.S. Lewis is still misunderstood by conservatives and liberals, atheists and believers. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, explains…

"It's a long and winding road . . ."

"It's a long and winding road . . ."

You can now read The Hobbit in Latin! Fortes fortuna iuvat! (Fortune favors the...

You can now read The Hobbit in Latin! Fortes fortuna iuvat! (Fortune favors the brave.)

A splendid abode. But what are their heating bills like in winter?

A splendid abode. But what are their heating bills like in winter?

This is Dunluce Castle in, which C. S. Lewis often visited as a child. It is pro...

This is Dunluce Castle in, which C. S. Lewis often visited as a child. It is probably his model for Cair Paravel in the Narnia Chronicles.

Lewis scholar Brenton Dickieson talks about C. S. Lewis's lighter side, saying t...

Lewis scholar Brenton Dickieson talks about C. S. Lewis's lighter side, saying that David C. Downing's portrayal of Lewis in LOOKING FOR THE KING is more accurate than the "introspective, brooding" Lewis portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the film SHADOWLANDS.


A Ham of Note in the History of Literature
apilgriminnarnia.com
I suppose there is a tendency to imagine C.S. Lewis as an introspective, brooding sort of fellow. A friend of mine recently pointed out that this image may be because of Anthony Hopkins’ inte...

Rotten Tomatoes, the film review aggregator, gave ratings of well over 90% for a...

Rotten Tomatoes, the film review aggregator, gave ratings of well over 90% for all three LOTR movies. But the first THE HOBBIT film came in at only 65% positive reviews. What do you think? Is the movie not as good or did the reviewers miss something?

Some favorite quotes from JRR Tolkien on what would have been his 121st birthday...

Some favorite quotes from JRR Tolkien on what would have been his 121st birthday this week. We can think of a dozen more quotations we would have liked to add!


15 Fantastic Tolkien Quotes
www.huffingtonpost.com
J.R.R. Tolkien has arguably never been so popular, with The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies as close to hagiographies of the man's literature as you'll find.

Interesting thoughts from TIME magazine of the paucity of female characters in T...

Interesting thoughts from TIME magazine of the paucity of female characters in Tolkien's books. Do you agree with their analysis?


The Hobbit: Why Are There No Women In Tolkien's World?
ideas.time.com
Middle-earth is strangely devoid of females. So who gave birth to all those hobbits and dwarves and elves?

Here's an interesting article on Tolkien and his illustrators, including Tolkien...

Here's an interesting article on Tolkien and his illustrators, including Tolkien himself as one of the most gifted illustrators of his tales!


The Middle Earth Illustrators J.R.R. Tolkien Loved—and the Ones He Abhorred
io9.com
While Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, and now The Hobbit movie may be how many modern folks see Middle Earth, it's important to remember that the first person to illustrate J.R.R.