Into the Wardrobe

This is more of a side note, but has anybody heard Lewis's abridged, spoken version of the Preface? I know it can be found, for purchase, at: . It's a pleasure to hear Lewis's actual voice, but I've only heard his recordings of The Four Loves.

- Jared

I have that CD. It records Lewis introducing a BBC radio dramatic presentation of The Great Divorce, aired on 27 February 1948.

Changes from the Preface as written:

"But in some sense or other people are always trying to make that marriage."

The next sentence starts with "Reality presents us..."

In the same sentence, instead of "that, granted...enough, some way" he says "they think that some way"

Same sentence, after saying "embracing both alternatives" he adds "both Good and Evil"

Instead of "This belief I take to be a disastrous error." he says "I think they're wrong."

Skips over the next couple of sentences, then makes a slight change "Even on the biological level, life is not like a river, but like a tree."

The second paragraph skips and starts with the sentence "If we insist on keeping Hell..." continues as written until "...who reaches Heaven will find what he has abandoned has not been lost, but we must not try to anticipate that retrospective vision."

Skips all the way down to "There's one more thing to be said about this program, that it is a fantasy, not even a guess or a speculation about what may be awaiting us. The last thing I wish to arouse is curiosity about he details of the after world."

Thanks Sven!

How's the quality of that recording? Also, do you think that CD set is worth purchasing?

- Jared

The quality is very good.

Most of the time Lewis speaks in the expected Received Pronunciation. On some of the longer pieces, like The Great Divide, you can occasionally hear a bit of the Ulster Irish coming through.

Whether it's worth buying or not depends on the individual, for myself it was an easy decision.

By the way, several (but not all) of the recordings are available here in the Wardrobe. Click on the tab at the top of the page titled 'multimedia', once there click on 'audio files'.

I've been reading and rereading The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and have been having a rough time of it; but what I see Blake saying is ; that Heaven is good, wise and passive, and that Hell is energetic, agressive, cunning. Milton's characterization of Satan in Paridise Lost is a good demonstration of this. When I read this poem it's very hard for me not to admire Satan because he is such a strong, dynamic character even if he is evil to the core! But all the other characters seem to pale in comparison. Milton's Satan reminds me of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Goodness seems unimaginative, flat, and predictable. Yet maybe what Blake is saying is that you can't have one without the other. Heaven cannot exist in our minds apart from Hell, and Hell cannot exist in our minds apart from Heaven.

Matthew - that's always a challenge for good vs. evil drama. Evil is just so much more compelling than what we usually think of a "good". That's why most heroes have some sort of flaw or a dark past. In TGD, Lewis manages to make heaven and untainted goodness compelling, while hell is blah and uninteresting. I think most of us would agree that in this respect, TGD is probably one of the most accurate depictions of good vs evil and heaven vs hell. Lewis is attempting to overturn centuries of imagery that have left us envisioning heaven as "passive". In Lewis' version, heaven is not passive. It presents a massive challenge of character for the tourists. It really is quite an accomplishment when you think about it.

It's good to have you back, Nomad! I completely agree with you, the Narnia series is also a great example of Lewis making goodness compelling. I have also read arguments in Milton's defence of the reason why his version of Satan is so attractive; it is that it is our fallenness or sinful nature that finds him fascinating. I don't agree with that. I just think that Milton inbued into Satan abmirable characteristics; tenacity, creativity, intelligence, and resourcefulness. Milton also seems to be telling the story from Satan's point of view. William Blake was a great admirer of John Milton which had a huge impact on everything Blake wrote, particularly The Marriage of Heaven and Hell.

Oh yeah, I heard that as well but forgot to mention it. You can hear the Great Divorce preface read in Lewis's original voice on the BBC web site. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions ... is_1.shtml

I think whenever a question of copyright comes up, you can take it for granted that the Estate has it locked up in every possible way available under the law.