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Alastair Fowler on CSL

The man. The myth.

Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Guest » September 2nd, 2004, 9:53 am

I have just posted on my website a memoir by Alastair Fowler on C. S. Lewis, reproduced from a recent Yale Review :

You're welcome!

Arend Smilde
Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Steve » September 2nd, 2004, 11:02 am

Interesting -- thanks for that article.
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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Stanley Anderson » September 2nd, 2004, 8:37 pm

Very informative and fascinating article. I was interested to see mention of at least a couple topic that have been discussed at length at various times on these forums and elsewhere -- Lewis' views on Evolution and the provenance of The Dark Tower (I wonder if Fowler has said anything more definitive about his memories of Lewis reading The Dark Tower to him that might quell some of the doubts about its authenticity to followers of Lindskoog's theories?)

It was also interesting to read his observations about the contrast between Lewis and Tolkien's discussion styles. It seemed curiously like the commonly described distinction between male and female modes of thought -- Lewis' being a more male-like step-by-step linear fashion while Tolkien is described as keeping several different strands in play at the same time, as might be typically described of the strength of the female mode of thought.

I have had discussions in the recent past with Monica (by email, not on these forums) about the connection between her view of That Hideous Strength as a "jumble" of not-well-connected ideas and the similar type of description Lewis gives about Medieval literature (and especially about The Faerie Queen in particular -- a description he doesn't subscribe to but justifies it as being more substantial and purposive than simply due to jumble-mindedness by medieval authours). And my assertion is that at least one of Lewis' intentions with the style of THS was in a sort of stylistic imitation of medieval literature in this aspect of apparent jumbleness.

So in light of these discussions, I was fascinated to see that Fowler describes Tolkien, and not Lewis (in conversation style, not writing style), in a similar way: "I remember Tolkien as a disconcerting conversationalist; he had a habit of distributing speech between several quite different strands – botanical and linguistic, say – and keeping them all in play, as in the entrelacement of a medieval romance, so that you had to keep track of earlier turns of the conversation". This is almost identical in tone and theme to how Lewis describes the same idea in his comments about The Faerie Queene in his book Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature.

Mostly, once again, it reinforces my lament (very common among Lewis fans, I'm sure) that I was never able to just be able to sit and talk with him into the middle of the night in his rooms or over a pint at the Bird and Baby. Heck, for that opportunity, I wouldn't even mind having my views utterly trashed and mopped up by him:-)

--Stanley
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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Guest » September 3rd, 2004, 1:39 pm

As you say, it is a fascinating article. I don't think Fowler's memory of Lewis reading 'Dark Tower' tells us much about its authenticity unless we know what part he read. Didn't Kathryn Lindskoog accept that one chapter of DT was by Lewis? I expect the whole thing is by Lewis really but I have always rather hoped it was a forgery because it is, frankly, terrible.

Don't you think Lewis' remark about God putting the fossils in the rocks was a joke, brought in simply for the fun of argument? I doubt if he really took that idea seriously.
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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Stanley Anderson » September 3rd, 2004, 2:30 pm

[from kbrowne]:
>I expect the whole thing is by Lewis really but I have always rather
>hoped it was a forgery because it is, frankly, terrible.

I like to joke that I hoped it was a forgery because then we would have some hope that the real author is still alive and could actually finish the story:-) As you might guess from that comment, I really quite enjoyed the fragment and I have always thought it was by Lewis

>Don't you think Lewis' remark about God putting the fossils in the rocks
>was a joke, brought in simply for the fun of argument? I doubt if he
>really took that idea seriously.

Well, yes -- Fowler says as much in the article -- perhaps "joke" is too strong a word, but Lewis was using the statement as a lead-in to a deeper investigation of the subject (Evolution in general, that is, not that isolated remark). And when Lewis detected that Fowler was not familiar with the context of the remark, he let it go, as Fowler freely admits about his own ignorance of the source of the quote.

I was surprised to see him (Fowler) trot out the old "Lewis wasn't good at math" comment to support the idea that Lewis' ideas about science were unsound. The whole issue about science and Lewis is a big subject that I couldn't address adequately here, but as a mathematics major in college (thirty years ago, so the rust is showing, I'm sure:-), I don't see such a deficiency in Lewis. Oh of course I have no first hand knowledge of his mathematical abilities, and I know about his failure to complete the mathematics part of his education and all, but although it is hard to put into precise terms, when I read any of Lewis' works, I recognize perfectly clearly in my own mind many of the sorts of things that made me good at mathematics.

Perhaps he didn't master the technical parts of mathematics for whatever reason (I often joke that I can work with equations and theory, but give me a checkbook to balance or keep score in a game and I can't give you a correct concrete answer to save my life:-), but I say that the sort of reasoning and ability to make connections between disparate subjects and being able to step back and see the bigger picture are common aspects that I see in Lewis' writing and in the things that make a mathematician good at what he does.

So, with all that, I question the "evidence" that Lewis did not reason properly about science given his supposed lack of mathematical ability.

--Stanley
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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Guest » September 3rd, 2004, 3:07 pm

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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Alan » September 3rd, 2004, 3:55 pm

This product does not require batteries
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Re: Alastair Fowler on CSL

Postby Stanley Anderson » September 3rd, 2004, 4:07 pm

[from Alan]:
>...Ingrid Bergman...

Makes me wonder what sort of "beautiful" women Lewis found most appealing on a personal level (Blonde, Brunette, etc? "high" beauty, or more homey "natural" beauty? Which star of today would he be most attracted to purely on looks?). I suppose it might be a distasteful and shallow subject for him (although Fowler suggests that he was certainly not prudish in conversation topics), but he certainly appreciated the female form and beauty and mentions it as a general idea in many areas -- poems, fiction and non-fiction.

--Stanley
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Lisa Loeb?

Postby Guest » September 4th, 2004, 1:00 pm

Image
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CSL on the love of Joy

Postby Guest » September 4th, 2004, 1:01 pm

[quote="Stanley Anderson"]
Makes me wonder what sort of "beautiful" women Lewis found most appealing on a personal level (Blonde, Brunette, etc? "high" beauty, or more homey "natural" beauty?

He liked 'em loud, Jewish-looking, with strong features. :-)


Which star of today would he be most attracted to purely on looks?).

See photo of Lisa Loeb. :-) (Not sure how this works, where the photo will show up....)[/url]
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