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Charles McGrath's "The Narnia Skirmishes"

The man. The myth.

Charles McGrath's "The Narnia Skirmishes"

Postby Jill-at-the-Well » January 31st, 2008, 6:05 am

It's possible that there has already been a discussion of this, given that it's from 2005. However, I searched the forum and couldn't find it, and I am very interested in hearing your opinions on it.

It is an article that was in the New York Times, by Charles McGrath.

Here is a place where you can read it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/movies/13narnia.html


I started out unsurprised. (What do you expect from a liberal paper? I thought.) It got more outrageous, and I became outraged at the things he was saying. "What a lot of 'damned nonsense,'" I cried, borrowing a Lewis phrase. And then it got so ridiculous that I came to the conclusion that he must be being facetious. He couldn't be serious.

So... have you read it? Heard anything about it? Is he actually meaning all that ridiculousness? Or was he joking, perhaps trying to get a rise out of credulous Lewis fans in order to poke fun at them?

Thoughts appreciated.
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"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
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Postby rusmeister » January 31st, 2008, 8:05 am

I think it's rather obvious that he wishes to smear Lewis. Since you can't knock the stories (although he tries), go for the author...

It's one thing to review a movie; quite another to libel a man. I wonder that the estate didn't take some kind of action. An internet blog is one thing, the NYT is much more tied in to the legal world and is subject to libel laws.

Insisting on calling Jane Moore by a nickname that no doubt existed somewhere, but not in the public eye, is over the top, too.

No, I'm afraid it's too subtle a joke to be a joke. He's serious.
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Postby repectabiggle » January 31st, 2008, 2:51 pm

""Remember the word that I said to you, 'A slave is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also." John 15:20
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Postby Jill-at-the-Well » January 31st, 2008, 7:44 pm

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"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
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Postby repectabiggle » January 31st, 2008, 8:39 pm

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Postby Leslie » January 31st, 2008, 9:23 pm

"What are you laughing at?"
"At myself. My little puny self," said Phillipa.
--Rumer Godden, In This House of Brede
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Postby Stanley Anderson » January 31st, 2008, 10:10 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
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Postby repectabiggle » January 31st, 2008, 11:53 pm

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Postby Tuke » February 1st, 2008, 1:09 am

"The 'great golden chain of Concord' has united the whole of Edmund Spenser's world.... Nothing is repressed; nothing is insubordinate. To read him is to grow in mental health." The Allegory Of Love (Faerie Queene)

2 Corinthians IV.17 The Weight of Glory
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Postby repectabiggle » February 1st, 2008, 1:48 am

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Postby Jill-at-the-Well » February 1st, 2008, 4:22 am

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"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"Oh dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
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Postby Stanley Anderson » February 1st, 2008, 2:17 pm

…on a night of rain Frodo smelled a sweet fragrance on the air and heard the sound of singing that came over the water. And then it seemed to him that as in his dream in the house of Bombadil, the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back, and he beheld white shores and beyond them a fair green country under a swift sunrise.
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Postby john » February 1st, 2008, 4:12 pm

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Postby rusmeister » February 1st, 2008, 7:00 pm

"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength
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Postby john » February 1st, 2008, 7:10 pm

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