by arowhena » December 25th, 2009, 12:29 pm
I’ve only read one Lewis biography, by Hooper and Green, and I must say; it was terrible; terribly written and poorly constructed. Because I’m a fan of Lewis I stomached my way through it regardless. And so far Larry, I’m not convinced. Eventually I’ll get my hands on the other biographies and we will see if my opinion changes – until then…
Now, to your extraordinary statement “…By all accounts Mrs. Moore made his existence miserable, but he stuck it out...” (Please identify the source of this bold “statement.”)
How do we know that Mrs. Moore did not provide Lewis with inspiration and encouragement? Are these not important assets to a writer? An essential element is a writers social relationship with others – because without -- how is he to create a realistic world, no matter how fantastic?
Writers, at their core, just want to be appreciated – perhaps Lewis’ diligence to the detail of each and every word can be attributed to his Mrs. Moore. I am not saying that this was a conscious choice for Lewis. But a man alone – without a woman – is the poorest man alive. A writer alone – without a woman – has nothing to write about!
At the heart of love lies duty. Larry, you must be an atheist, a chauvinist, a Priest, a protestant, or a bachelor who, for the lack of a better understanding of the opposite sex, imagines that this duty as husband, faux-husband or even pseudo-husband, as a chore, a pit, a vice or a clever trick designed to seduce the simpleton and the idiot. Lewis could have walked away anytime.
Personally, I think we all have a lot to thank Mrs. Moore for, because regardless of the relationship and whatever their kinship, I feel that Lewis was a better man for it – we can see it in his writing. He was a happy man – engrossed and engaged in a world of his own making who, from time-to-time, was jerked back to the reality of this world by his Mrs. Moore.
Hooper and Green do allude to the fact that Lewis was expected to perform certain chores around his own home (OMG) -- and that Mrs. Moore kept him to it. Frankly, I don’t see a conspiracy here, or some sinister plot that ensnares our hero. I certainly see no evidence of misery – but I do see the story of every man who has ever loved!