Roger White, Judith Wolfe, and Brendan Wolfe, eds., CS Lewis and His Circle: Essays and Memoirs from the Oxford CS Lewis Society (2015)
Closely following The Fellowship, a splendid group biography of the Inklings, comes this new collection, a fine companion volume for those looking for more on CS Lewis and company. A student society founded in 1982 with the aim of grappling with “the rich relationship between Christianity, culture, and the imagination, including literature,” the Oxford CS Lewis Society has had hundreds of talks given under its aegis throughout the years. What a delight it must have been for an Oxford student sympathetic to these themes to be able to belong to this club and participate in its activities.
Much of the material produced for the club has never been published, but in this volume we are privileged to read a pithy but very rich and deep selection, encompassing essays on philosophy, theology, and literature in the first half, and memoirs of the Inklings in general and CS Lewis in particular in the second. Some highlights for me included Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, giving an appreciative reassessment of one of Lewis’s less popular novels, That Hideous Strength; Peter Bide’s memory of how he married Lewis and Joy Davidman, setting straight the record which has been rather sentimentalized and distorted by fictional treatments; and Owen Barfield himself, who outlived almost all his fellow Inklings, brilliantly analyzing his relationship with Lewis and teasing apart their intertwined opinions.
Each reader, however, will find his or her particular points of interest, whether in studies of the esoteric fiction of Charles Williams, considerations of the relationship of WH Auden to the Inklings, or personal reminiscences of Lewis and his family and friends. Framed by a Foreword and Afterword that put them into the context of the origin and history of the Society, these diverse contributions give a welcome taste of the many ways there are of encountering and understanding Lewis and the Inklings.
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The Emerald City Book Review Archive 
Though I generally do not agree with his philosophy, Lewis really had a keen mind and his works are very worthy of reading and consideration. He also seems to have been an interesting person.
I really like books like this that dig into the thoughts and writings of such keen minds.
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I definitely disagree with some of his views, but his fiction had a major impact on me growing up and I find it fascinating to read about the man behind the books.
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These sound like fascinating essays! I’m always intrigued by books about books 🙂
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With Lewis’s many faceted life and career, it does have a lot to offer for booklovers.
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I think I would love at least some of these essays, and will mark the book down for reading after I get around to the book on the Inklings. 🙂
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There is much of interest to glean from the different contributions, even if you don’t read all of them.
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Sounds fascinating, I love reading more about Lewis and the Inklings. I am looking forward to reading Bringing Narnia Home by Devin Brown soon.
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I have not come across that title, will check it out.
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Oh, neat! I love it when people do companion volumes, and this looks like such a great fit to go along with The Inklings. I wonder if my sister would want either or both of these… She does love CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien an awful lot.
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It’s not an official companion volume, but the different publishers happened to bring them out very close together and they are a great pair. I do recommend them both highly for fans of CS Lewis.
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This sounds really cool! I love C.S. Lewis–just read the Narnia books in order again last summer and absolutely loved them even more! Definitely a book I want to check out. Thanks!
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It’s a terrific collection for Lewis fans, suitable for browsing or bedtime reading of an essay or two.
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