The Inklings Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to the Lives, Thought and Writings of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfiel

by David Porter, Colin Duriez, colin-duriez-david-porter

The Oxford Inklings was an informal group of literary friends who met weekly to talk about ideas and pieces they were writing and enjoy a good evening of "the cut and parry of prolonged, fierce and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 082721622X
• ISBN13: 9780827216228
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Chalice Press
• Length: 244 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.4" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A good place to start.

This handbook is a broad guide for the novice or casual explorer. Like any such tome, it is a great springboard for further learning. However, I disagree that it is comprehensive (i.e., all inclusive) as the title suggests. The interested explorer will eventually tire of skimming the meandering surface presented by Duriez and dive straight in elsewhere to get at the depths of the great men of the West cataloged in this handbook. Nonetheless, this handbook is a good purchase for Inklings enthusiasts.

By far the best book on the Inklings available anywhere

This is simply by far the best book available on the Inklings anywhere, the group of people who have done more to give us a wondrous understanding of literature and hours of reading pleasure than any other group of friends in the 20th century. As always, Colin's style is easy to read and the flow is pure genius. Buy this book for all your friends and you and they will be transformed! Christopher Catherwood, author of CHRISTIANS MUSLIMS AND ISLAMIC RAGE and WHOSE SIDE IS GOD ON?

A Reference Guide for the Rest of Us

Here's a book that at first seems neither fish nor fowl, occupying a no-man's land between the spate of popular Inklings studies and the far more academic guides for the far more serious reader. But extremists tend to push us moderates the other way, and a stridently negative review convinced me this book deserved a closer look. I'd say it's the first book for people in the middle: fascinating at first glance and rewarding when one digs deeper. This is a beautifully made library quality hardback, which gives it a reference book feel, and which yet rewards casual reading. The authors adopt a unique approach, dividing the book into two sections. The first fifty pages consists of six short essays, by which readers may wander into the subject from various avenues of approach. The second section, which occupies the remaining 250 or so pages, consists of alphabetized, encyclopaedic entries on all things Inklings. To further aid the itinerant reader, bits in the essays are starred, indicating an entry in part two. Add in the comprehensive bibliography, and you've got about the most helpful reference book imaginable. This is also one of the few books about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien which gives anything more than a passing note to Charles Williams and Owen Barfield. As an avid Williams reader, I found not only the relevant passages, but also the essay relating to Williams best poetry, based on the Arthurian legends and the Matter of Britain, fascinating and enlightening. Colin Duriez's latest book is about the friendship between Lewis and Tolkien. In The Inklings Handbook the authors allude to and celebrate the wider, if more varied friendships between the various members of the Inklings--and one more friendship: what Williams would call the "confraternity" of kindred souls who are the Inklings' readers. It's as if you walked into the Eagle and Child Pub in Oxford. Colin leaning on the bar and David at the dart board, both look up as you walk in, and walk over to shake hands. "C'mon," says Colin, pointing to little gathering at a back booth, "there's someone here we'd like you to meet."

Highy Recommended

I gave this Colin Duriez and David Porter's book a five because it does exactly what it set out to do: give readers an excellent overview of The Inklings relationship. I have collected, read and studied the works of C. S. Lewis for the past 30 years. This book filled an empty niche in my collection as it is a clear and concise handbook of the most fascinating group of friends known as The Inklings and the complex elements of the lives they brought to their relationship. I have been pleased to know and enjoy the work David Porter, one of the authors. His research and that of Colin Duriez is meticulous. They have included an excellent bibiography, including Charles Williams' _Outline of Romantic Theology_ and other important works of The Inklings which will keep you reading and learning about The Inklings for a lifetime. At the end of each article further reading is listed. Pauline Baines, the great illustrator, is mentioned in the Narnia chapter. The entry on Aleister Crowley is much appreciated by those Lewis lovers who also read and enjoy the works of Charles Williams. The style of the book is delighful as authors often include interesting anecdotes and quotes. The book is not overly pedantic, or ostentatiously intellectual. _The Inklings Handbook_ is a must read for those who would begin to learn about the amazing alchemy of The Inklings. You will find in this book much that is relevant in the 21st century about the spirited exchange of ideas- The Inklings as a model for living with great enthusiasm and vitality.