Blazing Off The Page
C.S. Lewis Month on Secret Fire
As C.S. Lewis left this world during a November - on 22/11/1963 - I thought I’d devote the next few weeks on Secret Fire to this most influential and invaluable writer. He’s given us so much over the decades that it’s the least I can do by way of tribute. Lewis’s books continue to change lives and turn darkness to light for so many people, and that, of course, is what this site is all about.
We’ll start this Friday with a follow-up to last week’s piece on The Hermit of the Southern March. We’ll be looking at another contemplative figure, Ramandu, the retired star who blazes off the pages in Chapter 14 of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.
On Friday 14th, a new five-part series for paid subscribers will begin on The Cosmic Trilogy. The first essay will give us a grounding and orientation vis-à-vis the overall scope and vision of the novels. From there we can go straight into Out of the Silent Planet on Friday 28th.
In between, on Friday 21st, we’ll bring Till We Have Faces to the table, a book I’ve never quoted or mentioned on any platform before, but which I’m really looking forward to re-reading and discussing. I think it’s arguably Lewis’s best book - neck and neck for me with Perelandra at the moment - and it’s got so much to say about the human condition, there's almost an embarrassment of riches to write about.
Speaking of Perelandra, this sublimely beautiful story will get its turn on December 12th, with That Hideous Strength and the conclusion scheduled for December 26th and January 9th respectively. And we’ll intersperse these with posts on The Odyssey and G.K. Chesterton’s The Man Who Was Thursday.
That’s an ambitious schedule by my standards, but I can't wait to get going because I love what I do and it gives me great joy to bring you these reflections.
Life, as we know, can get in the way sometimes, but even if I can’t get them all out on these dates, I’ll still publish them in the order set out above.
Thank you for reading, please do subscribe, and I look forward to seeing you on Ramandu’s Island on Friday!
