ENG 446: Fiction of Lewis & Tolkien

In C.S. Lewis on the Final Frontier, Sanford Schwartz offers a penetrating new reading of Lewis's celebrated Space Trilogy, moving beyond the conventional view that reduces these novels to a simplistic struggle between a premodern cosmology and the modern scientific paradigm that had supplanted it. In this groundbreaking study, Schwartz shows how each of the novels in the trilogy takes up a distinct facet of the conflict between Christianity and the tendencies of modern thought that arose in the wake of the Darwinian revolution.

This book presents a study of Lewis, the nature of science fiction, the nature of Lewis's Arcadian science fiction and his (and its) place in English literary history. Lengthy chapters are devoted to each of the four Ransom stories.

This book offers a critical assessment of the Ransom Trilogy, placing the three volumes in the context of Lewis' life and work.

Includes relevant chapter: "The Mystical Way in the Space Trilogy"

Includes relevant chapter: "Perelandra: The Paradoxes of Joy"

Includes relevant chapter: "Perelandra: Creation and Conscience"

Includes relevant chapter: "A Preface to Perelandra"

In this fascinating guide Martha Sammons, author of A Guide Through Narnia, takes the reader on an adventure of discovery as she explores the depths of Lewis' vision. Here is a behind-the-scenes look at why Lewis wrote the Trilogy, the medieval cosmology that informs it, the role of Arthurian legend in That Hideous Strength, the sources for major and minor characters, and countless other fascinating details.