This will be of interest to any fan of Narnia or C.S. Lewis

[tree_and_leaf]

Harper Collins have published a whole swathe of juvenilia. Specifically, Lewis' fantasy writings on the land of Boxen (and I had no idea he was still playing about with it in 1928, when he'd been a fellow of Magdalen College for three years).

Will be fascinating to look at, especially as one never normally thinks of Lewis as a world-builder, exactly.

Random sidenote: If wikipedia is to believed, then while Betjeman disliked Lewis, who was his tutor (I knew this; probably has something to do with the fact that Lewis thought he was idle and rather silly), Kenneth Tynan, who he also taught, retained a lifelong admiration for him, which piece of trivia rather surprised me. It just goes to show one should never make assumptions about how people will get on based on their beliefs.

Comments

[legionseagle.livejournal.com]

Have you read the Betjeman comment on Lewis's reaction to Betjman being sent down, in Summoned By Bells? It does strike me as a bit on the callous side.

[tree_and_leaf]

Yes, it was a bit, though I've read Lewis' side of it as well, and he mostly comes over as being very frustrated by Betjeman's unwillingness to do the work. I suppose it's a classic example of the shortcomings in the tutorial system; it's wonderful if you find your tutor's approach congenial, but sometimes you just get a tutor (or indeed a student) who rubs you up the wrong way, and the whole thing becomes very difficult and unproductive for both parties. Yes, one ought to be able to put that aside, but it's very difficult to do so entirely in a one-on-one.

[overconvergent.livejournal.com]

That's an excellent piece of writing; all of the fun and gaiety of being a student, followed by the bucket of icy water as he realizes he's failed.