Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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."

The Inklings were a legendary group of writers in the mid-2th century, now primarily known as the drinking gang of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. In "The Inklings Handbook," Colin Duriez and David Porter do a good job of illuminating several dark corners of the Inklings' history, but they sway too heavily in Lewis and Tolkien's direction.

The book opens with several essay-chapters: the history of the Inklings as a group and an Inklings chronology spanning eighty years. There are also some brief studies of Narnia, Middle-Earth, and some obscure Arthuriana written by Inklings members. And, of course "Theology and Fantasy In the Inklings" -- with Lewis and Tolkien in it, what else could there be?

But these essay chapters (plus the introduction) aren't enough to fill up even fifty pages. So Duriez and Porter provide an Inklings encyclopedia of sorts, with alphabetical entries detailing the lives of the inklings, their creations, several books, their friends and influences. Some are absolutely bizarre (Aleister Crowley?), but several are very useful, such as the summaries of Lewis' lesser-known books.

It's a given that when people hear about the Inklings, they immediately think about Tolkien and Lewis. It's only natural -- they are the most famous out of the whole bunch. As a result, most fans of these two authors will already know quite a bit about their lives and work.

But it's a little disheartening to see that Duriez and Porter lean too heavily on these two writers, retelling information about Tolkien and Lewis that any knowledgeable fan knows. Owen Barfield and Charles Williams are given secondary importance, and quite a few details about them and their work are revealed. But what about J.A.W. Bennett or Lord David Cecil? Barely a paragraph is given to the "lesser Inklings," no matter what they did or how much they wrote.

Duriez does have an excellent style, relaxed and flowing easily from one topic to another. His research with Porter into obscure scholarly works and undertakings -- such as Williams' translation of the Aeneid -- appears to be quite detailed, and offers quite a few interesting summaries of various books, and of people who encountered the Inklings, such as mystery writer Dorothy Sayers.

While it doesn't shed much light on anyone except Tolkien and Lewis, "The Inklings Handbook" does shed quite a bit of light on the Inklings' works and creations, including ones other than Narnia and Middle-Earth.

Not recommended for purchase, especially by academic libraries (this suggestion is from a holder of a 1985 Master of Library Science degree, University of Illinois). I admit that I'd have really enjoyed browsing in this book when I was a junior high school student, though.

Many readers who know a bit about the Inklings, and, certainly, scholars, will not find the book to be satisfactory, whether as regards style or as regards content. There are various usage and even spelling errors that should have been caught in the editing process. There are curious inclusions -- satanist Aleister Crowley? John Macgowan(1726-80), a Baptist minister, who wrote a book the authors think resembles Lewis's The Screwtape Letters -- though they don't think Lewis ever read it? It's weird to include entries such as these, and then leave out people such as Pauline Baynes, whose artwork won raves from Tolkien (she illustrated three of his books in his lifetime) and Lewis (she illustrated all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia)!

The authors really deserve censure for neglecting to discuss the major controversy in Lewis scholarship of the last fifteen years, the possibility of forgeries being offered as unpublished works by CSL. No responsible scholar would "stonewall" such an issue! One cannot understand why their bibliography, while listing some items twice, omits some very important books, such as Scull and Hammond's book on Tolkien's artwork, or Charles Williams's Outlines of Romantic Theology.

I wouldn't have bought this book if I'd known how unsatisfactory it would prove to be when I'd got it.

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?