Thursday, August 11, 2022

The Inklings

I learn a lot from reading blogs. One of Northsider's favorite movies is 'Shadowlands'. I have to admit there are a lot of movies that I never had the chance to see, and reading about this one, I didn't remember seeing it, and decided that I should. So, off to the library I went to borrow it. 

I did like the movie very much. Truth be told, I believe that I did see it, long ago in the dying days of my last marriage. I did not know the end was so near, but recognized the fact that it was mortally wounded. I watched that movie, and I remembered crying at the ending, touched at such a great love, recognizing that my own 'love story' fell quite short. 

Though I vaguely remembered seeing it, I'd forgotten most of it, so I watched it again, and was moved. I still cried at the ending, but felt no need to compare. 

I noted that I'd seen it to Northsider and somewhere along the line, someone mentioned 'The Inklings' in the comments. I can't remember who, and I don't want to try to figure it out, but whoever you are, thank you so much. 

The book had to be obtained through an interlibrary loan, coming in from Erie. It is a tattered blue covered book that had not been checked out since 2014. What a treasure it is! Someone has underlined the things that appealed to him. Lewis was a walker, and he believed that "all weather had its attractions". The unknown reader had underlined that sentence and wrote his own note quoting Thoreau (I had to look it up, even though I have Walden upstairs on a shelf): 


I have often wished that I was one of those folks who could quote things off the top of my head. 

I can't. My undisciplined mind wanders freely.

So anyways, here I am, on page 55 of a book that requires me to read with a phone in my hand for easy access to Mr. Google. I am enthralled with the conversations between Lewis and Tolkein. The very thing that turned Lewis from his childhood religious upbringing was the very thing that made turned me from a believer to a non-believer. It was pretty mindblowing to discover this. Tolkein patiently dismantled Lewis' arguments, which set him on a path of rediscovering his own faith. 

What a moment! To be standing under a tree as a wind stirred on a quiet day, bringing down a shower of autumn leaves as your mind grapples with a completely new paradigm.

I don't have a lot of time to devote to reading such a book, but Mattie called me today. There's been a problem after Rudy's last surgery, and he needs to go back down to the Pittsburgh Hospital. She hasn't been able to find anyone to drive them. "Sure," I said. "It's not a problem. I will be glad to." 

She was so relieved. 

I will selfishly admit that a big part of it was to be able to sit in my car and read uninterrupted for a huge block of time, googling, studying, returning to my book is something that I'm very much looking forward to. 

As exciting as it is to be reading about The Inkling, I also can't help but feel a sense of kindredness to this unknown soul who underlined and made margin notes in that old book. 

One final thing. Warnie Lewis quoted Wordworth on the occasion of his retirement from the military. 


And I was struck by their perfection. 
They fit retirement. 

My days are now "made for me", and I like that very much. 

19 comments:

  1. What a lovely find. You deserve as much time as you need to read that book. Fair reward for doing a good turn.

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  2. I'm intrigued by your book Debby, but moreso by "Shadowlands". I just looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes and it has a 97% approval rating, that's a very rare thing. I'm going to find & watch that, thanks for sharing and I hope things go well for Rudy.

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    1. He's a cheerful little guy. He was in fine spirits. Let me know what you think of the movie.

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  3. I vaguely remember watching "Shadowlands". I think I liked it. I read a book last week that required me to look up references on google, "Still Life" by Sarah Winman. I learned a lot about art and Florence.

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    1. Isn't it neat to be challenged like that? Many of the blogs I read send me off down that Google rabbit hole.

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  4. Lewis and Tolkien - two great characters, but I bet they were boring in real life, their talent just spilled over into literature. Think I had 'The Inklings' book once but never finished it. As for 'Shadowland' too sad to talk about it...

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    1. My sister-in-law was a former student of Tolkien when she was at Oxford, so I am always interested in references to him.

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    2. I guess the thing that interests me is that it is sort of like reading about how some really great works were created. They came from the brains of men who really challenged each other, although I have to say, Charles Williams gives me the heeby-jeebies.

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    3. Will, was he considered 'great' then? Did you sister realize she was learning from a master, or did the realization come later?

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  5. Great to have a chance to read uninterrupted!
    It is interesting seeing a film again after a long time.
    I saw "Midnight's Children" again last night. There was a discussion with Salman Rushdie, the author of the original book after that..I will catch up with that on iPlayer it was late enough already!

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    1. The Ground Beneath her Feet was the first book of his that I read. What always impresses me about his books is that he can set the wildest, most unbelievable stories into a setting of time and place, capturing the setting so perfectly that the unbelievable quite nearly becomes believable. The Satanic Verses had the most unforgettable opening lines of any book I've read in my life. I had a chance to hear him talk at a book shop 3 hours away. I wanted to go very badly but could not. He's interesting, but like many creative geniuses he's purported to be an asshole.

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  6. I remember that film as being very good. I have read Lewis in the past when I was a believer. Now, I am very much looking forward Tolkein’s new Lord of the Rings coming to Prime in September. I guess it’s not really new LOTR but pre-LOTR.

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    1. Sad story: I have never been able to read the LOTR series. I have tried, many times. It's rich but too many details for me.

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  7. Is this the book by Humphrey Carpenter? As a long term Lewis fan, I knew about the group who met regularly in Oxford, but don't think I knew there was a book about them. In my search I also found a book about their literary lives. (not that I need to be adding any more books to my already overflowing TBR pile) -Kelly

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    1. It is by Carpenter. I'd also like to know what book you found.

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    2. When I entered "the inklings book" in the search at Amazon, this was the first listing: The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings: J.R.R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Owen Barfield, Charles Williams by Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski. I know nothing about it. (or the one you're reading) - Kelly

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  8. I hate to be small-minded here, but I'm cringing that someone was writing notes in a library book. Each reader brings their own experience and associations to what they're reading, and for some people that may not include Thoreau -- and reading the Thoreau may derail their own personal links to the text. If the author had wanted to include Thoreau he'd have done so!

    (Yes, I know, I'm talking like the librarian I am.)

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