Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

To: AnAmericanMother
I am going to have to get this book. I like to read Lewis for the same reason I enjoy St. Augustine. I don't need a dictionary and it does not have to be quiet for me to get it the first time around. It's very enjoyable reading.

I read very well, but you know some stuff is just so hard to read. St. John of the Cross comes to mind with "Dark Night of the Soul" Arg!

71 posted on 10/31/2014 8:13:17 AM PDT by defconw (Both parties have clearly lost their minds!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 70 | View Replies ]


To: defconw
St Athanasius on the Incarnation comes to mind . . . I'm with you, some stuff is very dense. I hope it's the fault of the translator!

Lewis often said that obscure language or jargon was a sure sign that you didn't thoroughly understand what you were talking about and were taking refuge in "shop talk". He recommended that anybody writing something technical (whether textual analysis or theology) put it in "plain English" before publication.

What's interesting is that his personal, plain-spoken tone is evidence even in his "day job" writings - he wrote the volume of the Oxford History of English Literature on the 16th Century (excluding drama, which had a volume of its own), and it's quite engaging, very friendly and chatty, even though the subject is obscure. I mean, who has read David Lyndsay's The Monarche lately? although if you do (or if you read Lewis' tome) you'll find out where the title of That Hideous Strength came from!

72 posted on 10/31/2014 8:30:24 AM PDT by AnAmericanMother (Ecce Crucem Domini, fugite partes adversae. Vicit Leo de Tribu Iuda, Radix David, Alleluia!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 71 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson