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C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935–1947

C. S. Lewis in America: Readings and Reception, 1935–1947

  • Downloads：3723
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2023-11-29 07:21:28
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Mark A. Noll
  • ISBN：1685924506
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

Matt Mangum ，

This is an interesting snapshot into a specific time period in history， but I didn't find it to be as helpful as other works from Noll。 This is an interesting snapshot into a specific time period in history， but I didn't find it to be as helpful as other works from Noll。 。。。more

Panda Incognito ，

3。5 stars， rounded up。This new look at the ever-popular topic of C。S。 Lewis's work focuses on the critical reception his early nonfiction works and science fiction trilogy received in America。 This book focuses on his career prior to Narnia， and the ways that different subsets of the American population responded to his work。 The first chapter explores the Roman Catholic response to Lewis's work， showing how deeply they appreciated his writing despite their theological differences。 The second ch 3。5 stars， rounded up。This new look at the ever-popular topic of C。S。 Lewis's work focuses on the critical reception his early nonfiction works and science fiction trilogy received in America。 This book focuses on his career prior to Narnia， and the ways that different subsets of the American population responded to his work。 The first chapter explores the Roman Catholic response to Lewis's work， showing how deeply they appreciated his writing despite their theological differences。 The second chapter focuses on mainstream secular critics， and the third chapter covers the Protestant response， distinguishing mainline critics from fundamentalists and early evangelicals。 This material from Mark A。 Noll is based on a series of lectures that he presented， but the chapters read so smoothly that you would never know that they were adapted from another medium。Interspersed between these chapters from Noll， there are also responses from other writers。 These reflections focus on different elements of the American religious landscape， with Karen J。 Johnson writing about the role of race in American Catholic church culture during this time， Kirk D。 Farney reflecting on mainstream receptiveness to a fresh， creative Christian voice， and Amy E。 Black sharing thoughts on the model C。S。 Lewis created for Protestant's cultural engagement。 These sections enrich the book by providing additional historical context and thought-provoking reflections。This book will appeal to Lewis scholars， to super-fans， and to people who are interested in this unique angle on American Christianity in this era。 Personally， I wish that the book had also included responses from ordinary readers， rather than only focusing on published literary criticism。 The latter is certainly a narrower topic that is easier to study exhaustively， but I think this book would be stronger if it had included reactions from the general reading public。 That would have also included more female voices， since the critics were almost entirely male， while Lewis had a vibrant readership among everyday men and women who weren't publishing professional reviews in newspapers and magazines。 Nonetheless， this book is a unique and interesting addition to the conversation about C。S。 Lewis's legacy。I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review。 。。。more

Weez Phillips ，

• received free ARC in exchange for an honest review •An informative， fascinating read。 Were there formatting issues？ Yes， abundantly so。 But did I care？ Not really。 This is an approachable read that helps contextualize Lewis within a specific time and place。 I’m sure they worked the formatting out before it hit the shelves。

Gina Dalfonzo ，

A thoughtful and very well researched analysis of Lewis's reception in America， including a wide-ranging exploration of the mid-20th-century American culture into which his works were introduced。 An incredibly valuable resource for Lewis scholars and readers。 （Fuller review in "Sehnsucht" forthcoming。） Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC。 A thoughtful and very well researched analysis of Lewis's reception in America， including a wide-ranging exploration of the mid-20th-century American culture into which his works were introduced。 An incredibly valuable resource for Lewis scholars and readers。 （Fuller review in "Sehnsucht" forthcoming。） Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC。 。。。more

Gina Dalfonzo ，

A thoughtful and very well researched analysis of Lewis's reception in America， including a wide-ranging exploration of the mid-20th-century American culture into which his works were introduced。 An incredibly valuable resource for Lewis scholars and readers。 （Fuller review in "Sehnsucht" forthcoming。） A thoughtful and very well researched analysis of Lewis's reception in America， including a wide-ranging exploration of the mid-20th-century American culture into which his works were introduced。 An incredibly valuable resource for Lewis scholars and readers。 （Fuller review in "Sehnsucht" forthcoming。） 。。。more

Lucas Hagen ，

Overall this was a very enjoyable and insightful book。 It’s a quick read and provides a fascinating perspective into how Lewis’s books were received in the U。S。 at the time of their publication。 It is amazing how Lewis was quickly admired and supported by American Christians across different segments of the faith。 Whether it be Catholics， mainline or evangelicals， it seems that most everyone was quick to enjoy and commend Lewis。 I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Lewis Overall this was a very enjoyable and insightful book。 It’s a quick read and provides a fascinating perspective into how Lewis’s books were received in the U。S。 at the time of their publication。 It is amazing how Lewis was quickly admired and supported by American Christians across different segments of the faith。 Whether it be Catholics， mainline or evangelicals， it seems that most everyone was quick to enjoy and commend Lewis。 I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in Lewis and his impact on the church over the past 80+ years。 I would give this book 5 stars if it weren’t for Karen J。 Johnson’s response to the first essay。 Noll’s initial essay is about how the Catholic Church in America loved and wrote rave reviews about Lewis’s early works。 For some reason， Johnson’s response is a look at race in America at the time of Lewis’s books being published。 While it is not a bad essay by any means， I don’t see how it can be regarded as a response to Noll’s essay。 Noll doesn’t discuss race in his essay。 His essay is about Lewis and the Catholic Church in America。 Johnson hardly mentions Lewis or his books at all。 The essay simply feels out of place in this book and it left me thoroughly confused。 Other than that， I loved nearly everything about this book and have no hesitations in recommending it！ 。。。more

Scott Ward ，

For American fans of C。S。 Lewis， Noll’s book describes the arc of acceptance on this side of the Atlantic。 Lewis’ books were published in America after success in the United Kingdom。 Noll limits his analysis to the critics’ essays on Lewis’ Christian works up to the year of Lewis appeared on Time magazine’s cover。 The book first delineates the various American religious and non-religious reviews， and then the author invited others to respond to his analysis from a cultural perspective—more of th For American fans of C。S。 Lewis， Noll’s book describes the arc of acceptance on this side of the Atlantic。 Lewis’ books were published in America after success in the United Kingdom。 Noll limits his analysis to the critics’ essays on Lewis’ Christian works up to the year of Lewis appeared on Time magazine’s cover。 The book first delineates the various American religious and non-religious reviews， and then the author invited others to respond to his analysis from a cultural perspective—more of the societal context of Lewis’ writings and approvals/disapprovals。 The others’ responses to Noll’s summaries are illuminating as to what Lewis did not write about or address with regard to cultural concerns。 While not dealing with Lewis’ academic treatises， mostly on classical literature， this book is academic in nature。 You will not find neat summaries of Lewis’ themes， so it’s hard to discern if the critiques are “spot on” or not。Many of the American reviews nitpick Lewis’ theological stances， especially in the fictional writings。 Where Lewis engaged the populace with analogies and allegories in Pilgrim’s Regress， the Space Trilogy， the Screwtape Letters and the Great Divorce—and much later the Narnian Chronicles—the critics did recognize the impreciseness of storytelling as a hermeneutical device。 But some still took Lewis to task even while his popularity grew amongst his academic and theological peers and the American public。Without any summaries of Lewis’ themes or theological perspectives， the reader of this book is dependent on their own memory of Lewis’ work， rereading them or quickly reviewing other summaries。 Noll does conclude with a perspective on how Lewis’ works might fit into our 21st century， social media saturated culture by trying to answer the question: Do we have the attention span to reason through Lewis’ logical reasons for faith and suggested applications of living it out in today’s world？ 。。。more