My having spent a few days in Oxford really helps to picture and appreciate these letters.
The letters continue to be to Jack's "Papy" and Arthur, alias "Galahad." He's struggling with a poetic work on Medea's early life; he scraps it. Hooper's note (p. 286) says he picks it back up but only fragments remain. 6 Mar. he says that Catullus is one of his poetic "gods," along with Morris and Keats. Interesting.
He is reading The Life of Charlotte Bronte by Elizabeth C. Gaskell, and really likes it; he keeps talking about it. Sadly, he sees God as torturing Charlotte in it; "cruelty after cruelty without escape," "he's just in his element." He takes a moral lesson from it, however, to appreciate ones circumstances.
"I have finished "Paradise Lost" again." p. 290. 20 May, he writes that he is glad to hear from Arthur that he too likes Milton. In the same letter, he expresses delight in the artwork of Albrecht Durer.
He keeps having petty problems with his father (8 Mar.). It seems Albert was just too sensitive to the inevitable misunderstandings that take place when business is conducted via post. It has to be really hurtful to Jack.
14 Mar., Jack talks about how he likes to "keep to his bed" when he is ill and all the different comforts he enjoys when he has to do it. He just likes to be cozy and read good books, that's all!
Per Hooper, Jack was 5 feet 10 3/4 inches tall and 182 pounds when he entered the Officer Training Corp at Oxford. Hm. Sounds like me!
"How I love kettles!" (p. 298)
While residing at Oxford at this time, he had a roommate named Edgell that he hated. The fellow was a Christian and a mechanic-type. They had nothing in common. The fellow also seemed to lack social grace in dealing with Lewis; too bad. It could have been a great opportunity for helping Jack toward Christ. He was very interested in religion at this time and enjoyed talking about it with non-Christian, inquiring types. See Hooper note, 72, p. 303, where one of Jack's fellows describes him; mentions his interest in religion and how challenging he was in his scepticism. But beside Edgell, Lewis is finding himself happier than he has ever been (p. 304, 13 May).
27 May - mentions The World's Desire by both H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang as something he's enjoying. Got to read that. In the same letter, p. 310, he has a paragraph describing how his days are spent. The OTC is asking very little of him at this time. Lewis comes across lots of his Malvern acquaintances at Oxford but he really likes writing about those who are Irish and especially patriotic. It stands out in these letters that whenever Lewis writes favourably about England, he always says something like, "but not to be compared with our old hills, etc." He himself is very patriotic; he prefers the Irish above all others.
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Monday, June 18, 2007
Hooper's Doctorate - Bravo! Well Deserved!
From the Wade Center site:
Walter Hooper receives Honorary Doctorate from Concordia University
On Monday evening, March 26, 2007, in Austin, Texas, Concordia University at Austin presented Oxford resident Walter Hooper with an honorary doctorate in recognition of more than four decades of work in finding, collecting, and editing the letters, essays, and other works of C. S. Lewis. The degree was presented by Provost Alan Runge, Regent Daniel Schaeffer, and Dr. Joel Heck, Vice President of Academic Services. Concordia University is a four-year Christian liberal arts institution.
Walter Hooper receives Honorary Doctorate from Concordia University
On Monday evening, March 26, 2007, in Austin, Texas, Concordia University at Austin presented Oxford resident Walter Hooper with an honorary doctorate in recognition of more than four decades of work in finding, collecting, and editing the letters, essays, and other works of C. S. Lewis. The degree was presented by Provost Alan Runge, Regent Daniel Schaeffer, and Dr. Joel Heck, Vice President of Academic Services. Concordia University is a four-year Christian liberal arts institution.
7 Dec. 1916 - 20 Feb. 1917
Lewis' first impression of Oxford, written to his father: "The place has surpassed my wildest dreams: I never saw anything so beautiful, especially on these frosty moonlight nights...." In 7 Feb. he describes his love for "real winter." All the water in the house is frozen, the snow covers everything, and he loves ice skating.
Jack has visited Oxford to take his initial exams. Hooper has included another Kirk letter about Lewis; K. never expected to have another student like Lewis. K. speaks here of Lewis' perseverance and hard work.
28 Jan., he mentions his copy of Cupid and Psyche, so he's read that by now. He's also begun work on the prose Dymer. In 15 Feb., he mentions starting the poetry version.
His letters to Arthur are full of the latest books and editions they are reading. Sadly, it also has the first, and a good deal, about his interest in sadism and masochism. He signs his letters - in Greek - "Philomastix" - lover of the whip. I don't understand this stuff and simply do not want to. I'm comforted to know this passed away out of his life in time.
Jack has visited Oxford to take his initial exams. Hooper has included another Kirk letter about Lewis; K. never expected to have another student like Lewis. K. speaks here of Lewis' perseverance and hard work.
28 Jan., he mentions his copy of Cupid and Psyche, so he's read that by now. He's also begun work on the prose Dymer. In 15 Feb., he mentions starting the poetry version.
His letters to Arthur are full of the latest books and editions they are reading. Sadly, it also has the first, and a good deal, about his interest in sadism and masochism. He signs his letters - in Greek - "Philomastix" - lover of the whip. I don't understand this stuff and simply do not want to. I'm comforted to know this passed away out of his life in time.
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
18 July, 1916 - 25 Oct. 1916
This set starts out with the amusing complaint of Lewis about dating letters; "a date is a meaningless thing." A bit silly, really.
Before commenting on his reading, two things keep standing out: 1) his priggishness, which he later admits, and 2) his enjoyment of the grammaphone. He's constantly writing about the records he and Arthur are listening to.
Through these letters, Lewis keeps looking forward to getting "Letters from Hell" (Thisted, transl. by Sutter); when he finally gets it, he didn't like it and put it away in a drawer. Seems that it was something Arthur liked. Hooper's footnote, p. 215, asks the obvious question about influence on Screwtape.
We have here the first really extensive comments upon Christianity by Lewis. He thinks it is pure myth. Educated people have always distanced themselves from such things (the priggish note). He is an agnostic about any thing outside the material world or life after death. He speaks of the Christian God as a bogey that wants to torture him forever if he should fail to come up to his impossible moral ideals - a spirit "more cruel and barbarous than any man". Such Christian ideas had "always considerably lessened" his happiness. (12 Oct., 18 Oct.)
He's dipping into Boswell's Johnson and loves Milton's Comus; he's increasingly devoted to Scott (p. 236).
Another student is joining them for Spanish study (6 Oct). Lewis also reveals that he's been stealing pages from that "thrice accursed felow pupil of his" to write his letters. Ha!
Before commenting on his reading, two things keep standing out: 1) his priggishness, which he later admits, and 2) his enjoyment of the grammaphone. He's constantly writing about the records he and Arthur are listening to.
Through these letters, Lewis keeps looking forward to getting "Letters from Hell" (Thisted, transl. by Sutter); when he finally gets it, he didn't like it and put it away in a drawer. Seems that it was something Arthur liked. Hooper's footnote, p. 215, asks the obvious question about influence on Screwtape.
We have here the first really extensive comments upon Christianity by Lewis. He thinks it is pure myth. Educated people have always distanced themselves from such things (the priggish note). He is an agnostic about any thing outside the material world or life after death. He speaks of the Christian God as a bogey that wants to torture him forever if he should fail to come up to his impossible moral ideals - a spirit "more cruel and barbarous than any man". Such Christian ideas had "always considerably lessened" his happiness. (12 Oct., 18 Oct.)
He's dipping into Boswell's Johnson and loves Milton's Comus; he's increasingly devoted to Scott (p. 236).
Another student is joining them for Spanish study (6 Oct). Lewis also reveals that he's been stealing pages from that "thrice accursed felow pupil of his" to write his letters. Ha!
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