Myth, Allegory, and Gospel: An Interpretation of JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis

Myth, Allegory, and Gospel: An Interpretation of JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, GK Chesterton, Chas Williams [Paperback]

Product Details

Paperback: 159 pages
Publisher: Bethany House (July 1974)
ISBN-10: 0871233584
ISBN-13: 978-0871233585
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces

Customer Reviews

If you are a "fan" of the fantasy books by Tolkien, C.S.Lewis, Charles Williams or Chesterton, then this is a book worth reading. It is a collection of essays by various authorities in literature, myth and theology. A couple of the contributors were acquainted with either Tolkien or Lewis. The central thesis running through this collection of essays is that mythic symbols found in folk-tales and religious rituals, all express a common, fundamental human yearning for healing and a return to a "lost paradise". The essayists draw on insights from religious phenomenology, Jungian analysis, Christian theology and literary interpretation to tease out the potent mythic symbols found in the writings of Tolkien, Lewis, Chesterton and Williams. Lewis, Williams and Tolkien were associated with one another as drinking partners in an informal literary club known as The Inklings. The essayists "test" their thesis about the power of myth to reveal our search for meaning through the novels of the Inklings. The essayists take us a step further to consider the Christian world-view that informed and shaped the writings of Tolkien, Lewis, Williams and Chesterton. Although a couple of the essays are slightly "dated", any one interested in fantasy literature would find the thesis very absorbing. It should be useful not merely to students of english literature but also to the general reader who might like to know more about the backdrop to The Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc. Certainly a book to add to your list for reading if you enjoyed the novels!

I purchased this book because as a fan of both Lewis and Tolkien, I had hoped to gain better insight into the meaning behind their writings. I would say that my search for insight has only been slightly satisfied.
Myth Allegory and Gospel is a collection of six essays written by authors who describe themselves as "fans and scholars" of the works by Chesterton, Lewis, Tolkien and Williams. The essays are:
-Apologist of Eucatastrophe by John Warwick Montgomery
-Chesterton, Madmen and Madhouses by Russell Kirk
-Charles Williams' Novels and the Contemporary Mutation of Consciousness by Chad Walsh
-After the Moon Landings: A Further Report on the Christian Spaceman C.S. Lewis by Edmund Fuller
-The Chronicles of Narnia and the Adolescent Reader by John Warwick Montgomery
-Mythic and Christian Elements in Tolkien by Clyde S Kilby
Most of the essays speak of the Christian meaning of the books as if the reader already knows what the particulars are, so examples of the Christian meaning are rarely given. Furthermore, the writing style of some of the essays are similar to a research paper that I wrote in the eighth grade. Numerous sources are called upon in a disjoined manner in an essay that is difficult to follow. The exception is the essay by Kilby in regard to Tolkien's works and the essay by Mongomery in regard to Lewis. However, only the Kilby essay actually cites the Lord of the Rings to give examples of the Biblical connections that the other essays just assume that the reader already knows.
If you are looking for a collection of essays about the works of these authors, then this may be the book for you. But, if you are looking for more insight into these books, I would suggest that perhaps another book would be a better choice for you.