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Bezig met laden... From Narnia to a Space Odyssey : The War of Letters Between Arthur C. Clarke and C.S. Lewisdoor Arthur C. Clarke, C.S. Lewis, Ryder W. Miller (Redacteur)
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Meld je aan bij LibraryThing om erachter te komen of je dit boek goed zult vinden. Op dit moment geen Discussie gesprekken over dit boek. Some Dialogue! This book is advertised as being "the dialogue of letters between Arthur C. Clarke and C.S. Lewis". Well, it turns out that the letters take up a grand total of 17 pages, and there are only 8 letters from Lewis to Clarke: 1 that occupies a full page, 4 that occupy a half page each, and 3 that are 2- or 3-liners. The vast majority of the pages in this slim book are devoted to reprinting short stories and essays available elsewhere. Even the publishers seem to have realized that calling this a "War of Letters" is overblown, because when the book arrived its subtitle had been changed to "The War of Ideas". When it comes to CSL correspondence collections, I think this should rank dead last on prospective buyers' lists, behind _Collected Letters_ (available from the UK), _Letters of C.S. Lewis_, _Letters to an American Lady_, _The Latin Letters of C.S. Lewis_, _A Severe Mercy_ (by Sheldon Vanauken), and _Letters to Children_. This book's centerpiece, its raison d'etre, is the collected correspondence between Lewis and Clarke -- yet that correspondence only runs from page 36 through 52, a total of 15 letters. Three of Lewis's amount to little more than "Thank you for the transcript" or "Thank you for the invitation." This is no "war of ideas," only a brief difference of opinion. The rest of the book consists of short stories and essays from the two authors and a couple of introductory pieces from the editor. The book is rife with typos, and the transcriptions of Lewis's hand-written letters are quite bad. Here's a direct quote from one of the transcriptions: "I will write a whole story in the mnts. Wh. in heavens name, be pushed out of the center and its center taken of is an unethically banal little laboratory intrigue." And another, from the same letter: "If a focus is milieu in a certain place, its particular qualities or that milieu meant he can ploated." It looks rather as if that last bit should actually be something like "...must be exploited." If the editor knew what was meant, why let it stand as "meant he can ploated?" And if not, why assemble a book around letters he apparently couldn't read? The introductory pieces from the editor added little to the book, and apart from Clarke's brief preface and minuscule afterword, I believe all of Lewis's and Clarke's essays and stories reprinted here are readily available elsewhere, leaving little to recommend this particular volume. geen besprekingen | voeg een bespreking toe
"From Narnia to a Space Odyssey" is the dialogue -- through fiction, non-fiction, and correspondence -- in which Arthur C Clarke and C S Lewis debate, discuss, and consider the great hope and potential dangers of the rise of technology. Their encounter sets the stage for a question we face today: Is technology the beauty that will lead to a more utopian society, or is it the beast that endangers our humanity and spirit? Geen bibliotheekbeschrijvingen gevonden. |
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Google Books — Bezig met laden... GenresDewey Decimale Classificatie (DDC)823.912Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC-classificatieWaarderingGemiddelde:
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Sadly, the letters did not contain much substance. What substance there was is little more than the summary I gave above. The biographical essays about the authors are interesting, but nothing novel. The stories and essays by Clarke and Lewis vaguely connect to the theme, but there is no commentary to show how it all fits together. All in all, it doesn't feel like you are entering into a debate between the authors.
That doesn't sound like a 3 star review. However, I give the work three stars because it's an interesting collection of materials if you drop the premise that they represent some grand debate between Clarke and Lewis. Thus, overall, this was a somewhat disappointing but ultimately worthwhile read. ( )