The Inklings Variety Hour

Poetry Thursday: "The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late," by J.R.R. Tolkien

J.R.R. Tolkien was a pretty good nonsense poet.

You can find this poem in the chapter "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" in The Fellowship of the Ring, as well as in Tales from the Perilous Realm. It was originally printed on its own in The Adventures of Tom Bombadil.

Enjoy!

Summer Reading Lists with In the Burrow Books

(Apple won't post all the shownotes to this because of limited space; feel free to click on the show website below for more recommendations. Meanwhile, I'll frontload the stuff with links.)

When a character in Narnia has "read all the wrong books," you know they're in for a difficult time. But spending time in Narnia does a lot to compensate for a bad literary diet.

What, though, about our kids, who all live well after the Narnian apocalypse and need good books to thrive in our world?

What are "the right books," and how do we get our children to read them? Heck, how do we find them for ourselves, for that matter?

Chris' guests this week are Angela Teal and Marena Bleech, who, with their powers combined, form In The Burrow Books.  You can follow them on Instagram for more recommendations: @intheburrowbooks.

You can also find Angela Teal's (a.k.a. J. Reese Bradley's) books, the Brumbletide series (which my eight-year-old is currently enjoying), here.

Among other things, we discuss:

• Why Christians should go to the library
• Ideological conformity among "top five" publishers
• Motivating kids and competing with screens
• "On Fairy Stories," by J.R.R. Tolkien
• "On Three Ways of Writing for Children," by C.S. Lewis
• Why you should judge books by their illustrations

Post-show recommendations from Marena:

• Amy Grimes does some of the most beautiful work. I highly recommend her book(s) and giving her a follow.
• I adore these Enid Blyton picture books. They're great for early readers.
• I think one of my favorite picture books (which of course, I didn't mention) is The Cottage At the End of the Lane which is worth having if you can get it. 
• Like I said, Brambly Hedge is the best!
• Astrid Sheckels was one I mentioned that's a great current author/illustrator. 
• Of course, A Book of Narnians is wonderful.
• This is such a beautiful book of poetry. (And anything by Tasha Tudor is worth having)
• I'm also a big Winnie-the-Pooh fan, and any book with Ernest Shepherd illustrations.

Post-show recommendations from Chris:

• My friend J.D. Peabody’s middle grade book series, The Inkwell Chronicles is a lot of fun (“The Inklings” is a secret society of authors far larger and older than the Oxford group with Lewis and Tolkien). He also wrote an article on middle grade books for Christianity Today that I’m going to release a podcast about soon.
• I didn’t talk about the Prydain Chronicles or the Earthsea books as great fantasy books that aren’t necessarily Christian, but they were absolutely vital (though I didn’t get into Earthsea until college)
• I have a Pauline Baynes (out of print) book that is a beautiful illustration of the Nicene Creed. 
• Spells of Enchantment (collection of stories), edited by Jack Zipes
• Tales before Tolkien (collection of stories), edited by Douglas Anderson
• My wife Glencora’s children’s book and my far less successful one, where we tried to create engaging (if not very professional) illustrations for good poems
• Our book about Christmas, Twelve Tide, which has lots of literature excerpts and has done a bit better.
• The Never Ending Story (the book!) by Michael Ende
• The Half Magic series, by Edward Eager
• Five Children and It, by E. Nesbit
• The Book of Wonder, by Lord Dunsany

Among other things, we recommend:

• Harry Potter
• Inkheart
• The Wrinkle in Time series
• Anything by Roald Dahl, who was a mean old cuss
• The Borrowers
• Grimm's Fairy Tales
• The Wind in the Willows (illustrated by Arthur Rackham)
• Anne of Green Gables
• The Secret Garden
• Peter and Wendy
• Brambly Hedge
• Beatrix Potter
• Beverly Cleary's Ramona books
• The Indian in the Cupboard
• The Magic Treehouse series

Picture books:

• The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
• The Naming and I Believe:The Nicene Creed illustrated by Pauline Baynes
• Beatrix Potter's books (but avoid the new fake stuff not drawn by her as you would avoid Mr. MacGregor's garden--sold under her name, too!).
• Astrid Sheckels' Hector Fox series
• Mr. Bliss, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Ferdinand, by Munro Leaf

Movies and TV Series:

• The Secret World of Arrietty (there are actually better Miyazaki films (such as the most recent one), though, and they are all absolutely gorgeous.  He’s not afraid to be still.
• I have to mention two of the hand-drawn Irish films influenced by Miyazaki, The Secret of Kells and Song of the Sea.
• Best of all (and most American), the series Over the Garden Wall, which is funny, beautiful, moral, and creepy.  Here’s the first episode (though the rest you have to buy—worth it!)

But what about new children's books and middle-grade fiction?

Next time: Middle-grade author J.D. Peabody weighs in. Check out his article on the subject in Christianity Today.

 

Music: "Living in the Country," from Summer, by George Winston

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Nightmare Alley and Bill Gresham

Poetry Thursday will be back next week!  Today, we have our normal show, which was displaced by the Pop-Up Pop Rings of Power Teaser Reaction Tuesday.

Here's an article Connor wrote for "A Pilgrim in Narnia" that compares the themes of Nightmare Alley with those of Lewis' work.

Connor Salter joins Chris to discuss Bill Gresham, Joy's first husband, and the movie Nightmare Alley, based on Gresham's bestselling book.

Among other things, we discuss

• The plot of the film
• Possible meanings of the film
• Noir films and the search for God
• Community among carnival performers
• Bill Gresham's life (and death)
• Bill's and Joy's involvement with Dianetics

A few other works that get mentioned include:

• Monster Midway
• The Greater Trumps

And you can find Connor's stuff here, as well as at Fellowship & Fairydust.

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Next week: What are "the right books" Eustace didn't read, and how can your kids find them in an increasingly bizarre middle grade marketplace?  Ideas for kids' summer reading in the spirit of the Inklings.

Pop-up Episode: Rings of Power Season 2 Trailer Reaction

The teaser for season two of the "Rings of Power" has Chris in an unusually curmudgeonly mood, doubting whether there is indeed a reason for this season. 

Luckily, he is visited today by three spirits who know more about the show and the lore behind it than he does.

Can Sørina Higgins, Connor Salter, and Jordan Key cause him to believe in Tolkien adaptations again? Or will he drag them down with him into the cynical abyss, full of zombie swordfish and indistinct symbiote goo? (I mean, can a crossover with the MCU be far away--it's clearly Venom.)

We talk about:

1. How Tolkienian is the trailer?

2. What each image in the trailer might be.

3. What would they have to announce about the new season to make us excited (or at least less grumpy) about it?

Apologies for doing almost no editing on this one!  It needed to be churned out fast to be even the tiniest bit relevant.

Drop us a line at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com and feel free to share your thoughts about the series.

Notice: We'll have the normal IVH episode (about Nightmare Alley) on Thursday, in place of the poem--this week.  In future weeks, we'll return to the Hour-Tuesday/Poetry-Thursday format.

By the way, here's where the conversation between Sørina Higgins and Jordan Key about Season One will become available.

Poetry Thursday: "The Future of Forestry," by C.S. Lewis

Sorry for the late upload!

This is a fairly rambly meditation on C.S. Lewis' "The Future of Forestry."  Also, intellectual and political history painted with a very, very broad brush. Edgy! (Or maybe just careless.)

The views expressed here (which are solely Chris's and might be wrong as many of them were formulated while writing), please do write in at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com! I'd love to hear from you! If anyone would like a longer episode with many contrasting views of Lewis' and Tolkien's conservative conservationism, let me know--that could be a lot of fun. 

Next week--come visit Nightmare Alley with me and Connor Salter!

Thanks again to Sørina Higgins for her readings!

"The House by the Stable" by Charles Williams (with Jason Will)

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Chris is joined by actor Jason Will to discuss Charles Williams' nativity play, The House by the Stable, recently staged by the Acacia Theater Company with Grab and Grace.

Together, they weigh the following questions (among others):

• How can modern theater companies make up for the fact that audiences are not familiar with verse plays?
• What is the context of this play?
• Who was Ruth Spalding?
• Why did Williams' choose to combine medieval allegorical and medieval Bible ("mystery") plays, and what does that have to do with Man, Pride, Hell, Gabriel, and the Holy Family?
• How should one read verse drama?
• Could this be Williams' clearest piece of fiction?
• Also, is there tobacco in heaven?

Episode links:

• The House by the Stable
• Grab and Grace
• Acacia Theater Company
• What Prominent Charles Williams Scholars Are Saying
• Also, see the Oddest Inkling Blog entry
• What Critics Are Saying

Next week: We're talking with Connor Salter about Nightmare Alley by Joy Davidman's ex, Bill Gresham!  At long last, a connection between the Inklings and film noir!  And it's a really good film noir, too (and yes, I know that Gresham didn't direct the movie but wrote the book that inspired the movie--don't be such a geek).

Poetry Thursday: "I Sit Beside the Fire and Think," by J.R.R. Tolkien

Comin' at you from "The Ring Goes South," in The Fellowship of the Ring.  Enjoy, and sorry about the poor audio quality!

"The Golden Key," by George MacDonald

This week, Chris is joined by Eric Geddes, longtime friend of the show, to talk about George MacDonald's bizarre-yet-beautiful fairy story, "The Golden Key." 

Feel free to read it first, or listen to it on Librivox: Part 1, Part 2

We talk about the following:

• George MacDonald's life
• The "plot" (or lack thereof--hang in there!) of "The Golden Key"
• Parallels with C.S. Lewis' work (especially The Problem of Pain)
• Tolkien's reaction and general crotchetiness in old age
• Other works like "The Golden Key"
• I probably bring up Miyazaki a bit too much

Recommended books and films:

• Tales Before Tolkien (ed. by Douglas Anderson)
• Spells of Enchantment (ed. by Jack Zipes)
• Peter and Wendy, by J.M Barrie
• The Problem of Pain, by C.S. Lewis
• Smith of Wootton Major, by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Boy and the Heron and Howl's Moving Castle (films) by Hayao Miyazaki
• The Song of Bernadette movie that Tolkien liked when he seemed to like very little else--starring (among others) a young Vincent Price!

If you enjoy The Inklings Variety Hour, please leave us a five-star review on Apple Music or iTunes.  Thanks very much to those who have, including (most recently) Virginicus, who says, "It’s amazing how many different things the Inklings can be connected to. Chris follows them all over the map. I like the new Thursday poetry readings best."  Thanks, Virginicus!  Very much obliged!

As always, feel free to drop us a line to let us know what you like and what you would like to see more of: inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com

We're also on Instagram now @inklingsvarietyhour

 

Next week: The House by the Stable, by Charles Williams

 

Poetry Thursday: "To Charles Williams," by C.S. Lewis

Lewis' poem in memory of Charles Williams.

Quotations come from The Making of C.S. Lewis, by Harry Lee Poe, and Collected Letters, vol. 2, edited by Walter Hooper.

Thanks again to Sørina Higgins for her excellent reading!

Adapting Tolkien (Rerun)

We have a lot more new episodes waiting for you, including a trip to the borders of Faerie with George MacDonald, a Night Operation with Owen Barfield, and a House by the Stable with Charles Williams!  And a lot more.  

But here's the thing...all of those episodes need to be edited by yours truly. And it's the last week of the semester, and I have a lot of grading (and parenting) to do, so, it's time to treat yourself to a rerun.

Luckily, it's a good one!

Enjoy this old episode about adapting Tolkien!  We'll be back next week!

Old description:

Jonathan Geltner and Eric Geddes join Chris to talk about their favorite adaptations of Tolkien's Legendarium in this fairly self-indulgent and digressive conversation.  Join us!

Do you have a favorite (or least favorite) Tolkien adaptation?  Email us at inklingsvarietyhour@gmail.com and tell us about it.