- Top Features:
- War Room
- Glenn Greenwald
- Broadsheet
- Joan Walsh
- Camille Paglia
- Since You Asked
- Follow Salon:
Read other letters about this article
What is this, a love letter to Goldthwaite?
While Laura Miller obviously linked Steven Hart's Salon article on Tolkien and Lewis, I'm not sure she actually read it. It makes clear the reasons and connections between Lewis and Christianity, and the peer group Lewis surrounded himself with.
Miller's questioning of the Christian theme in Lewis' work seems weak and poorly researched if the only bite to her claim comes from the writings of a singular source. There's no context to what peers thought of Goldthwaite -- for all we know he was panned -- and one man does not a movement make.
As a kid, I thought C.S. Lewis' Christian symbolism was pretty heavy-handed, and I still think that. I do enjoy the writing though, and I plan on seeing the film. As Hart's article indicates, they share the same setting (New Zealand) and special effects company as Lord of the Rings, so I'm hoping for similar results). Early reviews seem positive also.
There is nothing wrong with being Christian, or having Christian themes, but arguments about religion really belong on a seperate topic. When it comes to Christianity in Narnia, however, this is not even a question -- it is a fact. I only wish Miller would gather a few more of her own before writing pieces like this.
