I absolutely agree! The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis is one of the books on Lewis that I return to again and again. It is everything you could hope for in a book. Your review is spot on, thank you.
Thank you for the excellent review. I was especially interested in the following passage:
"He was not opposed to the modern world, as such, but wanted to expand it. ...[H]is mission was to try and reincorporate what was lost, not to reverse the world. He explicated the ideas that were lost in as many formats and mediums as he could. For a man who thought what he did, he is remarkably modern."
This approach to the past -- a unified view of the past as still living in the present, or of the present as an organic outgrowth of the past, if one prefers -- is reminiscent of Carlyle's (and the earlier and partly contemporary German Romantics') view of history. It also is redolent of Claes G. Ryn's "value-centered historicism" approach to keeping tradition alive in the present, not in dead or dying, hidebound forms, but in forms that still resonate in the present. Again, perhaps the central idea here is that of linking past with present.
Always nice to see someone mention Logue (All Day Permanent Red is strange and fantastic). Like the commenter above, I’m surprised that something like the Henriad taken as a whole doesn’t make the list (though I would have to argue for Paradise Lost, or Milton as a whole).
In literature, the American epic might be Huckleberry Finn, save that it’s likely been canceled. But perhaps the place to find the true American epic is in the movies. I nominate The Wizard of Oz.
As for the English, perhaps they have no epic, being a pragmatic people.
I agree with the others: The Henriad seems to fit the bill best. The argument:
1) It is undoubtedly the most English work of England's greatest author. This is acknowledged both at home and abroad, which seems important. Very few Italians or Chinese know much about Tennyson, or even Milton. Shakespeare is read everywhere. He represents English literature, and a particular kind of English genius, better than anybody else.
2) The 100 Years' War and the Wars of the Roses strike me as perhaps the most important period of identify formation for the English people. It is the kind of event that *should* have an epic. The Greeks viewed their world through the aftermath of the Trojan War, India existed at the center of the Mahabharata's universe, and England found itself in its wars with France and itself.
3) The story lends itself well to adaptation, reinterpretation, and redeployment. It is a story that has been performed, illustrated, and filmed countless times, and especially in times of great need. This kind of public service seems crucial for an epic.
I absolutely agree! The Medieval Mind of CS Lewis is one of the books on Lewis that I return to again and again. It is everything you could hope for in a book. Your review is spot on, thank you.
Thank you for the excellent review. I was especially interested in the following passage:
"He was not opposed to the modern world, as such, but wanted to expand it. ...[H]is mission was to try and reincorporate what was lost, not to reverse the world. He explicated the ideas that were lost in as many formats and mediums as he could. For a man who thought what he did, he is remarkably modern."
This approach to the past -- a unified view of the past as still living in the present, or of the present as an organic outgrowth of the past, if one prefers -- is reminiscent of Carlyle's (and the earlier and partly contemporary German Romantics') view of history. It also is redolent of Claes G. Ryn's "value-centered historicism" approach to keeping tradition alive in the present, not in dead or dying, hidebound forms, but in forms that still resonate in the present. Again, perhaps the central idea here is that of linking past with present.
I read somewhere that the collected works of Shakespeare play the role of a national epic
Always nice to see someone mention Logue (All Day Permanent Red is strange and fantastic). Like the commenter above, I’m surprised that something like the Henriad taken as a whole doesn’t make the list (though I would have to argue for Paradise Lost, or Milton as a whole).
In literature, the American epic might be Huckleberry Finn, save that it’s likely been canceled. But perhaps the place to find the true American epic is in the movies. I nominate The Wizard of Oz.
As for the English, perhaps they have no epic, being a pragmatic people.
I agree with the others: The Henriad seems to fit the bill best. The argument:
1) It is undoubtedly the most English work of England's greatest author. This is acknowledged both at home and abroad, which seems important. Very few Italians or Chinese know much about Tennyson, or even Milton. Shakespeare is read everywhere. He represents English literature, and a particular kind of English genius, better than anybody else.
2) The 100 Years' War and the Wars of the Roses strike me as perhaps the most important period of identify formation for the English people. It is the kind of event that *should* have an epic. The Greeks viewed their world through the aftermath of the Trojan War, India existed at the center of the Mahabharata's universe, and England found itself in its wars with France and itself.
3) The story lends itself well to adaptation, reinterpretation, and redeployment. It is a story that has been performed, illustrated, and filmed countless times, and especially in times of great need. This kind of public service seems crucial for an epic.
Finely?