A Bookshop Honoring C. S. Lewis?

Over on substack there is a woman who is chronicling her efforts to open a bookstore honoring to C. S. Lewis.

Sarah Bringhurst Familia discusses her efforts to create "The Wardrobe" in Narni, Italy in her page, Escape to the Bookshop.

The name Narni, she notes, is similar to Narnia. She discovered the town when on vacation in 2022. But, she observes, she was not the first to notice the similarity of the names.

"I was not the first. C.S. Lewis, too, found this city on a map. He loved the name so much he underlined it on a well-thumbed page of his Latin atlas, which his personal secretary, Walter Hooper, later gifted to the town. Narnia is the original Latin name, shortened in Italian to the chic and modern Narni."

She admits to loving the Narnia stories since childhood:

"I grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia, not once, but over and over. We always seemed to have a set of tattered paperbacks. When one copy got read to death, I’d find another at a secondhand shop. Sometimes I’d check them out from the library too. I read those books so many times that Narnia lives permanently in some corner of my mind."

Indeed, she notes, "I’d spent my whole childhood looking for Narnia—through every stone arch and cupboard door. And though the years passed with nary a glimpse of snowy woods or talking animals, I never quite gave up hope.

"Still, as an adult, I never expected to find Narnia on a map. But there we were, on holiday in Italy, and on the map, I’d noticed a town called Narni. It wasn’t even hard to get to: just an hour and a bit north of Rome."

She and her husband, who currently live in Amsterdam, bought a house in Narni that has a cellar sh believes would be perfect for their bookstore. They are currently cleaning, painting, building bookshelves, looking for furniture, and collecting books.

They have not moved there full-time, but hope to do so soon, and to open The Wardrobe.

Sounds like a worthy dream! Certainly it's fun to follow her quest.

The Poet and the Lunatics

 

Every year I make a list of books/works I will try to read that year. The Poet and the Lunatics was one of those books, and I just finished it.

I so enjoyed it I wished Chesterton had added a few more tales to the collection!

The book consists of eight stories featuring Gabriel Gale - the Poet - as he encounters various Lunatics. In the process he solves or prevents crimes and mysteries, and helps troubled people.

Father Brown uses his knowledge of human nature gained through Confessions to solves mysteries. Gale uses his own "lunacy" to solve the mysteries and help the people he faces. In one story  - "The Crime of Gabriel Gale" - his friends even think of committing him. 

He is not crazy, but sauntering on the edge of it he is able to see into others' craziness.

One of the stories - "The Shadow of the Shark" - is even an actual murder mystery of the closed room variety, though it takes place on a public beach. 

The stories form a loose thread, not quite enough to be a novel, but clearly developing the Gale and the other characters who keep appearing. 

I also like the fact that Gale focuses on small details that other miss in a seemingly childlike way. He is mocked for this, but his observations often lead to solving the mystery. And I was reminded of Chesterton himself and how he celebrates all the small wonders in the world. The stories also abound in paradoxes - so Chestertonian. And Gale, like Chesterton, is both a poet and an artist. Maybe Chesterton was projecting himself into his fiction? 

As I noted, when I finished the book I wished he had written another story or two involving Gale. Alas, no.

Although I enjoy Chesterton's novels, I enjoy his short stories even more. This book deserves more attention.     

  

The Norwegian Chesterton!

Last week, having just finished Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset, I wrote a post about hearing Undset being called the Norwegian Chesterton - "The Norwegian Chesterton?". I praised the book, and noted that she knew Chesterton's work, and had even translated The Everlasting Man into Norwegian. I wondered if they ever met.

This week, I uncovered the January/February issue of Gilbert. I had received it weeks ago, but had put it aside to read later, and it had gotten buried under some notebooks. When i finally opened it what did I find on page 22? "The Norwegian Chesterton" by David P. Deavel!

Great minds think alike?

Okay, my piece is a simple blog post. His is an actual article, discussing her life and work, and linking her to Chesterton in a more complete way. He also answered my question. Apparently Undset did meet Chesterton (and Belloc) in 1928, the same year she won the Nobel Prize in Literature.

By the way, if you do not subscribe to Gilbert, consider doing so. It is the officially "Magazine of the Society of G. K. Chesterton." You subscribe by joining the Society - a worthy organization, and the membership/subscription is considered a tax-deductible donation.  

Go to WWW.Chesterton.org to find out more.

The Norwegian Chesterton?

 

I've seen multiple people refer to Sigrid Undset as the "Norwegian Chesterton."

I am not qualified to make such a claim. I have read just two of her books. Back in 2019 I read Stages on the Road, and I just finished Kristin Lavransdatter.

But having finished her epic novel, I can say it's a better book than any of Chesterton's novels.

Kristin Lavransdatter reminded me  of the great 19th century novels that like. The leisurely pace, the multiple characters explored in depth - especially Kristin - the portraying of life as untidy and even the good characters as flawed; that all resonated with me.

A wonderful read.

I was amused to see that she was also apparently a fan of Chesterton. There is a story that before she. like Chesterton, became a convert she declared to a publisher that The Everlasting Man be translated into Norwegian, then did it herself. Her translation was published in 1931. 

She had earlier lived in London for a year back in 1913, and I wonder if she ever ran into Chesterton somehow, perhaps even attending one of his lectures?

Pearce looking Fierce Clerihew

The look on the face of Joseph Pearce 

was positively fierce. 

As he was about to send his latest out the door 

he suddenly realized he'd written the same thing before.

Spiritual Electric Shock Therapy — Dappled Things

Spiritual Electric Shock Therapy — Dappled Things: Why today’s writers need G. K. Chesterton

Narnia Is for More Than Kids

 

I came across this meme on Facebook. It reminded me of not only Lewis, but, or course, Chesterton, who was a stanch supporter of good children's literature.

I did not have the pleasure of encountering Lewis as a child. I had heard of him, but he was not on the curriculum in my elementary or high schools.

When I was 19, I discovered a set of the Narnia stories in an apartment in New York City I was allowed to stay in for a while (that's another story!)  I borrowed them, and read them all in just a week. I credit them with helping to restore my faith and returning me to the Church from which I had strayed. I read them at the same time as I first read Chesterton's St. Francis and St. Augustine's Confessions, two other works that spoke to me at a time when I needed to encounter such works.

Since then, I've gone back and reread all the Narnia stories, and even required The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe as summer reading when I taught middle school.

They are more than just children's stories. They teach life lessons, and prepare children - or in my case, child-like 19-year-olds - to face cruel enemies, including, as with me, worldly temptation. 

In them, we see seeming defeats turned to victory, feats of courage, former enemies and perpetrators of evil repenting and finding salvation, and, sadly, people we love turning away (like Susan). Reality. 

One of my favorite scenes is in The Last Battle. Seemingly on the verge of defeat by the Calormines, the followers of Aslan are able to enter "further up and further in," and with them is Emeth, a Calormine. Aslan tells him that his service to a false god, Tash, done sincerely, obeying the natural moral laws (though that term is not used) was actually service to Aslan. The lesson is that even seeming enemies, those who follow false beliefs, can be saved. As adults, we can understand that means people of different faiths may find their way into eternity if they honestly follow the promptings of the Spirit in their hearts.

There are so many more lessons in the books. They are children's stories, yes, but they prepare the children to face life and to know they will defeat the forces of darkness in the end. 

That certainly was a good lesson for a particular 19-year-old who was adrift.