Of Other Worlds: Essays and Stories

Rating:
Summary: The Shoddy Lands
Review: "Of Other Worlds" has nine essays, three short stories, and part of a novel by Lewis. I would like to comment here on one of Lewis's best stories which is included in this collection, it's called "The Shoddy Lands". The story begins with a former pupil, Durward, coming to see his old professor at Oxford with fiance, Peggy, in tow. During the conversation the professor looks at Peggy and finds himself suddenly in a different world. In this world most things are blurry or shoddy and only a few things are distinct. The women's shops, some men's faces, and women's clothing are seen distinctly. He discovers a giant idealized version of Peggy in a swim suit which she then takes off and admiringly looks at her own body in a mirror. He hears knocking and two voices coming from outside the shoddy world. One voice sounds like Durward, and upon hearing the other his bones turned to water. This voice said "Child, child, child let me in before the night comes". The old professor returns to the room and is drunk with sheer delight at being back in the real world. For just a few seconds he has been allowed into Peggy's mind, to see her world as it exists for her. This is a tale not only about Peggy's limited self centered world , but about the shoddy world we all experience in a mind un-mediated by a higher reference. I definitely recommend this collection of essays and stories by Lewis.

Rating:
Summary: An OK collection for fans on a budget
Review: In science fiction, Lewis is best known for his space trilogy ("Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength"), and in fantasy, for his seven-volume "Narnia Chronicles" series. Less known is that Lewis also wrote a few genre short stories and was the author of a number of short works about the genre. Those stories and short works are the subject of this collection.

These works, like the rest of Lewis's shorter works, have been collected and published in book form multiple times. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is, for that reason, difficult, and to complicate matters more, some works appear have appeared under more than one title.

To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.

Table of Contents:

(Essays)

"On Stories" / "The Kappa Element in Romance" (1), (3)

"On Three Ways of Writing for Children" (1), (3)

"Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to be Said" (1), (3)

"On Juvenile Tastes" (1), (3)

"It All Began with a Picture ..." (1), (3)

"On Criticism" (1), (3)

"On Science Fiction" (1), (3)

"A Reply to Professor Haldane" (1)

"Unreal Estates" / "The establishment must die and rot ..." (1), (3)

(Stories)

"The Shoddy Lands" (2), (3)

"Ministering Angels" (2), (3)

"Forms of Things Unknown" (2), (3), (4)

"After Ten Years" (an unfinished novel) (2), (3)

Notes:

(1) also published in "On Stories, and Other Essays"

(2) also published in "The Dark Tower and Other Stories"

(3) also published in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"

(4) Lewis's authorship of this is disputed.

Recommendations:

In general, to anyone interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly Christian, but it also includes almost everything in "On Stories, and Other Essays", and "The Dark Tower and Other Stories" (which in turn contain everything in this collection).

If you are interested in Lewis's science fiction and fantasy, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get "On Stories, and Other Essays" plus "The Dark Tower and Other Stories". (If you don't want essays about the genre, and only the stories themselves, then you can skip "On Stories, and Other Essays"). If you get both of those books, don't buy this one - you'll be wasting your money.

If your budget or interest doesn't stretch to cover both of the afore-mentioned books, then my third-best advice is to buy this book.

Those whose interest in Lewis' work as a literary critic and whose taste is not limited to science fiction and fantasy may also want to consider the following additional two collections (neither has been included in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"):

"Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature"

"Selected Literary Essays" (out of print)

Rating:
Summary: An OK collection for fans on a budget
Review: In science fiction, Lewis is best known for his space trilogy ("Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra", and "That Hideous Strength"), and in fantasy, for his seven-volume "Narnia Chronicles" series. Less known is that Lewis also wrote a few genre short stories and was the author of a number of short works about the genre. Those stories and short works are the subject of this collection.

These works, like the rest of Lewis's shorter works, have been collected and published in book form multiple times. Trying to determine what works are in what collections is, for that reason, difficult, and to complicate matters more, some works appear have appeared under more than one title.

To aid readers, in this review I've listed the works in this collection, with notes indicating other collections they have appeared in. Where a work has appeared under more than one title, I give both titles separated by a slash.

Table of Contents:

(Essays)

"On Stories" / "The Kappa Element in Romance" (1), (3)

"On Three Ways of Writing for Children" (1), (3)

"Sometimes Fairy Stories May Say Best What's to be Said" (1), (3)

"On Juvenile Tastes" (1), (3)

"It All Began with a Picture ..." (1), (3)

"On Criticism" (1), (3)

"On Science Fiction" (1), (3)

"A Reply to Professor Haldane" (1)

"Unreal Estates" / "The establishment must die and rot ..." (1), (3)

(Stories)

"The Shoddy Lands" (2), (3)

"Ministering Angels" (2), (3)

"Forms of Things Unknown" (2), (3), (4)

"After Ten Years" (an unfinished novel) (2), (3)

Notes:

(1) also published in "On Stories, and Other Essays"

(2) also published in "The Dark Tower and Other Stories"

(3) also published in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"

(4) Lewis's authorship of this is disputed.

Recommendations:

In general, to anyone interested in Lewis's shorter works, my best advice is to get "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", which, as of the time of this writing, is available from Amazon UK but not Amazon US. That collection consists of about 130 short works by Lewis. The works in that collection are mostly Christian, but it also includes almost everything in "On Stories, and Other Essays", and "The Dark Tower and Other Stories" (which in turn contain everything in this collection).

If you are interested in Lewis's science fiction and fantasy, and your budget or enthusiasm does not run to "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces", then my second-best advice is to get "On Stories, and Other Essays" plus "The Dark Tower and Other Stories". (If you don't want essays about the genre, and only the stories themselves, then you can skip "On Stories, and Other Essays"). If you get both of those books, don't buy this one - you'll be wasting your money.

If your budget or interest doesn't stretch to cover both of the afore-mentioned books, then my third-best advice is to buy this book.

Those whose interest in Lewis' work as a literary critic and whose taste is not limited to science fiction and fantasy may also want to consider the following additional two collections (neither has been included in "Essay Collection and Other Short Pieces"):

"Studies in Medieval and Renaissance Literature"

"Selected Literary Essays" (out of print)

Rating:
Summary: This book has a lot of character
Review: Just like C.S. Lewis, this book has a great amount of character, style, and content. This is both a critical work, and a writer's work, and only Lewis could do both equally well in the same work.

In this work, which contains a good mix of various topics, Lewis details the importance of 'Story' and describes the stories that have been his favorites. He details how an author should write for children, what elements are necessary in children's stories, and what does not work.

Lewis also discusses Science Fiction - a chapter which happens to be my favorite. Here, Lewis describes several works from Wells, Clarke, Haldane, etc. and details what he liked, disliked, or misunderstood about the works. He describes what seems to work in the science fiction/fantasy genre - e.g. complex human personalities (which definitely worked in Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings'), etc.

This is a very nice collection of essays. The work can be well received from both writers and critics, and especially readers. Moreover, as many Christians will sometimes read only the works on or about Christianity that Lewis has written, this work will demonstrate a whole different side to Lewis that perhaps many of his Christian readers are unaware.

Rating:
Summary: Fly on the wall!
Review: Oh my! This is a treasure. Included: Short stories written by Lewis, an unfinished myth narrative, some literary criticism, commentary on his own stories (Narnia and the Space Trilogy!) as well as some of his favorites (Wind in the Willows, The Treasure Seekers, The Hobbit) and a transcipt of a discussion of sci-fi with two colleagues. The transcript alone is priceless, both for its content and its humor (unintended at times?).

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: This collection of essays and stories by C. S. Lewis is a mixed bag, with some disputed material included by editor Hooper (namely, the story "Form of Things Unknown"). The essays are better than the stories, fleshing out Lewis's ideas on stories, literary criticism (although another disputed piece, I think) and science-fiction. The stories include the thought-provoking "The Shoddy Lands" and a novel that Lewis never finished. I definitely enjoyed my reading of this book, but more for the entertainment value than anything. For more information on the disputed elements in Walter Hooper's editorship of Lewis, see Kathryn Lindskoog's book Light in the Shadow Lands.

Rating:
Summary: A mixed bag
Review: This collection of essays and stories by C. S. Lewis is a mixed bag, with some disputed material included by editor Hooper (namely, the story "Form of Things Unknown"). The essays are better than the stories, fleshing out Lewis's ideas on stories, literary criticism (although another disputed piece, I think) and science-fiction. The stories include the thought-provoking "The Shoddy Lands" and a novel that Lewis never finished. I definitely enjoyed my reading of this book, but more for the entertainment value than anything. For more information on the disputed elements in Walter Hooper's editorship of Lewis, see Kathryn Lindskoog's book Light in the Shadow Lands.

Rating:
Summary: Lewis on Storytelling
Review: This slender grab bag (long and short essays, a recorded conversation about science fiction with Brian Aldiss and Kingsley Amis, three brief science fiction stories, fragments of a scarcely started novel) centers on the writing and reading of stories. The gems of the collection are "On Stories", which explores the relationship between "story" and "plot" and would be valuable reading for the many authors whose fictions serve up immiscible blobs of action and characterization and "atmosphere", and "On Science Fiction", which skillfully analyzes the merits and defects of the several subspecies of fantastic literature. The latter essay includes the best single sentence of advice to writers that I have ever read: "Whatever in a work of art is not used, is doing harm."

Enlightening is "On Criticism", an (unfortunately unfinished) tour of book reviewers' bad habits. "A Reply to Professor Haldane" (also unfinished), defending the "Perelandra" trilogy against the criticisms of a Marxist scientist, is both an enjoyable polemic and a precis of the sociopolitical argument developed at length in "The Abolition of Man".

The other nonfiction pieces are slighter, though not without interest. The short stories are minor efforts. The scraps of a novel, set in the aftermath of the Trojan War, were written when Lewis' health was failing; in his younger days, they might have eventuated in an equal to "Till We Have Faces", but that promise is quite faint.

This is far from the best of Lewis, but enough of it is very good to justify the modest price.