Present Concerns

[marycatelli]

Present Concerns by C. S. Lewis

Being a collection of his journalism.


Journalism that would have been ephemera except for the fame of the byline is always an interesting excursion into the time of its writing.  I recommend it in general for anyone looking for primary source, whether for a given era or for learning about different societies in general.

This particular one hits on all sorts of topics.  The Home Guard during World War II -- not favorably --and the attitude of soldiers, which appears to have been rather cynical.  School, including official discussion of altering it.  "Life in the Atomic Age" -- the impact of the atomic bomb on thinking, which lead him to the tart observation that all the atom bomb did was add one more means of painful and premature death to a world already rife with them, and in which death itself was a certainty.

And one about thinking about bicycles, and then generalizing to thinking in general and attitudes toward things.

Comments

[impulsereader.livejournal.com]

Oh, I've actually just started seriously reading some Lewis, so thank you for this. I'll add it to the list. I did a post recently comparing his Letters to an American Lady with what we do here on LJ - don't feel obligated to read it, honestly, I'm just connecting points within my own brain here. :-) http://impulsereader.livejournal.com/32413.html#cutid1

[marycatelli]

He wrote a lot of great stuff.