Dr. Glyer returns to the show to speak in more detail about the book she edited, A Compass for Deep Heaven: Navigating the C. S. Lewis Ransom Trilogy.
S6E6: “A Compass for Deep Heaven” (Download)
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Show Notes
Introduction
Drop-In
Quote-of-the-week
“[Myths] communicate truth about a reality that reaches beyond our usual experience.”
A Compass for Deep Heaven: Navigating the C. S. Lewis Ransom Trilogy
Biographical Information
Dr. Diana Pavlac Glyer is an award-winning writer who has spent more than 40 years combing through archives and studying old manuscripts, and has read every single word of every single Inkling. Her scholarship, her teaching, and her work as an artist all circle back to one common theme: creativity thrives in community.
She has been on this show several times and she’s returning once again to speak to us about Out of the Silent Planet and a book which she edited in 2021, A Compass for Deep Heaven: Navigating the C. S. Lewis Ransom Trilogy.
Biographical Information
Chit-Chat
- Matt thought that this was the first After Hours episode
- The Algebra of Friendship by Dr. Diana Glyer
Now that Charles is dead, I shall never again see Ronald’s reaction to a specifically Caroline joke. Far from having more of Ronald, having him “to myself” now that Charles is away, I have less of Ronald.
C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves (Chapter 4)
Discussion
1. “Life Update”
What have you been up to since you were last on Pints With Jack?
- Dr. Glyer’s new book: Journey Back Again: Reasons to Revisit Middle-earth
- J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century by Tom Shippey
I think there is nothing so nice as discussing it with some one else—even though it sometimes produces rather fierce arguments.
C.S. Lewis, Letter to Arthur Greeves (14th March 1916)
2. “Book Inspiration”
Your book is a compilation of essays on a wide range of topics. How did that structure come about and what was the creation process like?
3. “Book Goal”
What is it that you hope readers will learn from the book? What was your goal?
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4. “Spiritual Sci-fi”
Lewis famously said that in his own writing of science fiction, he was interested in the spiritual ramifications of space travels, spurred in part by his reading of Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay. What do you make of that?
- The Lost Road by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. “Why use myth?”
Why did Lewis love myth, and how did it connect imagination and reason?
“…reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. Imagination, producing new metaphors or revivifying old, is not the cause of truth, but its condition”
C.S. Lewis
The last drops of the thundershower had hardly ceased falling when the Pedestrian stuffed his map into his pocket, settled his pack more comfortably on his tired shoulders, and stepped out from the shelter of a large chestnut-tree into the middle of the road. A violent yellow sunset was pouring through a rift in the clouds to westward, but straight ahead over the hills the sky was the colour of dark slate. Every tree and blade of grass was dripping, and the road shone like a river.
C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet
6. “Spiritual lessons”
What are some of the spiritual lessons in Out of the Silent Planet?
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
Before anything else he learned that Malacandra was beautiful
C.S. Lewis, Out of the Silent Planet (Chapter 7)
- Companion to Narnia, Revised Edition: A Complete Guide to the Magical World of C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia by Paul Ford
And Edmund for the first time in this story felt sorry for someone besides himself.
C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Chapter 11)
But he didn’t enjoy himself, or not for very long. He began, almost for the first time in his life, to feel lonely.
C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (Chapter 5)
7. “Response to Scientism”
What does Jack propose a potential cure for scientism?
My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through those of others. Reality, even seen through the eyes of many, is not enough. I will see what others have invented. Even the eyes of all humanity are not enough
C.S. Lewis, An Experiment In Criticism (Epilogue)
“And have you no fear,” said Ransom, “that it will ever be hard to turn your heart from the thing you wanted to the thing Maleldil sends?”
C.S. Lewis, Perelandra (Chapter 5)
8. “Positively Medieval!”
Another essay I particularly loved was the one on the Medieval way of thinking and how it could be a cure to the anxieties / despair of the times. What is being proposed in the essay with a “semi-return” to that way of thinking? Why could it be a cure to the anxieties of the time? How could it help us today?
9. “Newbie Advice”
Do you have any final thoughts on the Trilogy that could help our listeners be better prepared as we work through it this season?
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Wrap-Up
More Information
- A Compass for Deep Heaven: Navigating the C. S. Lewis Ransom Trilogy
- The Compass Award
- DianaGlyer.com
- Books
