Available in its first reprint since 1965, The Personal Heresy: A Controversy originally published in 1939, comprises the exchange of essays between C. S. Lewis and E. M. W. Tillyard in which the literary critics argue opposing positions on what can or should be gained from the reading of poetry. Bruce Edwards sees in this work a consistent Lewisian theme, “championing as it does the cogency of the doctrine of objective value” (“The Personal Heresy: A Controversy,” in The C. S. Lewis Readers’ Encyclopedia, pp. 318f.).
Lewis responds to Tillyard’s assertion in his 1930 publication Milton that “[a]ll poetry is about the poet’s state of mind.” Lewis argues that in poetry we see what the poet sees, not the poet himself. Lewis writes, “When we read poetry as poetry should be read, we have before us no representation which claims to be the poet, and frequently no representation of a man, a character, or a personality at all.”
To order your copy, with an Introduction by Dr. Bruce L. Edwards, send US$19.95 plus US$4.00 for shipping and handling within the contiguous forty-eight states, or US$6.00 outside the forty-eight states to Dr. Joel Heck, Concordia University Press, 3400 N. Interstate 35, Austin, Texas 78705, with a check payable to “Concordia University Press.” For more information, email Joel Heck at HeckYes@aol.com.
To read an interview with Professor Heck about this work click here: http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/faith/07/26/0726heckqanda.html.
Lewis responds to Tillyard’s assertion in his 1930 publication Milton that “[a]ll poetry is about the poet’s state of mind.” Lewis argues that in poetry we see what the poet sees, not the poet himself. Lewis writes, “When we read poetry as poetry should be read, we have before us no representation which claims to be the poet, and frequently no representation of a man, a character, or a personality at all.”
To order your copy, with an Introduction by Dr. Bruce L. Edwards, send US$19.95 plus US$4.00 for shipping and handling within the contiguous forty-eight states, or US$6.00 outside the forty-eight states to Dr. Joel Heck, Concordia University Press, 3400 N. Interstate 35, Austin, Texas 78705, with a check payable to “Concordia University Press.” For more information, email Joel Heck at HeckYes@aol.com.
To read an interview with Professor Heck about this work click here: http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/faith/07/26/0726heckqanda.html.
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