Fiction: Further Up and Further In
Have you ever read a novel and come away wishing you could go, in the words of C.S. Lewis in The Last Battle, "Further up and further in" to the wonder and delight of the world the book contained?
Do you have nagging questions, such as "What does the symbolism in this story really mean?" or "What kind of message does fiction like this really offer to impact my life in today's world?" or "Was this author really a Christian?" or "How can I know whether a particular book is safe to offer to my child?"
At the church library, we consider those issues to be critically important to our purpose of delighting in, displaying, and declaring the glory of God, and hope the resources below will be helpful in answering some of your questions and in strengthening your walk with the Lord.
If you enjoy Jane Austen's novels...
...check out Miniatures and Morals, by Peter J. Leithart!
If you enjoy C.S. Lewis' Narnia series...
...check out A Readers Guide to the Wardrobe and A Reader's Guide to Caspian by Leland Ryken and Marjorie Lamp Mead!
If you enjoy J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy...
...check out A Light from the Shadows: the Glory of God in the Lord of the Rings, by Sarah Bowen!
If you enjoy Shakespeare's plays...
...check out Brightest Heaven of Invention, by Peter J. Leithart!
If you enjoy Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queen...
...check out Fierce Wars, Faithful Loves by Roy Maynard!
If you enjoy Dante's Divine Comedy...
...check out Ascent to Love, by Peter J. Leithart!
If you enjoy Charles Williams' supernatural thrillers...
...check out Christian Mythmakers, by Rolland Hein!
If you enjoy John Milton's Paradise Lost...
...check out A Preface to Paradise Lost, by C.S. Lewis!
If you don't have any idea what to offer your children to read...
...check out The Book Tree by Elizabeth McCallum!