Product Description

The creators of "Narnia" and "Middle-earth", C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien were close friends and professional colleagues. They met frequently with a community of fellow writers at Oxford in the 1930s and 1940s, all sharing their works-in-progress. The group became known as the Inklings. This important study challenges the standard interpretation that Lewis, Tolkien, Charles Williams, Owen Barfield, and the other Inklings had little influence on one another's work, drawing on the latest research in composition studies and the sociology of the creative process. Diana Glyer invites readers into the heart of the group, examining diary entries and personal letters and carefully comparing the rough drafts of their manuscripts with their final, published work. Her analysis not only demonstrates the high level of mutual influence that characterized this writers group but also provides a lively and compelling picture of how writers and other creative artists challenge, correct, and encourage one another as they work together in community.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #809321 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 293 pages

About the Author
Diana Pavlac Glyer is professor of English at Azusa Pacific University. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Chicago and now lives in California.

Customer Reviews

Recommend 100 percent
This is a marvelous book, compounded of love and deep scholarship.

As an account of Tolkien, Lewis, Williams and the other Inklings, it supersedes Humphrey Carpenters also-excellent volume as being more comprehensive, deeper, better argued and with a more coherent purpose.

Because this book works on two levels. Underlying the biography and historical literary scholarship there is a general thesis about the importance of groups in the processes of writing. I found this argument absolutely compelling. For example, it explains the pattern of Tolkien's publishing, and why he failed to finish the Silmarillion when he lost the collaborative fellowship of Lewis and the other Inklings. It also explains how CS Lewis's brother Warnie became a stylish and successful author in middle age, when under the stimulus of the Inklings.

Most academic scholarship is produced for career advancement; but not this book. This is the product of decades of devotion.

The Best Book Ever Written about the Inklings, 6 stars ******
In 1978, Humphrey Carpenter published _Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Their Friends_. Although Carpenter's book is perhaps more a biography of C. S. Lewis than anything else, it remains an important and seminal work. However, if Carpenter erred in anything in his book, it was his persistent conviction that the Inklings did not influence one another. For instance, he states matter-of-factly, "It must be remembered that the word `influence', so beloved of literary investigators, makes little sense when talking about their [the Inklings'] association with each other. Tolkien and Williams owed almost nothing to the other Inklings, and would have written everything they wrote had they never heard of the group" (160).

Wholeheartedly disagreeing with Carpenter, Diana Glyer sets out in _The Company They Keep_ to show how and why the Inklings did, in fact, influence one another. Her work is a conglomerate of biography, composition theory, and literary criticism. She not only illuminates your understanding of this remarkable writing group but also expands your concept of the word influence. She persuasively argues that through encouragement, opposition, editing, and collaborating, the Inklings influenced each other's writing in a rich and profound way.

Had this been the book's only strength, I would say that Glyer's book had achieved more than any work written on the Inklings in the last three decades. However, the book's remarkable appeal does not stop there. Another great feat of this book is the amount of time and effort the author poured into her research. To say that the author was exhaustive in her research is perhaps an understatement. There are very few primary and secondary sources she leaves unexplored. In addition, there is a significant amount of previously unpublished material. To put this project in perspective, her Works Cited is 20 pages.

Again, this would be enough to encourage most readers to purchase this book. However, I would add one final note. The beauty of this book lies in the clarity and eloquence of the author's prose. It is one of those extraordinary academic works that is actually easy and enjoyable to read.

I would highly recommend this book. It is a must have and a must read. It is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive and complete work ever written on C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Whether you are a new fan of these authors or you have been studying them for years, you will find plenty to enjoy within the pages of this book.

"This is an admirably balanced overview of the web of intellectual and literary interactions of the Inklings that is sure to become an invaluable resource for future readers and scholars. I found myself captured by her engaging writing style, the breadth of her research, and the cogency of her argument. Her own work will itself influence the texture of Inklings scholarship for years to come. It's good, very good indeed."
Verlyn Flieger, professor of English, University of Maryland at College Park, Author of _Splintered Light_ and _A Question of Time_

"Not only does _The Company They Keep_ provide a much-needed fresh look at the Inklings, but it also affords rich insights into the creative and collaborative process itself. There is much to learn and much to enjoy in this excellent volume. This engaging study deserves a place in the library of all those who value the works of the Inklings and is also a worthwhile volume for any who are interested in examining the craft of writing and the impact of creating within the community."
Marjorie Lamp Mead, associate director of the Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College

"_The Company They Keep_ is an astonishingly thorough work, lucidly and boldly illuminating the collaborative writing process of Lewis, Tolkien, and their colleagues during the most fruitful period of their careers. Diana Glyer's impressive achievement supersedes in scope and authority all previous treatments of the Inklings and will perhaps become the new standard by which rhetoricians and literary critics should judge the cogency of subsequent research into the phenomenon of writing in community."
Bruce L. Edwards, professor of English, Bowling Green State University