The Fellowship

Starred review from March 9, 2015
J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that the name “Inklings” suggested “people with vague or half-formed intimations and ideas plus those who dabble in ink.” Yet it’s difficult to overstate the influence of the two most famous Inklings, Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, on varied fields including Christian apologetics and fantasy writing. The Zaleskis trace the history of this informal club of Oxford-educated, Christian intellectuals, which first coalesced in the early 1930s, by focusing on four of the most prominent Inklings: Tolkien, Lewis, mystic Charles Williams, and philosopher Owen Barfield. As scholarship, the book is immensely successful, describing its protagonists’ strengths and shortcomings with insight and facility. Understandably, the Zaleskis spend more time on Lewis and Tolkien than on their fellows (mainly due to the amount of material available), but their portraits of Williams, “a swirling mass of contradictions,” and Barfield, dedicated “to unraveling the secret life of words,” are no less nuanced. Particularly insightful is the observation that the Inklings’ scholarly preoccupations affected their public writings and personal lives as much as the reverse. Ultimately, this meticulous group biography allow readers to decide whether the Inklings were, as novelist John Wain suggested,
a countercultural “circle of instigators, almost of incendiaries,” or, as they themselves insisted, merely a pipe-smoking, ale-drinking, loud-laughing group of friends.

March 15, 2015
How a "circle of instigators" thrived in mid-20th-century England.From 1930 until the 1950s, a small group of friends who dubbed themselves the Inklings met weekly, usually in the rooms of C.S. Lewis, at Magdalen College, Oxford, to talk, argue, cajole one another, and read their works-in-progress. Writers and painters, physicians and theologians, historians and actors, the men (no women allowed) shared "mythological, medieval, and monarchical" sympathies; "their great hope was to restore Western culture to its religious roots, to unleash the powers of the imagination, to reenchant the world through Christian faith and pagan beauty." In this well-researched, consistently engaging group biography, the Zaleskis (Prayer: A History, 2005, etc.), who have written widely on religion and spirituality, follow the lives of the group's major figures: Lewis (1898-1963), whose prolific output includes The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings series; playwright and literary critic Owen Barfield (1898-1997); and poet, playwright, theologian, and novelist Charles Williams (1886-1945). The Inklings, the authors assert, were interested in theological issues, but they differed in their viewpoints, derived from a range of Christian affiliations. They most certainly identified common enemies: "atheists, totalitarians, modernists, and anyone with a shallow imagination." Their own imaginations gravitated to mythology and especially to fantasy, "the sheer excitement of the genre, the intoxication of entering the unknown and fleeing from the everyday." Fantasy, moreover, intimated the spiritual and a "higher, purer world or state of being." The Inklings, the authors maintain throughout this richly detailed biography, revitalized "Christian intellectual and imaginative life" by producing literature that served as "a sanctuary for faith." A bountiful literary history that maps the work of "an intellectual orchestra, a gathering of sparkling talents in a common cause, each participant the master of his own chosen field."

Starred review from March 15, 2015

In 1932 a literary club called the Inklings first met at Oxford University. Its members debated various topics and provided criticism of one another's writings. This group met weekly for nearly three decades. Four members of the Inklings--C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Owen Barfield, and Charles Williams--are the subject of this book. The recent blockbuster film adaptations of Tolkien and Lewis's works have caused a resurgence of interest in these authors. Although Lewis and Tolkien are often the central focus of this prodigious work, coauthors Philip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski (religion, Smith Coll.), who previously collaborated on Prayer: A History, successfully interlace the biographies and the literary accomplishments of all four individuals. The book, which is extensively researched, provides a fascinating look at British literary society during the first half of the 20th century. This reviewer would often reflect on particular passages, covering, for example, Lewis's religious reawakening, Tolkien's World War I experiences, Williams's interest in the occult, Barfield's brief friendship with Saul Bellow, and the occasional disputes among various Inklings, when not reading this title. The Zaleskis make an important contribution to the study of these individuals and their accomplishments. VERDICT For all fans of Tolkien and Lewis, this excellent title will also appeal to readers interested in Christian scholarship and 20th-century British literature and history.--Erica Swenson Danowitz, Delaware Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Media, PA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2015
The iconoclastic Bloomsbury Group captivated intellectuals, but the Zaleskis hail as a more influential ensemble the improbable conclave of Oxford fantasists who called themselves the Inklings. This talented group waxed and waned between the 1930s and the '50s, but four central membersJ. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, Charles Williams, and Owen Barfielddefine the focus of this revealing chronicle. Readers see how the distinct life trajectories of these fourpunctuated by family disruptions, war, and personal travailprimed them for the exceptionally fruitful fellowship that convened weekly in Lewis' sitting rooms and in a nearby pub, where they shared literary works in progress and challenged each other to think more deeply about their writing, their friendship, and their faith. The Zaleskis expose tensions within the group but highlight the members' shared commitment to a vibrantly Christian creativity so resistant to the sterility of modernism that it incubated soul-stirring fantasy. Out of the beer, the smoke, and the talk of the Inklings' meetings emerged works that deeply moved millions of readersworks that included Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy, Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia, Williams' Place of the Lion, and Barfield's Poetic Diction. A compelling collective portrait of an exceptionally potent gathering of literary creativity.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)