The Literary Life Podcast

This week on The Literary Life, we are re-airing an episode from the archives featuring a discussion of J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy Stories" between Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins, and Thomas Banks. Angelina sets the stage for this discussion by orienting us to the context for the essay by Tolkien as a critique of what is considered a fairy story. She points out the difference between cautionary tales like those by Charles Perrault and the German folk and fairy tales collected by the Grimm Brothers. Our hosts highlight Tolkien's definition of true fairy stories, ones that take place in the "perilous realm" and involve a journey element. He critiques Andrew Lang as including many stories as fairy tale that are not truly fairy stories. They also discuss topics from the essay including sub-creation, magic and spells, suspension of disbelief, and children's responses to fairy stories.
Join us again next week for an additional "update" episode on this same essay with Jenn Rogers.
Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars! Cindy also has some exciting things happening at MorningTimeforMoms.com, including registration for her summer discipleship group.
For the full show notes for this episode, see our podcast website at https://theliterarylife/328.

This week on The Literary Life Podcast, we have a special episode in which our hosts Angelina Stanford, Thomas Banks, and Cindy Rollins and joined by poet, priest, scholar, and musician Malcolm Guite. Together they discuss not only Father Guite's newest book, Galahad and the Grail, but also the underlying ideas of why stories matter and what power they have in our lives. Malcolm Guite shares some thoughts on the value of both metrical poetry and the ballad form, as well as his own composition habits. He retells the Arthurian legend his own mother told him as a child and how this story is a powerful picture of the Gospel. Other topics they explore are how we see gospel echoes in "pre-Christian" stories, what it is like to have people find new layers of meaning in your writing,
Join us again next week for an episode from the vault on Tolkien's "Why Read Fairy Stories," which will be followed by an additional "update" episode on the same essay with Jenn Rogers.
Don't forget to check out everything going on over at HouseofHumaneLetters.com to stay up to date on all the upcoming new summer classes and webinars! Cindy also has some exciting things happening at MorningTimeforMoms.com, including registration for her summer discipleship group.
And for the full show notes on this episode, please visit https://theliterary.life/327.

On this week's episode of The Literary Life, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks will discuss Pope's mock epic poem, "The Rape of the Lock." They begin the conversation by talking about two types of satire to set us up for an accurate understand of this poem. They also talk about the form of a mock epic poem and a burlesque. This conversation brings out the various allusions to classical heroic epic poems juxtaposed with the frivolous in this story.
You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, including Heather Goodman's upcoming webinar on P.L. Travers' Mary Poppins, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.
For more show notes, please visit https://theliterary.life/326.

Today on The Literary Life podcast, Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks share an introduction to the Neo-Classical Poets, including Alexander Pope, and their poetry. First off, they establish a definition of the Neo-classical period both in terms of time and of culture. In addition, Angelina points out some ways in which the coming of the Enlightenment throws off ideals of the Medievals in favor of those of the Greeks and Romans. Another topic they highlight is the popularity of the satire in this period, as well as the prevelance of the printed word. After this general introduction to the period, Thomas shares a biographical sketch of Alexander Pope.
Join us back again here next week when we will discuss Pope's mock epic poem, "The Rape of the Lock."
You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, including Jenn Roger's webinar on C. S. Lewis' The Pilgrim's Regress, at HouseofHumaneLetters.com.
For the full show notes for this episode, please visit our podcast website at https://theliterary.life/325.

On The Literary Life Podcast with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks this week, we will wrap up our discussion of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. After sharing their commonplace quote for this week, Thomas and Angelina jump right into recapping the important plot points of this last section of the book. They start with some contrasts between St. John and Rochester, then they talk about the journey of the soul and the image of marriage. They also consider the parallels of her return to Thornfield and the reversals in these scenes, as well as how Brontë fulfills the various fairy tale endings she set up earlier in the book.
You can check out all the latest offerings of mini-classes and webinars, both upcoming and recorded in the past. Find everything at HouseofHumaneLetters.com, where you can also sign up for the HHL newsletter to stay in the loop about all the latest happenings!
Join us back here next week for an introduction to Alexander Pope and the Neo-classical Poets, followed by an episode on Pope's "The Rape of the Lock". In May, we will have a special guest interview of Malcolm Guite all about his new book, Galahad and the Grail.
You can check out the full version of our show notes for this episode at https://theliteray.life/324.