Böcker av Charles Williams

When Charles Williams died in 1945 there remained to us of his work, besides his published books and those which he had in preparation for the press, a number of essays which had appeared in periodicals and elsewhere, many of which contain important statements of his ideas. A selection of these is printed here. -from the Introduction Charles Williams was one of the finest-not to mention one of the most unusual-theologians of the twentieth century. His mysticism is palpable-the unseen world interpenetrates ours at every point, and spiritual exchange occurs all the time, unseen and largely unlooked for. His novels are legend, and as a member of the Inklings, he contributed to the mythopoetic revival in contemporary culture.

After an opening chapter that examines the nature of poetry itself and analyzes its effect upon the reader, the author, in The English Poetic Mind, moves on to his main purpose, which is to try to reveal the source of the drive to creation in three of the greatest English poets: William Shakespeare, John Milton, and William Wordsworth. In each he identifies a particular kind of crisis that is the origin of the poetic impulse. In the light of these discoveries he addresses the achievements of several lesser poets and concludes with a chapter that, in a more general way, tentatively offers a vision of the paths poetry might take in the future.Introducing a duet of Charles Williams's best literary criticism on poetry: Reason and Beauty in the Poetic Mind The English Poetic Mind""Williams's deeper interest was in the way the nature of the act of poetic creation could be grasped from the reading of the poems themselves and the means by which the artists reached into and spoke from the hidden places of their imaginative power. . . . [These two books] will enable us to re-appraise, or perhaps encounter for the first time, the distinctive qualities of Charles Williams's approach to the art that was at the centre of his own creative life, poetry.""Brian Horne, from his new 2007 foreword Author and scholar Charles Williams (1886-1945) joined, in 1908, the staff of the Oxford University Press, the publishing house in which he worked for the rest of his life. Throughout these years, poetry, novels, plays, biographies, history, literary criticism, and theology poured from his pen. At the beginning of the Second World War the publishing house was evacuated to Oxford where, in addition to his own writing and his editorial work for the Press, he taught in the University.

Reason and Beauty in the Poetic Mind focuses upon the two intertwined themes of Reason and Beauty as they are expressed poetically in English literature. It begins with a chapter on the unique characteristics of poetic creation, ""The Ostentation of Verse,"" and then unfolds in an alternating pattern, analyzing the distinctive appearances of these two concepts in writers as various as William Wordsworth (Reason), Christopher Marlowe (Beauty), Alexander Pope (Reason), John Keats (Beauty), and John Milton (Reason). In the climactic penultimate chapter, there is a meditation on William Shakespeare's depiction of what the author calls ""the actual schism in Reason."" There follows a brief coda that moves beyond the confines of poetry to a contemplation of the wider religious dimensions that the literary investigation has opened up. ""Williams's deeper interest was in the way the nature of the act of poetic creation could be grasped from the reading of the poems themselves and the means by which the artists reached into and spoke from the hidden places of their imaginative power. . . . [These two books] will enable us to re-appraise, or perhaps encounter for the first time, the distinctive qualities of Charles Williams's approach to the art that was at the centre of his own creative life, poetry.""Brian Horne, from his new 2007 foreword Author and scholar Charles Williams (1886-1945) joined, in 1908, the staff of the Oxford University Press, the publishing house in which he worked for the rest of his life. Throughout these years, poetry, novels, plays, biographies, history, literary criticism, and theology poured from his pen. At the beginning of the Second World War the publishing house was evacuated to Oxford where, in addition to his own writing and his editorial work for the Press, he taught in the University.

THE SHADOW OF ECSTASY Charles Williams had a genius for choosing strange and exciting themes for his novels and making them believable and profoundly suggestive of spiritual truths. Shadows of Ecstasy tells of a mysterious invasion that threatens Europe from Africa. United in a fanatic crusade against death, the spiritual powers of the "Dark Continent" rise up with exultant paganism. A humanistic adept has discovered that by focusing his energies inward he can extend his life almost indefinitely. He undertakes an experiment using African lore to die and resurrect his own body thereby assuring his immortality. His followers begin a revolutionary movement to supplant European civilization.

First major biography to be published on Beaverbrook in over twenty-five years.

All Hallows' Eve is the story of a man and woman whose love was so great it could bridge the gap of death; of evil so terrible as to be unmentionable, of a vision so beautiful it must be true. Opens with a discussion between the ghosts of two dead women wandering about London. Ultimately explores the meaning of human suffering and empathy by dissolving the barrier between the living and the dead through both black magic and divine love. A young woman dies to discover a London that looks right out of Dante. A painter does a portrait of a minister and discovers he has painted beetles, and the minister thanks him for it! A magician sends someone to the future. All Hallow's Eve is an amazing book in that it explores both the question of 'what happens when you die?' as well as 'what is the relationship between the dead and the living?'. Charles Williams at his best.

NOTHING IN HER WAY When Michael Belen runs into the cherubic con man named Wolford Charles in New Orleans, he has no idea he had just opened the door to his ex-wife Cathy. She and Charles and Judd Bolton are working a con on a man named Goodwin, who had been a partner with a contractor named Lachlan down in South America. Lachlan had worked a swindle which had wiped out Cathy and Michael’s parents, and now as far as Cathy is concerned, it’s payback time. From Goodwin to Lachlan, Belen commits himself to Cathy and her scheme. When a drug-addled gangster named Donnelly starts threatening her, Belen takes care of him. When Charles and Bolton try to work a double-cross, Cathy matches them with a cross of her own. They are the perfect team. Until they go up against Lachlan—and then all bets are off. RIVER GIRL All deputy sheriff Jack Marshall wants to do is escape his troubles when he heads upriver for a little fishing. What he finds instead is Doris, who lives in a shack on a small island with her sullen husband, Roger Shevlin. Back in town, Marshall can’t stop thinking about Doris, and keeps coming back to her shack while Shevlin is away, always looking for an excuse to visit. But Shevlin grows wise to his visits, and Marshall is forced to make a decision—to take Doris away or fight for her. Marshall’s decision is complicated by the fact that Sheriff Buford and his office are coming under close scrutiny for graft. Somebody needs to disappear before it all blows up, and Marshall begins to hatch a scheme—if he can pull it off, he can escape with Doris and they can both have their freedom. But things are never as easy as they seem...

DESCENT INTO HELL In a town preparing to put on a play by the celebrated Mr Stanhope, several people wrestle with inner and possibly outer demons. A poor loser of a man hangs himself, but his ghost still wanders the streets. A young girl fears what will happen when she meets her doppelganger, the one who comes closer and closer each time she sees her. A man jilted in love meets a succubus. And a grandmother hovers between life and death. Generally thought to be Williams's best novel, Descent into Hell deals with various forms of selfishness, and how the cycle of sin brings about the necessity for redemptive acts.

The Holy Grail surfaces in an obscure country parish in England and becomes variously a sacramental object to protect or a vessel of power to exploit. A group of three dark magicians attempt to use it as a power base and a means of destruction. The three who oppose them are an Archdeacon, a Duke, and a Clerk in a publishing house. The battle of good versus evil is played out over the acquisition of the Grail which passes between the two sides. The use of the Grail by the forces of evil displays characters that are not your stereotypical villains. There is the banality of evil about them that makes what they do even more scary. Of the three Inkling fantasy writers Charles Williams is the least known and appreciated. Yet, his series of supernatural fantasy novels are every bit as interesting and original as the books by C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien.

A remarkable object has fallen into the hands of the abominable scientist Sir Giles Tumulty. Once positioned at the center of the crown of King Solomon, it is a stone of astonishing and terrifying power, capable of good and evil alike. Anyone who touches it can move through time and space, perform miracles, and heal or kill. The stone can replicate itself, and does so during the course of Sir Giles's inhuman experiments, subsequently falling into numerous unworthy hands throughout England. There are those who will attempt to use the stone for personal gain, only to discover that it is they themselves being used by a power beyond their comprehension; some will find themselves trapped in eternally repeating nightmares from which there is no escape; still others will be freed from their earthly burdens. And so begins the battle between the forces of darkness and light for control of the most dangerous object in existence. A gripping metaphysical thriller by Charles Williams.

An unremarkable civil servant becomes the target of a nefarious plot when he inherits an early set of tarot cards and will not surrender them to the gypsy master and his grandson who hope to unlock their mystic power.

Classic Charles Williams: A humanistic adept has discovered that by focusing his energies inward he can extend his life almost indefinitely. He undertakes an experiment, using African lore, to die and resurrect his own body, thereby assuring his immortality. His followers begin a revolutionary movement to destroy European civilization.

African American Life and Culture in Orange Mound is an exploration of the conditions of living for residents of the unincorporated subdivision in the deep south from 1890 to 1919.

These letters to ""Michal"", Charles Williams's endearing name for his wife, from ""Serge"", a moniker by which his close friends addressed him, are more than just a collection of love letters. They throw light on the man himself, his work, and Williams in the context of his literary contemporaries.

In this book a range of artists share their very diverse approaches to painting in watercolour, to give the reader an idea of how adaptable and enjoyable this medium really is.

Amateurs versus professionals - a social history and memoir of English cricket from 1953 to 1963.