Bøger af Charles Williams

The purpose of this book is to provide brief biographies of certain historical figures whose names have for long been prevalent in English literature. These names are used not only in correct historical allusions, but as imaginative ideas; myths, one might almost say, of the English mind.-from the Preface 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, his poetry profound, and as a member of the Inklings, he contributed to the mythopoetic revival in contemporary culture.

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.

""The following pages are concerned with James Stuart, and not the history of England except as it affected James Stuart,"" writes Williams in his preface. All relevant historical details are woven into this narrative account, however, like his novels, Williams pushes further into the very personality of James. Early chapters cover the alliances, plots, and threats of his Scotland years; latter chapters cover his reign in England, which commenced in 1603. Situated between the executions of his mother (Mary) and his son (Charles I), ""the curious figure of James stands at the change of the centuries. The splendour of the Renascence homo is becoming the clarity of the seventeenth-century gentleman."" ""Shakespeare and Bacon were to be his servants; Harvey his physician, Donne his chaplain. He was to be the patron of the great English book that declared the coming of the Prince of Peace, and to see himself as a prince of peace, bringing rest to the afflicted churches and nations. But war in Europe and war in England were to open over his grave; the gossips were to spice their scandalous talk with his name; and afterwards everybody was always to laugh or shudder at him for ever.""""Williams never forgot that every age is modern to itself, and that this fact, or illusion, links it with our own. Thus to all men in all ages he has the same direct approach; the same readiness to accept their behaviour as human (and not 'strange' or 'quaint'); the same charity, to which irony gives a certain wholesome and astringent edge. This freedom of judgment is not to be obtained except from the viewpoint of a theology which postulates an absolute truth, and which sees in the material facts of history the symbol and expression of that truth.""--Dorothy L. Sayers, from the IntroductionAuthor 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.

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 GREATER TRUMPS by Charles Williams The original Tarot deck is used to unlock enormous metaphysical powers by allowing the possessors to see across space and time, create matter, and raise powerful natural storms. Upon an ancient golden table, golden figurines perpetually move "by some magnetism of the Earth" to the "Great Dance" - that is, the rhythm of all things that happen in this world. The table and figurines are half of a set. The other half is the original Tarot cards. Together, it is believed, they have the power to explain eachother's mysteries, and maybe even manipulate time, space, and the elements. By some great coincidence, or movement of the Dance, two families are brought together who each have one half of the set. But when the pieces are reunited, all hell...and heaven break loose!