by Travis

Update:  Just for the record, it took me so long to read this because I only wanted to read it when I had time to digest, take notes, and write.  Inspiring stuff!  And also: thanks again to whichever anonymous SoG fan sent me the money for the book.

When you buy a CD, you always know you’re running the risk of purchasing a few skippable songs; the same is true for a book of essays. But there are no skippable essays in Past Watchful Dragons, edited by Amy H. Sturgis. I found myself consistently saying, “Oh, now this is the best essay in the book.” That is, until I read the next one. These are 12 excellent essays; the two at the end which delve into Tolkien and Rowling are nice additions to the 10 on Lewis. I’m not going to get into any of them here, because I don’t want to give away their arguments, and I won’t do it justice. Purchase of a copy of Past Watchful Dragons. You won’t regret it.

Paul F. Ford wrote in the introduction to his excellent Companion to Narnia, “One hazard in an encyclopedic study such as this is the ever-present risk of analyzing the life right out of a story” (p. 3). This hazard is just as much a possibility for scholarly analysis of a story, but it’s a hazard that Past Watchful Dragons completely avoided. This volume is a must-have for lovers of C.S. Lewis. It not only engages in excellent scholarly work, but it maintains the vital heart of Lewis’s writings. You don’t expect to have your heart moved while reading a collection of academic essays, but that’s what will happen if you read Past Watchful Dragons.