King Arthur & Inklings

[eachase.livejournal.com]

I should have asked this in our chat last night, especially since freenarnian attended, but has anyone read _Looking for the King_ by David C. Downing?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt_rMtKhPuo

I've been listening to the Wade Center podcast on it: https://wadecenterpodcast.libsyn.com/looking-for-the-king-with-cs-lewis-jrr-tolkien-and-charles-williams

Comments

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

I haven't read it... (the only problem with the Wade podcast is that I end up with TBR piles to the ceiling)! I think I wasn't sold on the premise and decided to wait on reviews and then forgot, so thanks for reminding me to look into it. And let me know if you read it!

[freenarnian.livejournal.com]

(And sorry again for crashing your serious book discussions. Somebody had to divert the conversation to the topic of food!) ;)

[eachase.livejournal.com]

All the food! Every time! :-D

[eachase.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean about the podcasts piling up! I've given myself permission just to pick and choose the ones I want to listen to the most and not feel like I have to listen to them all. Mostly I listen while folding laundry.

I did read it years ago, probably about when it came out, but I don't remember it very well. I want to go back and read it again now that my head is more full of Arthurian legend with our re-reading of ST.

[meltintall3.livejournal.com]

I think I picked up _Looking for the King_ soon after it came out? According to my notes, the best part of the book was the conversations/interactions with the Inklings, where you could hear distinct echoes of their work, but the plot was better in theory than execution.

[eachase.livejournal.com]

From the podcast, I think David would agree with you. His favorite part of writing was researching the Inklings conversations and letters to get the dialogue as close to (or exactly) things they said. And his least favorite part was plot/action.

[meltintall3.livejournal.com]

That was a very fun podcast! The enthusiasm and familiarity with the subject, the anecdotes...

I'm disappointed all over again that the plot came across as stiff, because the concept is thrilling, and all the pieces individually capture the imagination. Writing an academic paper is a perfectly acceptable A plot, one doesn't necessarily have to include Indiana Jones-esque shenanigans if that is not where one's writing strengths lie. :p

[eachase.livejournal.com]

I love listening to David and Crystal! They're so much fun and so well-versed in their areas of expertise.

I really enjoyed Crystal's latest book, "Subversive: Christ, culture, and the shocking Dorothy L. Sayers" -- and listening to some of the podcasts/launch interview, etc. with her is like icing on the cake.

[meltintall3.livejournal.com]

Oh, I now have the list of episodes pulled up and am trying to decide which one to listen to next, so thank you for bringing them to my attention!

[eachase.livejournal.com]

My pleasure! I love to connect readers to authors. :-)