Book Review: A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War by Joseph Loconte

I’ve spent the year reading whatever I want; it’s wonderful. As soon as I’m knee-deep into one great read, I learn of another. I read this book simply for my love of Tolkien and Lewis — and was happily surprised to learn about so much more.

For the Love of History

I didn’t realize how much I enjoy history but books like this one bring the past to life. Honestly, I think I learned more about the First World War in this one book than I ever did in school. Loconte sets the scene for the social and political situation leading up to the war and helps the reader understand the motivation behind the atrocities that rocked the early 1900s.

Better understanding the world Tolkien and Lewis lived in helps the reader better appreciate the heart and nuances of their writing. Loconte carries the reader through the formative experiences each of these authors would have encountered, especially in their military service.

Loconte explains that for Tolkien and Lewis

… the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to shape their Christian imagination.

…

It can be argued that these epic tales—involving the sorrows and triumphs of war—would never have been written had these authors not been flung into the crucible of combat.

Loconte, p.p. xii-xiii

The Great Paradox

Earlier this summer, I read Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton—a contemporary of Lewis and Tolkien. It was then I began to grapple with the concept of paradox. Paradox being the idea that two seemingly contradictory statements can simultaneously be true. Reading Orthodoxy laid the groundwork for my understanding of the many paradoxes Tolkien and Lewis would wrestle with in their own writing.

Chesterton explains of paradox:

His spiritual sight is stereoscopic, like his physical sight: he sees two different pictures at once and yet sees all the better for that. Thus he has always believed that there was such a thing as fate, but such a thing as free will also. Thus he believed that children were indeed the kingdom of heaven, but nevertheless ought to be obedient to the kingdom of earth. He admired youth because it was young and age because it was not. It is exactly this balance of apparent contradictions that has been the whole buoyancy of the healthy man. The whole secret of mysticism is this: that man can understand everything by the help of what he does not understand.

Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Light in the Darkness

In a time left cynical and shattered by war, Lewis and Tolkien sought to bring light to a disillusioned world. But men who had so intimately witnessed the depravity of war could offer no trite solutions to the darkness. In each of their master works, these authors skillfully wrestle with the paradox of light in the darkest of times.

My Takeaways

First, I’m amazed by how much I learned about the history of the First World War. I walked away with a much better appreciation of my own freedom and the sacrifices of those who fought to grant me such freedom. What I didn’t except to grapple with was whether or not the first Great War should have happened at all. I was also surprised to learn about the church’s role in the history of war and the unfortunate ways she moved with culture to create an even worse situation at times.

Secondly, I came away with a much better understanding of both Lewis and Tolkien and the many ways war shaped their lives, faith, writing and world view. I’d love to re-read their works with this perspective in mind.

Finally, I again found myself wrestling with the difficult idea of paradox. The more I read, the more I’m challenged to see the world as the complicated mixture of light and darkness that it is. There are no easy answers for the darkness. There is only one explanation for the light. I recommend you read both Orthodoxy and A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War if you want to find out what that explanation is 😉

So, what are you reading? I’d love to hear!