Websites : Peter Schakel at CSLewis.com, Faculty page at Hope College
AMAZON: Author Page
Peter J. Schakel received his B.A. from Central College in Iowa and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In 1969 he began teaching at Hope College, where he is the Peter C. and Emajean Cook Professor of English. His area of scholarly specialization is British Literature 1660-1745, focusing particularly on Jonathan Swift.
In addition to teaching courses on C.S. Lewis, he has written or edited seven books on Lewis. He and a colleague, Jack Ridl, have co-authored several literature textbooks, including Approaching Literature: Reading Thinking Writing (3rd edition, 2012) and 250 Poems: A Portable Anthology (3rd edition, 2013). His other books include The Longing for a Form: Essays on the Fiction of C. S. Lewis (1977) and Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia (1979).
Imagination has long been regarded as central to C. S. Lewis's life and to his creative and critical works, but this is the first study to provide a thorough analysis of his theory of imagination, including the different ways he used the word and how those uses relate to each other. Peter Schakel begins by concentrating on the way reading or engaging with the other arts is an imaginative activity. He focuses on three books in which imagination is the central theme--Surprised by Joy, An Experiment...
How did a middle-aged professor with no children write books that have become beloved classics of children's literature? What is the best order for reading the Chronicles of Narnia? Whatever one's question, The Way into Narnia offers valuable guidance for first-time visitors to Narnia and fresh insights for those who have already traveled there often.
Exploring ideas from Lewis's friend...
