Ghostly Wisdom

S. Pleasantburg Drive Greenville, S.C. Telephone (803) 233-4852 Golfer, Yachtsman, Hunter, and Sportsman. .. ORDCO RANGE FINDER Conceived by Dr. Luis W. Alvarez, recipient of Na- tional Science Award and Inventor of G:GA, Ground Control Approach. Optical instru- ment ideal for golfers and yachtsmen. Meas- ures distances from 6’ to almost as far as the eye can oe ONLY Golfers use it to select right club — yachtsmen $

are not given many complete letters here—unless, that is, the letter hap- pens to be an “instant essay” sent in answer to some question posed him. (usually by a silly woman, her pen striking from afar like dreary light- ning). Perhaps Lewis was not a good letter writer; there is, to date, no public evidence upon which to de- cide the matter. For that one would have to read his letters, not a flori- legium culled from them. Perhaps re- ticence dulled that spontaneity that makes great letters so revealing. But the epistolary art of self-revelation is in large measure unintended; it comes from the natural choice of tone with this recipient or that; from the un- considered inclusion or exclusion of detail; from gossip, complaints, re- quests. There is not much gossip here—plenty of sermons (and good ones), but little gossip. Even chatty sections are chosen for their exposi- tory value (set-piece gossip), like a description of the “Inklings” (the literary set that included Lewis, Char- les Williams and Tolkien). Reviewers have, so far, been satis- fied with the homiletic Lewis who blesses us in these bits and scraps of letters—because, I fear, they do not

GW

About the Author

Garry Wills

S. Pleasantburg Drive Greenville, S.C. Telephone (803) 233-4852 Golfer, Yachtsman, Hunter, and Sportsman. .. ORDCO RANGE FINDER Conceived by Dr. Luis W. Alvarez, recipient of Na- tional Science Award and Inventor of G:GA, Ground Control Approach. Optical instru- ment ideal for golfers and yachtsmen. Meas- ures distances from 6’ to almost as far as the eye can oe ONLY Golfers use it to select right club — yachtsmen $

are not given many complete letters here—unless, that is, the letter hap- pens to be an “instant essay” sent in answer to some question posed him. (usually by a silly woman, her pen striking from afar like dreary light- ning). Perhaps Lewis was not a good letter writer; there is, to date, no public evidence upon which to de- cide the matter. For that one would have to read his letters, not a flori- legium culled from them. Perhaps re- ticence dulled that spontaneity that makes great letters so revealing. But the epistolary art of self-revelation is in large measure unintended; it comes from the natural choice of tone with this recipient or that; from the un- considered inclusion or exclusion of detail; from gossip, complaints, re- quests. There is not much gossip here—plenty of sermons (and good ones), but little gossip. Even chatty sections are chosen for their exposi- tory value (set-piece gossip), like a description of the “Inklings” (the literary set that included Lewis, Char- les Williams and Tolkien). Reviewers have, so far, been satis- fied with the homiletic Lewis who blesses us in these bits and scraps of letters—because, I fear, they do not