CS Lewis describes his new book to JRR Tolkien pic.twitter.com/agaxO9TBqW
— Eleanor Morton (@EleanorMorton) December 17, 2021
Comedian Eleanor Morton has a lot to say about the writing quality of The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.
To be fair, this matchup is drastically uneven. J.R.R. Tolkein was so committed to the task for his novels that he invented languages and composed lengthy histories to provide a narrative backdrop for The Lord of the Rings. Lewis grabbed a scattering mythological and folkloric elements like was he wandering through a narrative version of the Golden Corral while still tipsy from a late night meeting of the Inklings.
In his defense, Lewis was attempting to compose an allegory akin to John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress rather than an epic fantasy series like The Lord of the Rings. These are very different writing tasks.
Content warning: foul language.