New tome on GK and Beren

The First Things site has an enticing review of Alison Milbank's Chesterton and Tolkien as Theologians: the Theology of the Real.

Ralph Wood sets into motion an almost hagiographic essay, and concludes with this superlative:

With clarity and wit and verve, she shows that the gift-quality of Tolkien’s and Chesterton’s art is premised on the gift-character of the universe itself. Their work, as she splendidly verifies, has profound moral implications. For in a gift-giving and gift-receiving world, we are not meant to seek our own advantage at the expense of others. Rather we are meant to create gifts—like those presents into which Galadriel has woven her own character before she gives them to the Company—that serve to free their recipients rather than putting them into our debt. Milbank has gifted us with what may well become our finest study of these Catholic artists in their unique relation not only to each other but also to our imagination-starved churches and culture.

I would like to purchase anything that almost hagiographizes these two heroes of mine. Trouble is, Alison Milbank's nice book, only 184 pages printed by T & T Clark, lists at the intriguing price of $120. My calculations reveal that this comes out to $0.65 per page. That's pretty steep, given the fact that for about 2 cents a page, you could get a lot of Proust, in a deluxe edition no less.

Of course, what you would do with Proust might differ from what you would do with GK or Tolkien, or their expositors like Milbank.

Comments

[Steven Paul]

120.00? But.... it IS about GK and JRR. Unfortunately those who will buy it probably are not soon going to dump it onto the Amazon used book pile. sigh....

[Mark]

Ralph Wood's First Things piece is certainly enticing. The tome's too pricey for me, though; guess I'll be waiting for inter-library loan.

Have you noticed that she's a priest in the C of E? Most curious...