Free Ebook: Peter J. Schakel, Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia

[Patricia]

C S Lewis's Narnia Books are still in copyright. So is this commentary, but the author has posted a copy online.

Available at:
http://hope.edu/academic/english/sch...gwiththeheart/

The author, Peter J Schakel, says:
Although Reading with the Heart: The Way into Narnia has been out-of-print since the mid-1980s, I continue to be contacted by people wanting to obtain a copy of it. Because reprinting it is not feasible, I have decided to make it available electronically. This site contains the entire book, including index, in HTML format. Original pagination is indicated by page numbers inserted in brackets [<--p. 1], for convenience in citing material from it.

This is a copyrighted book. ... Individuals may print copies of the book for personal use; but no part of the book may be reproduced for publication or sale without prior permission of the author.

[Patricia]

And the same author's 'Reason and Imagination in C S Lewis: A Study of Till We Have Faces' is available here:
http://hope.edu/academic/english/sch...ces/index.html

[Nate the great]

This was a great find.

[amgoforth]

Originally Posted by Nate the great

This was a great find.

Not of much use to me, unless it can be downloaded and converted to Mobi etc for one of the ereaders.

[Steven Lyle Jordan]

I love the opening of Chapter 1...

In beginning a chapter late in Mere Christianity Lewis wrote, “It is a very silly idea that in reading a book you must never ‘skip.’ All sensible people skip freely when they come to a chapter which they find is going to be no use to them. In this chapter I am going to talk about something which may be helpful to some readers, but which may seem to others merely an unnecessary complication. If you are one of the second sort of readers, then I advise you not to bother about this chapter at all but to turn to the next” (p. 145). Readers should approach the first chapter of this book, too, with that attitude. This chapter shows how an understanding of and attention to the form, archetypes, narrative category, and conventions of a work can make one a more skillful reader, able to respond more fully to a work of fiction. Readers who find this chapter uninteresting or bewildering should go on to the next one, and, perhaps, return to it after reading the chapters which follow.

Ah, the Pythonesque comedic possibilities abound...

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by amgoforth

Not of much use to me, unless it can be downloaded and converted to Mobi etc for one of the ereaders.

I sent him an "official" note from MR asking his permission to do that and make it available here.

If he says yes, I'll let folks know.
______
Dennis

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

I sent him an "official" note from MR asking his permission to do that and make it available here.

If he says yes, I'll let folks know.
______
Dennis

Thanks, Dennis. If the author agrees then I'm happy to convert the book into our three usual formats. Do let us know how he responds.

But if he declines then people will just have to do it themselves, or do without. It's his privilege.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Patricia

Thanks, Dennis. If the author agrees then I'm happy to convert the book into our three usual formats. Do let us know how he responds.

But if he declines then people will just have to do it themselves, or do without. It's his privilege.

I agree. But I suspect he's not aware of MR or the Wonderful World of eBooks, and the possibility hadn't occurred to him. We'll see what he says.
______
Dennis

[tompe]

Originally Posted by amgoforth

Not of much use to me, unless it can be downloaded and converted to Mobi etc for one of the ereaders.

Why can you not convert it? He does not mention that reading the book on the screen is allowed either so why assume that reading it on your reader is not allowed?

[Patricia]

Originally Posted by tompe

Why can you not convert it? He does not mention that reading the book on the screen is allowed either so why assume that reading it on your reader is not allowed?

Because the author's site says:

"Individuals may print copies of the book for personal use; but no part of the book may reproduced for publication or sale without prior permission of the author."

So you can make a copy for your personal use, tompe. So can I. But we can't post one here without the express permission of the author. --That would be a publication.

[amgoforth]

Originally Posted by tompe

Why can you not convert it? He does not mention that reading the book on the screen is allowed either so why assume that reading it on your reader is not allowed?

I don't know how to do that. I wish I did, there are a number of online books I would like to convert. I don't even know what to call the process so I can't Google it to find out how.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by amgoforth

I don't know how to do that. I wish I did, there are a number of online books I would like to convert. I don't even know what to call the process so I can't Google it to find out how.

If you run Windows, Mobipocket Creator is freeware, available here: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Downloa...sp?Language=EN

(Get the Publisher edition, not the Home version.)

It can use HTLM, Word documents, RTF files, PDFs, and text files as input, and generate Mobi files as output.

You can get plenty of help here on using it.
______
Dennis

[amgoforth]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

If you run Windows, Mobipocket Creator is freeware, available here: http://www.mobipocket.com/en/Downloa...sp?Language=EN

(Get the Publisher edition, not the Home version.)

It can use HTLM, Word documents, RTF files, PDFs, and text files as input, and generate Mobi files as output.

You can get plenty of help here on using it.
______
Dennis

I am good at that. Trouble is I don't know how to download the web page in a form Mobicreator can use.

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by amgoforth

I am good at that. Trouble is I don't know how to download the web page in a form Mobicreator can use.

What browser do you use?

It would be easier if the book was a monolithic HTML file. I use Firefox, with the Spiderzilla extension. Spiderzilla downloads a site starting at the page you are viewing, grabs it and pages linked to it, and saves them to a specified location on your hard drive. It uses a program called httrack (included) to do the spidering.

It will still be necessary to assemble the parts into the file Mobi Creator will use as input. Book Designer, discussed elsewhere on MR, is a useful tool for that.
______
Dennis

[amgoforth]

Originally Posted by DMcCunney

What browser do you use?

It would be easier if the book was a monolithic HTML file. I use Firefox, with the Spiderzilla extension. Spiderzilla downloads a site starting at the page you are viewing, grabs it and pages linked to it, and saves them to a specified location on your hard drive. It uses a program called httrack (included) to do the spidering.

It will still be necessary to assemble the parts into the file Mobi Creator will use as input. Book Designer, discussed elsewhere on MR, is a useful tool for that.
______
Dennis

Thanks I will try that. I also use Firefox and know how to use book designer.