New Acquisitions of January 22

 This Saturday John and I went to Half Price Books in San Marcos (as tends to happen at the end of January, as I find out from my history on Facebook) along with Kameron and Joey. The store still seems a little bare, but I was able to get a few good things after all.

Planet Narnia, by Michael Ward (2008), expounds the theory that C. S. Lewis, a noted scholar of medieval and renaissance literature, themed the seven books of his Narnia Chronicles around the seven ‘planets’ (for the old Greek word for ‘wanderer’ – as opposed to the ‘fixed stars’ of the night sky); in the ancient system this included the Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.  Each planet had its own character and attributes. Ward contends each Narnia book exemplifies these attributes. I have yet to read the book completely and feel a little reserved about his conclusions, but from what I’ve read and heard there may be a compelling case here. In the meantime, I get to hear about Narnia all over again. An autographed copy, “With Jovial Regards!” Lacks this cover.

The Unaborted Socrates (1983) and The Best Things in Life (1984) by Peter Kreeft. Kreeft, a professor of Philosophy at Boston College and a Catholic convert, has written several books using Socratic dialogues (with Socrates himself in a modern context) to examine various issues. In these two books he looks at abortion and the definition of what makes a good life. I was surprised to find two Kreefts on one day, and then found out that they had belonged to the same lady. I spent a little time removing a page of notes she had stapled to the back cover of Best Things; it’s in good shape for all of that. I have several other volumes by the same author, so I’m expecting good things.

J. R. R. Tolkien: Architect of Middle Earth, by Daniel Grotta (or sometimes Grotta-Kurska). Second Edition, 1978. Architect is famous in Tolkien publishing as the first Tolkien biography and for its many errors; the Tolkien Estate was blocking his access in favor of Carpenter’s authorized biography. The book rather unusually went from paperback to this 6 7/8” by 10” softcover to a hardback (with old Hildebrandt paintings for illustration) during the Jackson movie craze, when anything Tolkien would sell. John pointed this book out to me, and I had to buy it; it looked so forlorn, like the last puppy at the pound. Also, I’ve always loved the Hildebrandt cover; to have it at this size was strangely appealing. Looking it up, I see Grotta-Kurska passed away in 2015.

Casablanca (DVD). I headed out to Half-Price with the one firm intention of buying this movie; anything else I found would be gravy. I suppose there is little need to explain why I wanted a copy of this classic, except that, although it plays often on TCM, I can never be guaranteed the time to watch it. Now I can do so whenever the mood strikes me.  A standard edition.

A Charlie Brown Valentine (DVD). The 40^th Peanuts special, first released in 2002. It is NOT Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown, which is what I thought I was getting. Instead of having a real storyline, it is just a string of jokes and vignettes, pleasant enough but lacking a unified tale, which Schulz (had he been alive) might have supplied. It contains the Bonus TV Special Someday You’ll Find Her, Charlie Brown. Now that it’s in the Archive, I suppose there is no point in selling it. But now I do want to get Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown and even It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown in the Remastered Deluxe Editions.