Talk:Owen Barfield

Betjeman?
Betjeman? Why is this relevant? Charles Matthews 14:00, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Looks almost funny, as if the writer thought that the most important thing about T S Eliot was that he taught John Betjeman. Fixlein (talk) 18:28, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

A number of references to Barfield, and letters to him, mostly complimentary, have appeared in Eliot's letters (incl. one to De La Mare, who also knew & was appreciative of at least some of Barield's work). W.H. Auden wrote the foreword to Barfield's 'History in English Words'. Harold Bloom has expressed admiration for Barfield, as has M.H. Abrams. David Bohm was influenced by Barfield's What Coleridge Thought (discussing it in his On Creativity) & wrote the forward to the german edition of Saving the Appearances; Elmar Schenkel wrote the afterword. Perhaps some of their remarks are suitable to give a fuller representation of Barfield's influence and milieu ? All references are available through Lavery's Barfield site and ordinary search engine searches using the relevant combinations of their names. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.77.53.166 (talk) 00:02, 12 November 2012 (UTC)

I#m not sure that it can be said with certainty that OB was an 'influence' on Eliot. The latter was his sometime publisher, in both the N.Criterion & F&F, I think; he seemed to be appreciative of an early short story and less so of others and tried to coax further examples from Barfield of the kind he preferred. When Barfield's writings had developed to a fuller exposition of his thought he certainly admired them, later to the point of almost guaranteeing Barfield publication of anything further he wrote (Faber&F. published Saving the Appearances, World's Apart & Unancestral Voice, I think.) Recognising the worth of his work, though, might not equate with the adoption of ideas inferred by 'influence'. Unless there is some further source that can show more, perhaps in future volumes of TSE's letters. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.107.89.127 (talk) 18:14, 3 January 2013 (UTC)

Chapter analysis of Saving the Appearances
I'm currently trying to focus on Barfield's Saving the Appearances: A Study in Idolatry, which I find to be his most important work. I am planning to do a chapter by chapter analysis, or at least summary, that would allow for a greater understanding of this work. I would appreciate any input or feedback from those who have read Barfield.

Further, I agree that the biography is a bit sketchy in places, and it needs much more work, but I have little knowledge in this area. Devon --Dlb012 (talk) 20:44, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Ordering the information?
What's the best way to order the information? I happen to be most interested in Barfield's book Saving the Appearances, so I have put that before some biographical information, but perhaps this has been unwise. Devon --Dlb012 (talk) 22:56, 24 December 2008 (UTC)

Saving the Appearances
All of this highly-detailed information about Saving the Appearances should be in a separate article. The current article should stick to his life, with a summary of his writing. ---  RepublicanJacobite  The'FortyFive' 23:41, 24 December 2008 (UTC)


 * That makes a lot of sense. I'll work on that. Devon --Dlb012 (talk) 15:54, 25 December 2008 (UTC)

Assessment comment
Substituted at 02:03, 30 April 2016 (UTC)

Solicitor?
The article says he was a solicitor. Should that be included under occupation/profession in the first sentence and in the sidebar template? Mdmcginn (talk) 19:24, 22 April 2022 (UTC)