**The official C.S. Lewis Appreciation thread**

[twosteppin]

C.S. Lewis was a gifted writer and apologists. What are some of your favorite books, or quotes from him??
I love "mere Christianity" I read it before I was a Christian and enjoyed it. And absolutly loved it after I became one. "Suprised by Joy" is another great one. I am currently reading "The Screwtape Letters" It is awsome.

 

[nadroj1985]

I've only read "Mere Christianity," but I love it. The opening chapter is perhaps my choice for the best argument for the existence of God.

 

[twosteppin]

yeah that opening chapter is pretty cool. Mere Christianity as a whole, is a good book

 

[Lady Jaina]

The Chronicles of Narnia!!! All of them (I can't quote all seven books). I especially love the ones with Aslan.

Just a bit of random information:

Randy Alcorn uses many illustrations from the Chronicles in his book "Dominion" A great read, especially for C.S. Lewis fans.

-Jaina

 

[sparklecat]

I'm rather fond of his fiction... The Great Divorce, his SciFi trilogy.


Oh, I have a recommendation for Lewis fans... A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken. It's a true (love) story written by a friend of Lewis'.

 

[twosteppin]

sparklecat~I have not gotten into his fiction work yet, Im looking forward to after I am done with The Screw Tape Letters. How is the great divorce???

lady Jaina~ I have heard so many great things about The chronicals of Narnia. Are they kids books, or still enjoyable to read for an older audience?

 

[AngelAmidala]

I'm about halfway through The Great Divorce myself (thanks to a recommendation from a good friend). I think it's really good. A real interesting way to look at things.

 

[Glorianna]

Wahoo! Go C.S. Lewis! I've read a lot of his stuff and can't get enough of it!

 

[ab1385]

Apparently, Disney are remaking the chronicles of Narnia as films, should be great! Due out christmas 2005.

Did you guys in America get the televised series of the chronicles of narnia? I watched them every christmas as a child, and now theyve just come out on DVD! Awesome!

 

[Surprised by joy]

DMB233: I have read and re-read the Chronicles of Narnia probably since I was seven. They're still worth it! His theology is beautifully simple and incredibly redeemed.

I have read:
The Chronicles of Narnia
1/2 of Out of the Silent Planet
Perelandra
That Hideous Strength
The Dark Tower and Other Stories (I recommend!)
Parts of Mere Christianity
Parts of the Four Loves

But his best books ever were Till We Have Faces and The Screwtape Letters.

Lewis' favorite author was George MacDonald. He is probably my second favorite (second to Lewis). I recommend his book At the Back of the North Wind, and his fairy-tales, The Gifts of the Child Christ.

ab1385: You're Welsh? Glorious! Have you read the Mabinogion? I have not, but wish to, due to the inspiration of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles.

 

[TransverseWave]

I've read everything of Lewis' that I can find, including his literary commentary (The Discarded Image, The Allegory of Love, Studies in Words, etc.) I wish he'd written more.

Incidentally, the Space Trilogy becomes more comprehensible in places if you've read The Discarded Image or are otherwise familiar with medieval cosmology. He was drawing on it, in part.

... Time to reread some of his stuff.

 

[SeRapH&CheRi]

C.S. Lewis has got to be one of my favorite authors of all time! I read the entire Narnia series a few years ago and was so sad when I finished the last book. I wanted the story to continue! I've read "The Four Loves" and "Mere Christianity" - another book I want to read is "Till We Have Faces". Has anyone read it yet?

 

[Periann]

Oh yes Ive read Til We Have Faces, very good, it made me cry (though don't know why it did exactly). Im sure the whole thing was an allegory, but I read it so long ago, I just think it was a good story now.

I want to read Mere Christianity, but haven't gotten round to it yet.

 

[Jonathan David]

Wow, a CS Lewis thread... how cool. When I was a kid, I had the record of "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe". My folks read the whole series to me and, as I got older, I read them... still do all the time.

This Christmas, a local theatre put on a production of the L, the W and the W. It was awesome. The premise was that Edmund and Lucy return to the professor's house ten years after their adventures. They begin to remember the story and the play moves from memory to present. The two actors play all the characters... Okay, I can't describe it but it was great. There are also radio plays of the whole series produced by FOTF (listened to some of it yesterday while I was cleaning). I've also seen the BBC series and checked out the website (http://www.narnia.com).

As far as theology goes, I've read Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters and The Problem of Pain.

Peace.

JD

 

[sparklecat]

sparklecat~I have not gotten into his fiction work yet, Im looking forward to after I am done with The Screw Tape Letters. How is the great divorce???

It's amazing. It just may be my favorite book, which is rather odd... it's also my plane book, which I take along to read whenever I have a plane trip.


I can't really identify with them so much anymore, but when I was a Christian, what I really liked about Lewis' writings was that, to me, it felt like I was almost catching a glimpse of God through them. Nothing really solid, but he had a way of taking what had been merely conceptual to me, and bringing it home so that it was as if I was gaining insight into God's character through his books. That's the best way I can describe how I used to view them.

 

[twosteppin]

yeah, i know what you're saying.

I love his stuff because C.S. Lewis knew people, knew how people worked, and I find it so facinating when I read what he is saying about human emotion and human nature and I'm like "wow, that is me he's talking about." not literally of coarse, but you know what i mean. I think I'll go buy the Great divorce.

Does anyone else find it cool that he was friends with J.R.R. Tolkien?

 

[TransverseWave]

I've read "The Four Loves" and "Mere Christianity" - another book I want to read is "Till We Have Faces". Has anyone read it yet?

Yes. It's been a while, though. It's a retelling of the myth of Psyche, and I'm pretty sure I didn't follow everything he meant to say. Somehow it reminds me more of the Space Trilogy than it does of The Screwtape Letters, The Great Divorce, or The Chronicles of Narnia, in a way that I find difficult to characterize. I think, among other things, that what they have in common is reference to literary works that I'm not familiar with -- I'm a techie, not a student of the humanities, and I find his explanations highly lucid in nonfiction, but I don't necessarily pick up on all the classical or literary subtleties in some of his fiction.

 

[TransverseWave]

I think I'll go buy the Great divorce.

Excellent idea.

Does anyone else find it cool that he was friends with J.R.R. Tolkien?

Yes. One or the other of them is my favorite author. I can't figure out which.

 

[TransverseWave]

I can't really identify with them so much anymore, but when I was a Christian, what I really liked about Lewis' writings was that, to me, it felt like I was almost catching a glimpse of God through them.

Yes, and that was something I deeply valued, and lastingly regret the loss of -- to the extent that I've lost it, and I'm not always sure how far that is.

 

[TransverseWave]

I want to read Mere Christianity, but haven't gotten round to it yet.

That's an excellent book too.